PCMS PTA gets reinstated after going defunct
September 25, 2024 at 11:28 p.m.
Though Jill Geller has always been active in the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) scene in Port Chester, she’s had varying experiences between school buildings.
She previously served as a co-president of the PTA at King Street School, where her two sons attended elementary school.
“I had been heavily involved there throughout the years,” she said during a phone interview on Tuesday, Sept. 17. “Then my sons started moving into the middle school and I really saw the difference there.”
Geller said the Port Chester Middle School PTA had essentially dissolved due to low participation.
“I think it was a casualty to the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said. “It looks like parent involvement had dipped down and the group was never able to get back on its feet.”
She spent two years as a passive participant, as her focus was still on the King Street School PTA. But when her youngest son started sixth grade this year, she put her full attention into the organization.
“A few other parents and I decided we needed to revitalize it,” Geller said. “So, we got it back up and running with some help from the statewide organization.”
At the first meeting of the 2024-25 school year, Geller was elected president of the Port Chester Middle School PTA.
On top of rechartering the group, the new administration assessed how a middle school PTA could differ from one that serves an elementary school.
The different parent groups
and how they work
Geller was quick to address what she believes to be the most common misconception about PTAs.
“Yes, PTAs are a supplementary fundraising source for schools, but they are capable of more than that,” she said. “They’re a direct bridge between a school and its community.”
The organizations can come in several different forms, including Parent-Student-Teacher Associations (PTSAs) and Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTOs).
All three can be found in the Port Chester School District: John F. Kennedy and King Street elementary schools and Port Chester Middle School have affiliated PTAs, there’s a PTO at Thomas Edison and Park Avenue elementary schools and a PTSA is connected to the high school.
Though all three serve similar functions, they operate in slightly different ways.
Local PTAs can be a part of a state or national umbrella group, such as the National PTA or the New York State PTA. PTSAs fall under the same category but extend membership to students. On the other hand, PTOs do not have affiliations with larger organizations.
Laura Ianello, co-president of the Park Avenue Elementary School PTO, said there are pros and cons of the three structures.
“There are dues that PTAs collect that go to whatever association they fall under, and they have to follow their guidelines. But it also gives them access to more resources, like grants or legislative opportunities,” she said. “Whereas PTOs keep all dues and are self-governed.”
According to Port Chester Board of Education President Chrissie Onofrio, who serves as the PTA liaison, the threat of losing the PTA branding was one of the motivators for the rejuvenated middle school group.
“I’m not sure what happened to cause the lower membership,” she said on Tuesday, Sept. 23. “But I know they were notified that if they wanted to maintain their membership with the New York State PTA, they had to recharter.”
She added that while the group was still hosting events, like the Scholastic Book Fair, they were missing out on a vital resource PTAs provide: state advocacy.
“I don’t think the kids really missed out on something before because there was still some activity in the group,” Onofrio said. “But it was the parents who missed out on statewide meetings of the PTA. They kind of lost their seat at that table for a little bit.”
The statewide organization has launched various campaigns pushing for things like more funding for lunch programs and mental health programs.
“The structure and organization of a PTA gives parents the chance to make changes at a larger scale while still giving them a chance to be involved with their own kids,” Onofrio said. “And PTAs also give them a lot of support in return.”
Geller explained the available resources assisted greatly with the reestablishment of the Middle School PTA.
“We were able to meet with our regional representatives to help guide us through the process,” she said, adding they received a guiding hand from the Westchester-Putnam Region PTA. “I think it would have been more difficult if we didn’t have that kind of support.”
While the structure of the groups varies, they share a common goal: Enhancing the school experience for all stakeholders.
The different philosophies
Ianello said most parent groups accomplish their enhancement aspirations by raising money.
“PTOs and PTAs are probably most well-known as a source of fundraising for schools,” she said. “We fund field trips, provide teacher support, award college scholarships and host a lot of different events.”
It’s all in an effort to provide students with positive experiences during their time in the building.
“I think, at the elementary level, that’s very important,” she said. “We certainly provide them tangible things like planners, but we also give them things that will become core memories for them.”
She said the Park Avenue School Fun Day, for example, is a common topic for high school students to reflect on in the scholarship application essay.
“These are the types of things that kids remember from their time in elementary school,” Ianello said.
Geller agreed that the philosophy of giving students something to remember is important at the K-5 level, but middle schoolers can also benefit from the PTA in other ways.
“Yes, we provide those experiences for them, but I think they can benefit as well if we’re able to reach out to the community as a whole.”
One of the initiatives Geller is looking forward to is creating events geared towards the parents of students.
“We’re going to be inviting speakers to parent events to talk about what it’s like to raise a middle schooler,” Geller said. “I think it’s a time period that’s full of changes for the kids and that can make things a little tricky for parents to navigate. If we can provide parents with some advice, it could benefit students’ school life by improving their home life.”
Though all the groups aim to improve students’ experience in school, they can only take steps towards achieving it through their most valuable resource: parent participation.
“A PTO is only as strong as its membership,” Ianello said. “And I’ve found that membership really fluctuates over the years.”
It’s a trend that Geller has also seen during her time being involved with the King Street School PTA.
“I’m not really sure why it happens, but participation just has ebbs and flows,” she said. “There’s no real rhyme or reason to it. All we can do is try to make it easier for a group to last through the low periods.”
Anyone interested in joining their child’s school PTA/PTO/PTSA can find more information by reaching out to their respective school building’s administration.
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