Bulletins

January 2023

October 2022

September 2022

August 2022

April 2022

January 2023

Happy New Year! The FPTC Bulletin is our way of sharing best practices, ideas and tips with you who are doing the work at your schools. Please let us know if there's any subject you'd like to see featured in an upcoming Bulletin.

FPS Outback and School Social Workers

The FPS Outback is our district food pantry. It's called the Outback because the first location was "out back" of Jefferson Elementary. It's currently located at 2350 Old Farmington Road. The Outback serves anyone in FPS, students and employees, and can also help with kids clothing by partnering with Potter's House (vouchers are provided to children so they can shop). FPS Social workers and counselors work together with schools to keep The Outback stocked with food and toiletries.

You probably know your school's counselor, but do you know your school's school social worker? FPS has six social workers who serve all 16 schools. They are a great resource for people in need. They reach out to students if they haven't been at school, can help get kids signed up for camp and help kids and families with counseling services and insurance. Here is a list of all the FPS social workers.

The Outback is always in need of donations and their specific needs change from time to time. If you or your parent group would like to organize a food or goods drive, you can reach out to your principal, counselor and social worker to get something organized.

KMAC NEW COS School Form Interactive.pdf

Taco Bell Certificate of Awesomeness Program

What student wouldn't want a FREE taco or burrito for their awesome achievements at school? Use this form to request certificates for your school!

DiverseAbilities Day

This special event helps build empathy and understanding among students by giving them the opportunity to learn about autism, ADD/ADHD and physical/vision/hearing/speech impairments. Root Elementary hosted their third DiverseAbilities Day back in November and it's quickly becoming a favorite of students, families and staff. The event consists of several classroom stations that students visit with their class during the day where they listen to special guests or get a chance to see what it might be like to be in someone else's shoes. This year, they also brought back an evening event for families with a parent panel, experiential stations and a free dinner. After the event, PTO sent out questions to continue the conversations at home, including: "Some ways I can be inclusive are...", "I can be a good friend to all by..." and "Why do you think what you did today is so important?".

If you would like more information on DiverseAbilities Day, please email Jenny to learn what your PTO/A can do to support this event and get contact info for the staff that helped it become a success.

October 2022

Hello PTA/O Presidents! The FPTC Bulletin is our way of sharing best practices, ideas and tips with you who are doing the work at your schools. Please let us know if there's any subject you'd like to see featured in an upcoming Bulletin.

Canva Teams FREE for Nonprofits

Canva.com is a free resource that anyone can use to create flyers, social media graphics, logos and more. Did you know that nonprofit organizations can get access to all Teams content for FREE? There are many more templates, graphics and fonts available with Canva Teams. Here's how you can apply:

Visit Canva.com and sign up for a free account, if you don't already have one. You may want to use a school email address so it can be passed down each year. You can also invite up to 10 members to join your Team.
On the Home Page, hover over Plans & Pricing, then select Not-for-profit on the right (or click here).
Click on Apply now - it's free!
Fill out the information and under Type of Organization select "Registered nonprofit", click Continue.
Attach tax documentation or proof of your nonprofit status (ie: IRS Letter of Determination or a document with your Tax ID/EIN number). If you aren't sure what document to submit, please email fayarptc@gmail.com and we can help you out.
Click Submit. The process will likely take about a week - watch for an approval email from Canva.

If you want help getting started with Canva, visit their website for some "Getting Started" videos. Or, you can view the Canva.com tutorial the FPTC hosted last month at the link in the following section.

Website Tutorial Videos

The FPTC hosted zoom tutorial sessions for a few websites last month. If you weren't able to attend, you can click the links below to watch the videos.

Signupgenius.com

Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Forms

Canva.com

Inclusive Language in our Schools

In an effort to include and welcome all the unique families represented in our schools, it’s important to use language that promotes inclusivity. Even small tweaks to titles, fliers, and volunteer opportunities can make a big difference in making everyone feel like they belong to the school and district community. Here are a few suggestions to help promote a welcoming environment for all of our families:

Watch Dog Dads→ Families for Safe Schools; or simply Watch Dogs (parents concerned for safety)

Homeroom moms→ Homeroom Helpers, Homeroom Parents, or Homeroom Reps

Donuts with dads→ Donuts with Grownups, Family Day, Loved Ones Day

Muffins with moms→ Muffins in the Mornings, Breakfast with Buddies, Family Day, Loved Ones Day

While we’re at it, Father/daughter dances→ Family glow party

Here are a few more possible inclusive events shared in a great article on the We Are Teachers website:

KISS - Kids Invite Someone Special

VIP Days, VIP Breakfast

Muffins in the Morning

Donut Date

Breakfast Club

Coffee and Conversations

Morning Mug

Pancakes and Pajamas

The Spark Foundation Can Help Your School!

