School of Excellence Celebration Kit

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National PTA School of Excellence

   

Congratulations 2022-2024 National PTA Schools of Excellence!

As 2022-2024 National PTA Schools of Excellence, you and your Excellence Team deserve recognition! Check out National PTA's official press release and this special congratulations message from National PTA President, Yvonne Johnson, celebrating your achievement in strengthening family-school partnerships in your school community.



In honor of your designation, by the end of September, National PTA will send your PTA a banner, certificate and letter by mail. Once received, please take a picture with your Excellence Team in front of the banner, send it to Excellence@PTA.org and share by tagging @NationalPTA and using #PTAExcellence. We want to celebrate with you!

If you do not receive your banner by October 15, please let us know by emailing Excellence@PTA.org.

     
    
   

 Digital School of Excellence Celebration Toolkit

Your PTA worked hard to achieve this designation—now it's time to celebrate! Use the resources and materials in the sections below to share and promote your National PTA School of Excellence designation. You can also find tips on hosting a celebration event for your school, as well as next steps for your School of Excellence and ways to stay connected.

Share and Promote Your School of Excellence Designation

Promotional resources and materials

Be sure to use all of your PTA and school communication tools—social media, e-newsletters, phone and text systems—and, when school starts, use student folders, school drop-off lines and morning announcements to spread the great news.

  • Share your designation widely! Through the School of Excellence program, your PTA learned the importance of communicating effectively as a best practice for enhancing family engagement. Use the graphics in below dropdown menu, like this 2022-2024 School of Excellence designation Zoom frame, to highlight the designation on all your communication platforms.
And don't forget to include National PTA. Tag us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using @NationalPTA and the hashtags #PTAExcellence and #HowWePTA.
Media and Graphics
  • Add the 2022-2024 School of Excellence designation and e-signature graphic to your e-mail signature line.

  • Find more celebration materials through ShopPTA.com. As seen on this flyer, you can find items like pens, lanyards, lapel pins and more to help you celebrate your incredible accomplishment. Most items can be ordered and shipped within one week. There are also three package deals that will allow you to bulk order and save!

 

Share your celebrations

Download and customize these sample announcements to let your school and community know about your School of Excellence designation! 

  • Announce the designation to families. Your community helped you earn this designation so share the news! Download and customize the sample family announcement letter (English and en español) to explain this accomplishment and celebrate. 
  • Announce the designation to community leaders and partners. Did your School of Excellence action plan include working with community partners? Are there leaders or organizations your PTA wants to work with in the future? Download and customize the sample community announcement letter (English and en español) to let them know that PTA is invaluable to enhancing family, school and community partnerships.
School & Community Announcements
  • Promote the designation to your government officials to highlight your efforts to enhance family engagement. Check out this response from U.S. Senator Cory Booker celebrating a past designee. 
     

Host a Celebration Event

Along with sharing your School of Excellence designation, consider hosting a celebration event! A PTA event that celebrates your designation will allow you to show your community all the work you put into the program and open the doors to attract new, action-oriented PTA members.

Your In-Person or At-Home celebration will also allow you to officially present your School of Excellence banner to your school and to your community! Use the suggestions, sample schedule and promotion tips in below to get started planning your event.

Make your celebration impactful 

Your celebration should be unique to your community and your School of Excellence experience! But to ensure your celebration event is impactful remember to:

  • Make sure your School of Excellence celebrations are for your whole PTA school community. Use the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion resources and materials at PTA.org/Diversity to ensure your event welcomes everyone who made your designation possible. 
  • Invite school staff and administrators, families, community leaders and local news media and others to attend. And be sure to share your plans with your district, regional, council and state PTA leadership—they may be available to participate and support your celebration activities.
  • Highlight what comes next. Use your celebration event to show your commitment to sustained Excellence. This will inspire similarly motivated potential members and expand support for your PTA. You'd be surprised how many people don't know that the events they attend and the programs they participate in at school are all thanks to the hard work of your PTA/PTSA.

Plan your event

When planning, consider the following:

  • Where? Secure an In-Person location or At-Home virtual, platform that can sufficiently support your celebrations. Be sure to consider accessibility and inclusivity to make sure your announcements, invitations and celebrations reach your entire community.
  • When? Select times when you believe the most families and special guests could participate. Look at the school and community calendar—perhaps the event could be combined with another special event, like Back-to-School Night, Fall Festival or Homecoming.
  • What? Consider the best way to celebrate your designation and do what meets your community’s unique needs. Think about: How you will make the presentation of the banner and certificate special? Which community partner would be willing to sponsor the celebrations? Who will speak? What student groups could provide entertainment? 

