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Take Your Family to School Week
Family Involvement Event Ideas
Here are some ideas for PTA Take Your Family to School Week events, including glimpses of events planned by past $1,897 Award recipients. Mix and match events to make the most of the week in your school community.
Celebrate your school's diversity with a mural. Provide the paints and banner paper and invite all families to illustrate some aspect of their heritage. Hang the mural at a school entrance for everyone to see.
—Matthew W. Gilbert Middle School, Jacksonville, FL
Give parents and guardians a warm greeting along with a doughnut, coffee, and information on the week's activities as they drop their children off for school.
Invite parents to a PTA meeting or informal chat to hear the school principal talk about the school curriculum and the vision for the school. Also have the principal discuss opportunities for families to be involved in the school.
—Drake Elementary School, Strongsville, OH
Each day of the week, have a different community business work on a project with a specific grade for about an hour. A local garden center could pot spider plants with 2nd-graders. A cooking school could help 5th-graders make quick and healthy snacks. Invite parents to join in the fun.
—Morgan Park High School, Chicago, IL
Let kids show off for their parents. Host an open mic poetry night, an exhibition of science and math projects, or a variety show filled with skits, magic, music, and dance.
—David G. Farragut Elementary School, Spain
Encourage parents and guardians to volunteer in their children's classrooms. They can help teachers with special activities or everyday needs. Distribute information on additional volunteer opportunities for the year.
Ask local authors, librarians, teachers, or parents to host family book discussions or simply read a favorite story or book to students. Use this opportunity to establish a reading or book club corner in your school library.
—Whitehall Elementary School, Pittsburgh, PA
Plan a dinner for families, teachers, school administrators, and community leaders. Invite just one grade or the entire school. Ask each family to bring a dish to share. End the evening with some educational games.
Invite a local historian or long-time community member to bring history home for students and families. Have the speaker talk about the community's original inhabitants and some of its leading members. Alternatively, give a presentation on PTA's history.
—Mary Deterding Elementary School, Carmichael, CA
Introduce families to foods from around the world with a buffet dinner. Label each dish; include the country of origin. Also provide educational information on the countries represented.
—Frederick Douglass High School, Atlanta, GA
Offer parents workshops on such topics as parenting skills, graduation expectations, financing college, test-taking skills, and computer skills while students participate in review sessions for course exams and standardized tests.
Launch a dads club to promote the involvement of fathers and other male role models. Have club members select a special school-based project to work on and commit to participating in father-child and family events. (Check out the Father Involvement How-To Guide for more ideas on encouraging men to participate in school-related activities.)
—Lake City Community School, Lake City, CO
Hold a snow castle contest for students and families during recess.
Show kids and parents how to save for a college education. Offer a workshop that provides useful tips and strategies to help make college possible.
Click here to request more information about workshops on saving for college and other related financial topics, presented by the AXA Foundation, sponsor of the PTA Take Your Family to School Week Awards.
Provide board games for families to play in teams or as individuals. Organize tournaments to help families get to know new people.
—McIntyre Middle School, Montgomery, AL
Invite families to join their special valentines—their children—for a school lunch. Decorate the cafeteria for the event.
—Saginaw High School, Saginaw, MI
Ask the entire community to join PTA! Post membership fliers around the school, advertise in local newspapers, and have a membership table at the week's basketball games and other school events.
Set up craft stations where kids and families can decorate crowns and capes, learn how to quilt or crochet, make pipe cleaner animals, scrapbook, paint ceramics, design jewelry, and more. Ask local craft stores to donate supplies and volunteers.
—Gonzales Elementary School, Gonzales, TX
Kick off the week with the opening of a family resource center. Invite parents, students, school administrators, city officials, and the press to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
—Chickasaw School of Math and Science, Chickasaw, AL
Celebrate black history with a schoolwide assembly featuring presentations by community members and students. Welcome parent participation.
—Fort Herriman Middle School, Herriman, UT
Invite parents to visit the library, computer lab, auditorium, track, music room, and more to see where students spend their time at school.
Organize games of softball, kickball, volleyball, or basketball. Have parents, students, and teachers compete against each other, or mix the teams up.
—Laurel Elementary School, Marshall, NC
Introduce students to a variety of career and job opportunities. Ask a select group of parents to talk in detail about what they do. Foster small group discussions and show-and-tell by providing each parent with a display area.
Display students' photographs, paintings, drawings, collages, sculptures, and other artwork in the school library and hallways. Invite families to a VIP opening, complete with appetizers and refreshments, to admire the art and meet the artists.
—Foothill High School, Albuquerque, NM
Plan a schoolwide assembly hosted by the student council. Have parents attend abbreviated classes with their children. Hold parent-teacher conferences.
Set up booths with food, face painting, and arm wrestling—as well as information about school programs, community resources, and PTA membership. Organize carnival games, skits, and indoor relay races. And don't forget to offer door prizes!
—Bailey Bridge Middle School, Midlothian, VA
Teach parents about cyberbullying and how to monitor their children's online activities. Give them hands-on experience in the school computer lab exploring online social forums.
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