Support for Families

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Notes from the Backpack Podcast

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Back to School with PTA


Support for Students and Families

 
Get Ready for Season 7 of the Notes from the Backpack Podcast!
 

We will discuss important topics such as supporting kids through transitions, facing math anxiety and harnessing the power of parent advocacy to help you navigate through the school year. Listen to our previous seasons and look for new episodes Sept. 14. Listen now.

Notes from the Backpack Podcast

Healthy Lifestyles

 
How to Maintain a Healthy Mind in School and at Home
 

It’s important to support a child’s mental health before, during and after challenges arise. Our resources will help make mental health an everyday priority, woven into your family’s regular routines, to help your child navigate through all they experience throughout the school year. Find helpful tools.

5 Ways Schools Can Support Students Well-Being This Year
 

There are steps that schools can take to promote student and staff mental health and well-being for the entire year. While these steps are important in every school year, they are particularly important now. Learn about five things schools can do now to support students this year. Read the CDC’s five-step approach.

Prioritize Health and Wellness Throughout the Year
 

Living healthy means more than just eating a well-balanced diet—it includes your physical, mental and emotional well-being. Check out our initiative to promote healthy bodies, healthy minds and a healthy earth in our school communities. Learn more.

Get Your Kids Excited About Drinking Water
 

Hydration is important for children’s health and wellness yet getting children to drink water can sometimes be a struggle. Try our 10 tips to help make drinking water fun and easy for your kids and the whole family! Water drinking fun.


Student Privacy Matters for Parents and Guardians
 

Your child's education record is full of data. If your child goes to a school that receives any amount of federal funding, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the privacy of your child's education record. Check out these resources to learn more about the steps you can take as a parent or guardian to protect your child's privacy.

Privacy Matters: Correcting the Record
Privacy Matters: Your Rights Under FERPA

Privacy Matters: Correcting the Record Privacy Matters: FERPA Rights


New School Year, New Devices, New House Rules
 

The Smart Talk is a free tool that helps families set digital safety ground rules together. National PTA and Norton want to help families facilitate positive conversations and set smart boundaries that influence our habits around: 

  • Privacy and Security
  • Communication
  • Media Choices
  • Health and Wellness
  • Ongoing Conversations

Start The Smart Talk today!

The Smart Talk

NortonLifeLock Cares About Your Family’s Digital Safety
 

As your kids go back-to-school and start making new accounts in apps and programs, try these three easy digital safety tips to help your family stay Cyber Safe. Get the tips.

Make Informed Decisions About TV Programs
 

Television is a big part of our lives. Back-to-school is a great time for parents to learn about or refresh their knowledge of TV Parental Guidelines. Also known as the TV ratings system, the guidelines are designed to help parents make more informed decisions about the appropriateness of TV programs. Learn more.

Reset Your Family Routine This School Year—Less is More
 

Our Children: As we go back to in-person schooling and schedules, learn how you can avoid the busyness and heavy load that the new school year can bring on a family’s daily routine. Here’s a clue—do less. Find out how.

Prep Your Child for Success

 
School of Excellence Enrollment
 

Concerned about student well-being or academic achievement? With the School of Excellence program, you can identify the biggest need in your school community and empower all families to help. Learn more and enroll at PTA.org/Excellence.

Enroll Now!

Get Bilingual Resources for Students Success
 

In partnership with National PTA and Univision, Learning Heroes created Ready to Team Up to support families with research-based tips and easy-to-use bilingual (English/Spanish) resources to help them start the school year strong and team up with teachers based on a shared understanding of where their child is doing well and where they need more support.

What Your Child Should Learn This Year
 

Get the ultimate guide—by grade—on what your child will learn in English, literacy and math. It will help you use everyday activities as teachable moments to reinforce what your child learns in school. Check them out.

Help Your Child Succeed in Key Learning Areas
 

National PTA, in partnership with the National Education Association created guides to give parents valuable tips to help their child succeed throughout their academic journey. Get the guides.

Your Family Guide to State Testing
 

New! Use our state-by-state tool to get important information about the state tests this school year and how things may be different because of the pandemic. Review your state’s testing guidelines.

Get Info on All Vaccinations Beyond COVID-19
 

It’s been a tough year all around and your child may be vulnerable to one of several serious diseases if you are behind on doctor’s appointments. Get a list of the available and recommended vaccines for school-aged children. Get Vax Facts.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Students and Families

 
Back-To-School Address to Transgender Students
 

This short video message from the Federal Government, featuring Kristen Clarke (DOJ), Dr. Rachel Levine (HHS) and Suzanne Goldberg (ED) reaffirms the Federal government’s readiness to act to defend the rights of transgender students. Watch it now.

Confronting Discrimination Based on National Origin and Immigration Status
 

This easy-access fact sheet from OCR and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division shares information about public elementary and secondary schools’ obligations to enroll all children, regardless of national origin or immigration status, and to provide language assistance to English learners. Read it now. There is also a Spanish language version.





Kids Running to School