The National PTA announced 45 grant awards on December 19th, 2011. Forty five PTAs from 22 states across the country will receive $1,000 grants to help promote family engagement and support student achievement through PTA Take Your Family to School Week®, February 12–18, 2012.
Each grantee demonstrated how they will improve family engagement in their school communities and how their work will support the implementation of PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. The PTA’s National Standards encompass key, family and school engagement areas.
Standard 1: Welcoming all families into the school community—Families are active participants in the life of the school, and feel welcomed, valued, and connected to each other, to school staff, and to what students are learning and doing in class.
Standard 2: Communicating effectively—Families and school staff engage in regular, two-way, meaningful communication about student learning.
Standard 3:Supporting student success—Families and school staff continuously collaborate to support students’ learning and healthy development both at home and at school, and have regular opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills to do so effectively.
Standard 4: Speaking up for every child—Families are empowered to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success.
Standard 5:Sharing power—Families and school staff are equal partners in decisions that affect children and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs.
Standard 6: Collaborating with community—Families and school staff collaborate with community members to connect students, families, and staff to expanded learning opportunities, community services, and civic participation.
Support for family connections to children’s school experiences
The National PTA grants made to local PTAs are in an area critical to learning’s overall success. The grants are to be used to implement programs that engage families in the school community. These grants can be used to build positive partnerships with teachers and families, connect parents to their children’s school experiences, and give children fun ways to share what they are learning and doing in class with their families.
Award Recipients
The 2012 PTA Take Your Family to School Week Grant recipients are:
- Alfred E. Zampella Public School #27 PTA – Jersey City, NJ
- Arbolita School PTA – La Habra, CA
- Bailey Middle School PTSA – Cornelius, NC
- Banksville PTA – Pittsburgh, PA
- Bayside High School PTSA – Virginia Beach, VA
- Bedford Primary School PTA – Bedford, VA
- Bernice Young Elementary PTA – Springdale, AR
- Bradford Academy PTA – Southfield, MI
- Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools PTA Council – Chapel Hill, NC
- Chimneyrock Elementary PTA – Memphis, TN
- Citrus Grove Elementary PTA – Palm City, FL
- Clover Street School PTA – Jessup, MD
- Denver Elementary PTA – Denver, PA
- Donaldson Way Elementary PTA – American Canyon, CA
- Dubiski Career High School PTSA – Grand Prairie, TX
- Falcon Middle School PTSA – Peyton, CO
- Franklin Township School PTA – Quakertown, NJ
- Gene George Elementary PTA – Springdale, AR
- Gypsy School PTA – Bristow, OK
- Hammocks Middle School PTSA – Miami, FL
- Jefferson Elementary School PTA – West Allis, WI
- Kate Waller Barrett Elementary PTA – Arlington, VA
- Kilbourne Middle School PTSA – Worthington, OH
- Longfellow Middle School PTA – Falls Church, VA
- Maine School Administrative District #30 – Winn, ME
- Matthew Whaley Elementary School PTA – Williamsburg, VA
- McDougal Elementary PTA – Chapel Hill, NC
- McKinley School PTA – Fairfield, CT
- Morningside Elementary PTA – Fort Worth, TX
- Norco Elementary PTA – Norco, CA
- Northrup High School PTSA – Fort Wayne, IN
- Oakmont Elementary PTA – Fort Worth, TX
- Oakton Elementary PTA – Oakton, VA
- Old Village PTA – Northville, MI
- Provost Elementary PTA – Provost, UT
- Redwood Early Childhood Center PTA – North Little Rock, AR
- Stephen Knight Center for Early Education – Jessup, MD
- Stuart Middle School PTSA – Stuart, FL
- Thomas G. Pullen K-8 Arts Focus School – Landover, MD
- Three Rivers Elementary PTA – Cincinnati, OH
- Tuskegee Institute Middle School PTA – Tuskegee, AL
- Tyhee Elementary PTA – Chubbock, ID
- Vista Verde Middle School PTSA – Phoenix, AZ
- Walt Whitman Elementary PTA – San Diego, CA
- Wenatchee Lewis and Clark PTSA – Wenatchee, WA
Take Your Family to School Week
Betsy Landers, National PTA President, indicates, “Take Your Family to School Week embodies PTA’s legacy of building family-school partnerships. We’re proud to provide these grants to PTAs at the grassroots level to ensure that our legacy lives, families are involved and students succeed.”
The PTA’s Take Your Family to School Week is sponsored by the AXA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company. The Take Your Family to School Week program pays tribute to the PTA’s important legacy of building family-school partnerships.
It takes a team
Important strategies at the national, state, and local level are needed to connect parents, schools, communities, and learners in the full, supportive picture girding education’s capacity to develop every child and to fulfill learning’s ultimate goal – the success of every learner.
Families play a pivotal role in school success. In today’s changing economy the needs for advanced skills and technical knowledge keep growing, and education’s role is critical, both to personal success and to attaining the nation’s continued well-being.
When parents are involved in their children's schools, student achievement improves. The success of our nation’s learners are paramount in addressing 21st century challenges that face America’s educational, social, and economic systems. Initiatives like the National PTA’s Take Your Family to School Week program are integral parts of achieving that success.
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