Summer Tips to Stay on Track for College & Career Planning
June 17, 2022
Sponsored by College Board As summer arrives, rising seniors might have extra time to think and plan for life after high school. Families are making big decisions that starts with planning for what ha...
By Mary Perry, California State PTA Communications Commission The phrase “media literacy” can raise different issues for different people. One parent might point to the cacophony of different advice ...
Make PTA Planning Part of Your Summer. You’ll Be Glad You Did.
June 17, 2022
By Leadership Services Commission Summer is certainly a time to relax and take a breath. For PTA leaders it’s also the ideal time to get a head start on the next PTA term. When things begin to get bu...
by California State PTA Family Engagement Commission California PTA leaders’ top recommendations for summer break learning activities and adventures you can discover together with your child. Check ou...
California PTA Program Grant Helps Dunsmore Elementary Present Anti-Racism Series
May 27, 2022
By Colleen Hervey, Family Engagement Commission Member and Chair of Scholarship and Grants Committee This week, we’re highlighting Dunsmore Elementary School PTA which received a $2,000 Parent Educati...
How you can have a voice in developing your school district’s LCAP
May 20, 2022
by Kathleen Fay, California State PTA Family Engagement Commission Consultant At this time of year, California school districts can demonstrate their commitment to family engagement in their Local Co...
Nominate a Teacher for McDonald’s Outstanding Educator Awards
May 16, 2022
Sponsored by McDonald’s McDonald’s California owners value education and have long recognized the hard work that teachers across our state put in every day. For years, McDonald’s has worked with...
Sponsored by ETS Beginning in June, parents should be on the lookout for their child’s Student Score Report on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). The California De...
How to Incorporate Your Historian’s Work Into Your PTA All Year
May 16, 2022
By California State PTA Leadership Services Commission In the bylaws of many PTA/PTSA Units, Councils, and Districts the historian is identified as an elected officer (a member of the executive board)...
Tips to Celebrate Student Success: Graduations, Promotions and Proms
May 14, 2022
By California State PTA Leadership Services Commission Each year, PTAs are asked to sponsor various graduation and celebration events in May and June. These events may be for high school seniors or fo...
New Resolution Gives Equitable Access with Plant-based Meals
May 11, 2022
By California State PTA Resolutions Committee and Maya Bhandari, Student Board Member, California State PTA Student Involvement Committee We are pleased to announce that the delegates to the 2022 Cali...
Family Engagement is an Education Priority for California
May 5, 2022
By Kathleen Fay, California State PTA Family Engagement Commission Consultant Springtime brings warmer weather, a week off, and preparations for the future. As school districts tackle budget planning ...
By California State PTA Family Engagement Commission The California Department of Education is looking for parents and guardians of public-school students in Pre-K through 12th grade from a variety of...
California State PTA Supports AB 1703: California Indian Education Act
April 17, 2022
By Beth Meyerhoff, California State PTA Education Advocate Assembly Bill 1703 (Ramos) California State PTA supports Assembly Bill 1703 (Ramos). This bill would change California’s education code...
by Family Engagement Commission The California State PTA is proud to partner with the California Association of African-American Superintendents and Administrators (CAAASA) to support its statewide pr...
By California State PTA Family Engagement Commission Did you know that during the first three years of life, brain development is especially rapid, with more than 700 neural connections created each s...
Family Engagement Opportunities at the 2022 Convention
April 1, 2022
By California State PTA Family Engagement Commission The Family Engagement Commission is excited to meet you at our upcoming state convention on April 29-May 1 in Ontario! We have been planning worksh...
by California State PTA Family Engagement Commission and Arts Committee March is Arts in Education month. Here are some resources and tips to help you celebrate: Here are five reasons to make art a p...
Schools Can Access a Wealth of Free Resources That Support Media Literacy
March 16, 2022
By Mary Perry, California State PTA Communications Commissioner Do you know how well your local school is doing at addressing media literacy? It may be hard to tell if you just look for middle and hig...
Attendance Issues Could Drive a Change in How School District Funding is Calculated
March 16, 2022
By Beth Meyerhoff, Education Legislation Advocate In California, school districts receive funding based on the number of students who attend school or what is known as Average Daily Attendance (ADA). ...
California State PTA Supports SB 878, the Road to Success Act
March 16, 2022
By Beth Meyerhoff, Education Legislation Advocate SB 878 (Skinner) Yellow Buses for Every TK-12 California Public School California State PTA supports Road to Success, a bill which will make sure that...
California State PTA Supports SB 291: Giving Students a Voice Act
March 16, 2022
By Melanie Lucas, Education Legislation Advocate SB 291 California State PTA supports a bill that would give students a seat at the table on a special needs advisory board. Roughly 800,000 students in...
California State PTA Supports AB1675: Expedited Application Process For Teacher Credentialing of Military Spouses
March 16, 2022
By Beth Meyerhoff, Education Legislative Advocate AB 1675 (Ward) Expedited Teacher Credentialing for Spouses of Active Duty Armed Forces Members California State PTA took a support position on a bill ...
California State PTA is a Sponsor of AB 1614, Increasing the LCFF Base Grant
March 16, 2022
By Anita Avrick, Education Legislation Advocate AB 1614 (Muratsuchi) It’s Time to Raise the Base Grant California State PTA supports increasing school funding for all students. Our students deserve a...
California State PTA Supports AB558, School Meals: Child Nutrition Act of 2022
March 16, 2022
By Vinita Verma, California State PTA Health Advocate AB 558 (Nazarian) School meals support education by providing nutrition to children. They improve behavior, ability to focus, and academic perform...
