Blogs

March 19, 2016

How this school directory app and membership management software helped my district PTA?

This article was first posted on the National PTA Blog at http://onevoice.pta.org/?p=6784. Below is a case study presented by a Westport PTA President on how database software helped her district with a school directory app and membership management software. My name is Denise Baer, and I have been an involved PTA member for over 13 years. I have served on PTA executive boards in many capacities, including being elected PTA president twice. My town of Westport, Conn. has eight schools‚ Äîfive elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. Each school‚Äôs PTA operates independently, but we work collaboratively through a town-wide PTA council. A longstanding challenge in Westport was how to manage our student, parent and teacher directory. Each school used their own software such as Microsoft Excel, Word or some combination. None of these systems interacted with the school databases, and there was no easy way to track […]
March 10, 2016

Find a family easily in your school!

As a parent, we meet other parents briefly at school events, class events, soccer, baseball and sports games and other extra-curricular activities. However,¬†connecting with them again, especially if you met them once only, is very difficult. You might remember a name vaguely although you recognize their face from previous encounters at the school. It takes a village to raise a child so the better you bond with families in your school or team, the easier it is to get playdates, arrange carpools and be a part of the community. We all agree that we are not all that good at remembering names and associating them with the many faces we meet at school. Greeting someone with their first name makes a huge impact and starts off conversations much better. Finding a family in your children’s school should not be that difficult. If you have an online school directory or school […]
March 3, 2016

Online Organizational Tools for the PTA/PTO/Non-Profit: Calendly

  Scheduling software for the PTA, PTO or Non-profit Organizations The Problem: Scheduling meetings one-to-one can be difficult. Scheduling meetings with multiple participants is exponentially more difficult, e.g., an impromptu PTA board meeting. The major task in scheduling is to find a time that works for everyone. From experience, we know that exchange of emails to schedule optimal meeting time can quickly get out of hand. So, is there a better way? The Solution: There are a number of online meeting scheduling apps that can make the scheduling of a meeting much easier. These scheduling apps come with the basic functions of scheduling a meeting and following that up with creating event invites. The most suitable app for you is the one that is compatible with the online calendar that you use and at the same time does not limit the calendar applications used by your meeting invitee. Our Recommendation: […]