The Spark Foundation is a local nonprofit whose mission is to increase access to health and fitness education opportunities for our community. They host six annual races a year, including the Cow Paddy Run, which awards cash prizes to the schools with the most participation. We spoke with the Executive Director, Carey Ashworth, about how Spark can help your PTO/A put on a run at your school. Spark can provide everything needed to set up a run, from track barriers to a fun inflatable start/finish line arch, to water and volunteers to help on run day. They also have a new partnership with One Arkansas NIL so that Razorback Athletes can come to your event and help get students excited about running! Holcomb and Root Elementary both partnered with Spark for their Fun Runs this year with great success. Carey is excited to partner with more schools, so please reach out to her (director@mysparkfoundation.org) if your school is interested in doing a putting on a health or fitness event!

September 2022

Business Sponsorship Programs

Does your PTO/A have a Business Sponsorship Program in place? These are programs set up to create a partnership between local businesses and a school's parent group to bring in income in exchange for promotion on a school's marquee, printed banner, t-shirts, social media, etc. Several PTOs and PTAs are using business sponsorships to bring in valuable income and it's a model that can be modified to fit your parent groups' needs.

Here is a sample Business Sponsor Request Letter that you can use to help get a program started in your parent group. Once you've adopted a program to suit your PTA/O, make a list of businesses nearby that you can reach out to, either in person or by phone or email.

Are you having a hard time finding business sponsors? The FPTC is working on a "Friends of FPS" spreadsheet with businesses and restaurants that are willing to donate a meal or money to an FPS school this year. Please reach out to Molly or Carly and we'll try to help you find a business willing to partner with your school. If you have volunteers, the FPTC Resource Committee chairs would be excited to guide them through the process of asking businesses to become sponsors.

PTO/A Annual To-Dos

Every year your PTO/A will need to take steps to keep your non-profit status current. These tasks can be assigned to a President or Treasurer, but they should be passed down each year so that nothing falls through the cracks.

File a tax return. If your parent group makes over $50,000 a year, you should file Form 990. If your parent group makes less than $50,000 a year, file Form 990-N (postcard).
PTOs must file an annual report with the Secretary of State.
Check to see that your parent group's insurance plan is current.

Class Party Inclusion

With class parties right around the corner, this is a great time to think about how you can include all your families. Consider providing multiple ways for parents to sign up to help and different ways that they can help. While Sign-up Genius is very convenient, some families may not have access to the internet or an email account. Provide a phone number of a PTO/A member they can contact and/or send a small flyer home with the children. In your messages, use inclusive language like volunteers, caregivers or guardians rather than just parents. Additionally, provide other ways for families to help with the parties beyond monetary donations, including actively soliciting suggestions for activities, food or music, and opportunities to lead a read-aloud of a favorite or traditional book.

Action Step! Forward this section to your Homeroom Representatives so that they can use some of these ideas when planning for upcoming Fall Class parties!

What does the FPTC do?

The FPTC is officially one-year old! If you're unfamiliar with the FPTC and what we do, here is a list of some of the things we accomplished in our first year:

Connected FPS PTO/As to community partners to provide:
- student and staff t-shirts at several schools
- student water bottles at several schools
- staff snacks and breakfasts
Created a GroupMe in order to provide community and support amongst PTO/A Presidents
Streamlined the PTO/A scholarship application process. Special shout out to Heather Clouse, last year's McNair PTO President, for putting this idea in front of the FPTC! The FPTC would love to hear any district-level ideas you might have!
Worked with community sponsors to ensure that all PTO/As could offer at least one $500 scholarship

Class Dojo Translate

Did you know that the Class Dojo app has a translate feature? Users just need to click on their profile photo, then click the gear to access the settings, then select Language to have all text translated to one of over 20 languages! Your PTA/O can use Class Dojo as a communication resource and also pass it along to your school administration.

Tip: When posting on Class Dojo, remember that text can be translated but text within graphics cannot be translated.

Congratulations, Asbell!

Thank you FPS PTO/A Presidents for joining the FPTC in extending such a warm welcome to new Asbell parent leaders and co-presidents, Lauren Harper and Nicole Linn. This is an exciting time for Asbell after eight years without a parent-led group and the enthusiasm from this group of parent leaders has been inspiring.

Website training videos

Please click on the links below to view introductory training videos for the websites listed.