California State PTA Supports AB 58: Pupil health: suicide prevention policies and training
March 16, 2022
AB 58 (Salas) by Vinita Verma, California State PTA Health Advocate California State PTA has taken a support position on Pupil health: suicide prevention policies and training. The California State P...
By California State PTA Arts Education Committee and Health & Community Concerns Commission There is no question that an emphasis on the importance of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in the educa...
Bylaws for Local PTA/PTSA Units: Essential and Easy to Update
March 16, 2022
By Leadership Services Commission What do you think of when you hear the term “bylaws?” Does “restrictive,” “rules,” and “Who needs them?” come to mind? The more familiar you are with unit, council, o...
PTA Advocacy is Member Driven: Resolution at the 2022 Convention
March 16, 2022
By California State PTA Resolutions Committee PTA advocacy is led by our members from the local elementary school to the state and national level. Our efforts are guided by PTA authorities; such as re...
Interview: Ways to Include and Engage the Men in Your PTA
February 25, 2022
Byline: LaQuisha Anderson, Family Engagement Commissioner The California State PTA Family Engagement Commission sat down with PTA dad Murali Vasudevan to discuss his experience serving in the PTA at h...
Keeping Family School Partnerships Strong as COVID Challenges Continue
February 18, 2022
by By Kathleen Fay, California State PTA Family Engagement Commission Consultant When families are involved in their children’s education they have better outcomes and when families and schools are pa...
Take Your Family-to-School Week: Strengthening Family-School Ties
February 11, 2022
by Family Engagement Commission February 14-18th is Take Your Family to School Week. This statewide event, created by the National PTA In 2006, gives families a chance to see what happens on their chi...
Tips to Foster Educational Equity for All Students
February 10, 2022
Sponsored by College Board In California, college-readiness and college-going rates vary greatly by race and ethnicity. Black, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander students are less likely to...
Why Teaching Media Literacy Is Optional in California
February 8, 2022
By Mary Perry, California State PTA Communications Commission When it comes to media literacy, our students may be in real trouble. For example, nine out of ten students who participated in a 2019 na...
Six Ways to Fix the “Everyone Welcome Sign” on Your PTA
February 8, 2022
By: California State PTA Leadership Services and Family Engagement Commissions You’re in the PTA to do good things for all kids and families. You might think your PTA is a place where everyone feels w...
Proposed State Budget Is A Cause For Guarded Optimism
February 8, 2022
By: Beth Meyerhoff, California State PTA Legislative Advocate Each January in California, a new legislative year kicks off with the governor submitting a proposed state budget. This year, the Governo...
A High School Counselor Shares Tips for Families to Help Preparing Their Child for College or Career
February 8, 2022
By: Family Engagement Commission A high school counselor shares tips on how families and counselors can work together for success after high school. February 7-11 is National School Counseling Week. ...
By: Family Engagement Commission There are many people on a school campus that families should become acquainted with — one key person is the school counselor. The week of February 7th is National Sch...
Celebrating February Holidays and Events as a Family
January 28, 2022
By: Family Engagement Commission It’s almost February! Get ready for a month full of important holidays and events including Black History Month, Presidents’ Day, Safer Internet Day and Valentine̵...
MEMBERSHIP TIP: Founders’ Day. Remind Your Community of the Value of PTA
January 24, 2022
By Membership Services Commission PTA has been a fierce advocate for children and families in our schools, across the nation, and throughout California. PTA was founded on February 17, 1897, and Calif...
by California State PTA Family Engagement Commission Relationships are at the core of high-quality family engagement. As a PTA leader, you must take the time to build trusting, authentic relationships...
By Heather Ippolito, Vice President for Family Engagement , California State PTA Whose job is it to create partnerships between families and the schools that serve them? That question has driven the w...
Media Literacy: Should it be part of your school’s curriculum?
January 13, 2022
By Mary Perry, California State PTA Communications Commission In the era before internet and social media news, we looked to a limited number of media sources (e.g. newspapers and magazines, TV networ...
By Mireira Moran, California State PTA Communications Commissioner If you receive an email/text or social media message that seems a bit strange – you might be a target of a scam. You may have receive...
Make Sure You’re Prepared for Your PTA’s Annual Meeting
January 11, 2022
By Michael Morgan, Vice President for Leadership Services Your PTA is required to have an annual association meeting. Your California State PTA Leadership Services Commission is here to help you. A fe...
By Dianna McDonald, California State PTA Advocate New laws around Infrastructure, jobs, and climate change will impact California’s children and families. California is due to receive about $45 billio...
New Law Helps Schools Better Serve Homeless Students
January 10, 2022
By Amy Rickard, California State PTA Advocate California’s population of homeless youth is growing. Assembly Bill (AB) 27, supported by California State PTA and recently signed into law, assures...
By Membership Services Commission MEMBERSHIP TIP: The New Year Calls For New Membership Campaigns Let’s ring in the new year by bringing in new members to our PTAs so we can continue to support childr...
Family-School Partnership Standard #6: Collaborating With Community
January 7, 2022
By Kathleen Fay, California State PTA Family Engagement Commission Consultant The PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships offer best practices for increasing authentic family engagement ...
How Your PTA Can Engage Even the Busiest Working Parents
December 17, 2021
By Heather Ippolito, Vice President for Family Engagement To be as inclusive as possible, every PTA needs to provide opportunities for all parents and families to be involved. So far on the blog we’v...
Family-School Partnership Standard #5: Sharing Power
December 9, 2021
By Heather Ippolito, Vice President for Family Engagement When families and schools work together as equal partners in decision-making, students succeed. Parents/caregivers, students, school staff, an...
By California State PTA Treasurer and state office IT Staff We are no strangers to various scams across the internet — whether it’s through phone calls regarding our car’s extended warranty or emails ...
