What does a PTO do?

While school expenditures are being trimmed thinner each year, Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO) are becoming even more important within each school's community. PTO's are a lifeline when it comes to ensuring that the students have the supplies and enrichment programs that make for a more complete learning experience. To do this, fundraising is an essential part of the PTO.

But the PTO does much more than just fundraise to help pay for school supplies and equipment. They raise funds for things that do not fall within the realm of a typical classroom experience. The funds that are raised are returned to the teachers as teacher appreciation gifts and luncheons; they are returned to the students as field trips, enrichment programs, and graduation gifts to help them experience things outside of the classroom curriculum; and they help create a sense of community among school families through family fun events, ice cream socials, and school performances.