Signupgenius.com

Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Forms

Canva.com

August 2022

Hello PTO/A Presidents! The FPTC Bulletin is our new way of communicating best practices, ideas and tips with you who are doing the work at your schools! We'd love to hear your feedback on this and please let us know if there's something specific you'd like to see featured. We know you are busy, so we're aiming for a quick and helpful email that you can read in under 3 minutes! Let's get to it!

Back to School!

It's officially Back to School season! One way PTAs and PTOs can celebrate the start of school is by showing their teachers and staff some love in the form of food. Whether it's providing a staff breakfast or lunch or stocking the staff lounge, the FPTC is here to assist you if you need it. You can also get parents involved by sending out a sign up link to donate food and drinks or reach out to a business sponsor to provide a meal.

If your PTO/A needs ideas or assistance in planning for Back to School, please reach out to Sally Acosta (sallyjacosta@yahoo.com) or Amy Blackman (amylizzie511@gmail.com).

Recruiting Parent Volunteers

The beginning of the year is the ideal time for parent recruitment. Here are some things to consider as you're reaching out to families.

1. Consider sending out a google form or a flyer asking if parents are interested in "giving feedback" or "getting involved with their child's school." It can be easy to assume that getting involved with a PTA or PTO is a huge commitment or requires daytime volunteer hours. If you start with an invitation to share their ideas and perspectives, you may be surprised at who shows up. Once they're in the door, maybe they'll be willing to join a committee that interests them.

2. What does your communication style look like? Are you sending everything to parents/guardians via email or posting online? What assumptions does that make? Be aware that some families may not have internet access and the best way to reach them is by sending materials home with their student.

For more ideas on parent engagement, you can reach out to Jenny Jackson (jenny.jackson07@gmail.com) Gina Clay (ginamclay@gmail.com).

April 2022

Hello PTO/A Presidents! This is the first FPTC Bulletin - a way of communicating best practices, ideas and tips with you who are doing the work at your schools! We'd love to hear your feedback on this and please let us know if there's something specific you'd like to see featured. We know you are busy, so we're aiming for a quick and helpful email that you can read in under 3 minutes! Let's get to it!

T-shirt Partnership with Houndstooth

The FPTC has established a partnership with longtime Fayetteville printer Houndstooth Clothing Company. Their generosity and great customer care made them our first pick to reach out to when trying to secure a better t-shirt printing rate for PTO/As in the district. Houndstooth has agreed to print shirts AT COST for all FPS parent groups! Please reach out to Lacey Bailey (bailey.lacey@gmail.com or 640-6218) if you need a partner to help you navigate the t-shirt process for your school. Lacey can also put you in touch with our rep at Houndstooth who can handle the design and printing of your shirts.

Houndstooth is also excited to offer screen printing demonstrations at your school to teach students graphic design tips and what makes a good looking t-shirt. Schedule a demonstration in early fall and then you could organize a t-shirt design contest for next year's t-shirts!

Staff Appreciation Week - May 2-6

Staff Appreciation Week is quickly approaching! The teachers and staff at our schools have gone above and beyond this year - let's show them some love! Get parents involved by sending out a sign up link to donate food and drinks one day or reach out to a business sponsor to provide a luncheon (or both!). Take this opportunity to show them how much they are loved!

If your PTO/A needs ideas or assistance in planning for Staff Appreciation Week, please reach out to Sally Acosta (sallyjacosta@yahoo.com) or Amy Blackman (amylizzie511@gmail.com).

Recruiting Parent Volunteers

Spring semester is here and although we're counting down the days until Staff Appreciation Week and Field Day, a lot of presidents are also recruiting parents for committees for next Fall! Here are some ideas to consider:

1. Think about the diversity already represented in the room and multiply it. Are there parents of neuro-diverse of differently-abled students? Maximize the community you already have.

2. Make sure parents know which jobs/tasks are skill-based. Many people may not realize that there are ways to get involved that don't require daytime availability. Go over the expectations and time commitment and publicize them upfront.

For more ideas on parent engagement, you can reach out to Nick Cowan (nicholaslcowan@gmail.com) or Gina Clay (ginamclay@gmail.com).

DiverseAbilities Day

Root Elementary held their second DiverseAbilities Day to help build empathy and understanding among students. The event gave students the opportunity to learn about autism, physical/vision/hearing/speech impairments, and ADD/ADHD. Please reach out to Jenny Jackson (rootptopresident@gmail.com) to learn what your PTO can do to support this event and get contact info for the staff that helped this event become a success.

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