Promote your event

Research shows people who receive a personal invitation from someone they know and trust are more likely to attend a school event. When possible, send personalized invitations to families, school leaders and community leaders.

  • Reach out to your district, council, region or state PTA to invite them to the event, thank them for any support, and/or develop connections for future PTA programming.
  • Use all of your PTA and school communication tools—social media, e-newsletters, phone and text systems, student folders, morning announcements, websites, etc.—to invite your community to the event. (Example social media promotion: Ladera Palma Elementary PTA and Winter Park High School PTSA)
  • Invite local media and local and state representatives to attend and generate visibility for your school and PTA.

Create custom invitations to generate excitement in your community. Find inspiration in the following sample invitations from past Hearst awardees:

Sample Celebration Event Schedule

Revise the sample celebration event schedule below to plan a School of Excellence celebration that meets your community needs while celebrating your PTA’s hard work and accomplishments in the program.

Celebration event set-up - (15-25 minutes)
  • Ensure your event is inclusive and accessible by removing barriers to attendance and expanding your invites to include everyone.
  • Decorate for the event—proudly display your banner and other School of Excellence and school spirit décor. If your event is At-Home, use the Zoom Frame or Zoom Background images to brand the event. Consider recording a banner raising video to share during the event and after. 
  • Prepare a welcome or opening activity that greets attendees and gets them excited for the event. For example, include student performances to enhance the event with engaging experiences for families and your school community. 
Celebration ceremony - (10-20 minutes)
  • Provide welcoming remarks by the school principal or PTA President.
  • Thank the people who made your designation possible: student leaders, PTA volunteers, school personnel, local and district officials and/or community partners. Encourage future participation in School of Excellence and PTA membership.
  • Provide remarks by the school district office and/or State PTA representative about the impact of family-school partnerships on student success, school improvements and the community as a whole.
  • Present your School of Excellence banner and certificate. Check out this certificate display from Cobb Middle School PTA.
  • Provide closing remarks by the school principal or PTA President that emphasize your PTA's commitment to continuing this work.
Reception - (10-15 minutes)
  • If you host an In-Person event, offer refreshments like a School of Excellence cookie or cake. Consider soliciting donated refreshments provided by a community partner. 
  • If you host an At-Home event, consider sharing a featured video or slideshow highlighting your work in the program and using the chat to engage attendees in your celebration.
  • Include a “Join PTA” table or area where you can provide information about PTA programs to generate membership and support. Specifically promote the School of Excellence program as a membership benefit with these customizable YOU Belong in PTA membership resources!
  • Take lots of photos and share them on social media to continue your celebrations! Don't forget to include National PTA by tagging @NationalPTA and using HowWePTA and #PTAExcellence.

     

Continue Achieving Excellence  

Continue forward on in your Excellence journey by re-enrolling in the National PTA School of Excellence program! Enrollment is open at PTA.org/Excellence until Oct. 15.

The program has been revamped to better align to the newly updated National Standards for Family-School Partnerships and now includes more streamlined program steps. National PTA encourages PTAs to re-enroll year-over-year as a best practice for deepening your impact and building on the momentum you’ve gained. You can also be a leader in your community by encouraging local PTAs near you to enroll and by providing support and leadership to building effective family-school partnerships for ALL students.

Don't stop celebrating

Following your designation and celebration event, consider these options for continuing to share your excellence.

  • At every PTA and school event, reinforce the importance of your work to support and improve student success and remind your community that the work is ongoing to help attract action-oriented volunteers. 
  • Continue to share the work on social media with takeaways from your Final Narrative that highlight key examples of how your PTA used best practice through the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships.
  • Include a designation graphic on your school and PTA communications to remind your community of this accomplishment. Use the 2022-2024 School of Excellence designation e-signature graphic and/or Zoom Frame to reinforce your commitment to Excellence and pique the interest of potential members.

Grow Your PTA with School of Excellence

Demonstrate the value of PTA to your membership with customizable School of Excellence YOU Belong in PTA  resources. Find, download and customize sample social media graphics and print & go flyers that spread awareness about your PTA's impact through the School of Excellence program.

You Belong in PTA School of Excellence

You Belong in PTA School of Excellence

   

Stay connected with National PTA

Throughout the year, we will highlight National PTA School of Excellence designees through e-newsletters, blogposts, social media, etc. to share how your school and PTA partnered to engage families. In addition, as leaders in family-school partnerships, your PTA will be provided insider access to future opportunities from National PTA and our partners.