How to Get Started as New PTO President

Congratulations on your role as a new PTO President!

You’re joining a select group of volunteers who are going above and beyond the usual call of duty to serve their school parent groups and entire school communities.

Before you get totally overwhelmed, know that the volunteer position you’ve signed up for is something you totally can do.

It may be taxing at times, but you can learn how to effectively lead your group and may even enjoy the process!

Let’s start you off on the right foot with a quick checklist of what to do as a new leader and dig into how to get started as new PTO President:

1.  Check in with Other Leaders

PTO is a team sport, not an individual one.

So it’s super important that you check in with your officers and heads of committees to see where they are individually because your collective efforts form the PTO’s work.

See what the other officers and committee chairs need help with.

Ask where they are with plans for the upcoming school year and if they have any questions.

If they’re overwhelmed, suggest that they find a buddy to balance out the workload, first checking in with the last person to serve in their position.

Checking in like this and offering support means the leaders will begin to see you as a trusted leader who is there to aid them, not micromanage them.

You can check in with the leaders individually if the new school year is close to starting.

If summer has just begun, then get everyone together for a summer planning meeting to set goals and begin to work out the details as a group.

2.  Touch Base with your Principal

Getting on the same page with your Principal early in your new term is also really important as a new PTO President.

Meeting at the beginning of the year can help set that collaborative tone that will help you throughout the year.

Look for opportunities to partner with the school, whether for fundraising or otherwise.

Give the Principal a heads up about all events and make sure they’re on board, even if you don’t need their explicit permission.

A strong school-PTO relationship will make your job as President easier because you can work together on projects, which can help spread the workload and demands on people resources.

3.  Review the PTO Calendar

Next, take a look at the PTO calendar for the year.

Have meetings, family fun events and fundraisers been mapped out?

Have those dates been cross-checked against the school calendar and community calendars?

Having a healthy PTO means having a plan of work at least sketched out so the volunteers can work towards making the events and fundraiser happen.

Check out this post for more on how to create a planning calendar to help your PTO run more efficiently and effectively.

4. Connect with Other District PTO Leaders

It’s always good to check in with the other PTA leaders of other district school at the start of the school year if you haven’t already. 

Before plans and schedules are cemented, there’s time to join together for events and avoid scheduling conflicts. 

Working together will help everyone in the district out, especially the families with kids in multiple buildings.

The school calendar is less cluttered and families don’t have to choose between which schools’ event to attend.

And if you’re already planning an event for 400 kids, then it’s less work to add on another 400 kids than to plan a separate event.

Working with other PTOs in your school district is working smarter!

5.  Stay Calm

Maybe I should’ve listed not freaking out at the top of this list because I know that many first time PTO Presidents are not staying calm.

If this is you, know that in time you’ll grow into this position.

As you learn more, your confidence will continue to grow too.

Everything will be fine, no matter what is going on right now. 

The weight of the entire organization isn’t and shouldn’t be on your shoulders. 

You’re in this with others, so lean on them. 

Doing #1 and #2 on this list should definitely help out with your ability to stay calm ( a bit!).

Another way to stay calm is to get organized as a PTO President.

When you know what resources you have on hand, you will relax, knowing it’s not all up to you.

6.  Fill Any Open Leadership Positions

A PTO’s President job is so much harder with open leadership positions because there is a great temptation to try to do everything yourself.

I speak from experience on this one because I was totally guilty of this on more than one occasion.

One of the biggest mistakes I made during my first year as PTO President was that instead of finding someone else to do certain jobs, I did the work myself.

This meant that I was spending way too much time on PTA stuff than was healthy and I was putting PTA tasks above other things like managing my home and anything beyond basic self-care.

And by the end of the school year, I was headed to burn out town.

Learn from my mistake: Your role as President isn’t to do everything yourself to run the group. 

Rather, your job is to manage everyone and help reach group goals together.

Don’t assume that no one is willing to step up and help out.  

School parent groups get a bad rap because often PTO volunteer leadership roles are undefined and people feel like they get sucked into a volunteer role that never ends. 

So when approaching parents and guardians to ask for their help, make sure to be clear on what the position involves and also the estimated time commitment. 

It’s really important that you’re really honest about what’s involved.  

If not, you’ll end up with disgruntled volunteers and that’s never a good thing!

What if you can’t find someone to do it? 

If you really can’t find anyone to fill the role, then consider if it really needs to be done. 

Harsh, but true!

There may come a time when the volunteer base can no longer support the program, event, fundraiser or tradition.

This has happened to my group a few times and we worked through it by talking about our goals and where volunteers were interested in spending time and effort.

It’s ok for priorities to change.

Watch this!

Give this video a watch to learn more about how to get started as new PTO President:

Resources You’ll Love

The Organized Leader Bundle: All you’re missing is the right set of tools to be an effective, confident and knowledgable leader! Picture your entire board:

… Knowing exactly what to do … Having plug and play strategies and systems to get every aspect of your PTO organized … Working as an organized team, reaching all your goals and then some! This bundle combines essential officer success and binder kits, customized for each role:

• President’s Success Kit (Planner + Agenda Template + President’s Insider’s Guide)
• Treasurer’s Success Kit (Planner + Editable templates + Treasurer’s Insider’s Guide)
• Secretary’s Success Kit (Planner + Newsletter template, Calendar Template + more)
• Fundraising Success Kit (Planner + Strategy Guide + A-thon Kit + Fundraising Insider’s Guide)
• Parent Involvement Success Kit (Planner + Strategy Guide + Video Training + Editable Templates + Membership Insider’s Guide)
• Family Events Binder Kit (Planner)
• Historian’s Binder Kit (Planner)
• Staff Appreciation Binder Kit (Planner)
• Vice President’s Binder Kit (Planner)

Purchasing the bundle saves 20% over buying the kits separately.

Get the kit here!

Only Need Resources for the President?

Picture this: you, the PTO/PTA President, taking charge like a boss, armed with a treasure trove of resources that will make everyone else wondering exactly how you manage it.

Your secret weapon? The President’s Success Kit!

This isn’t a bunch of busywork templates that look really pretty, but don’t actually amount to anything.

This kit is a collection of game-changing, mind-blowing arsenal of systems, tools, and templates designed to make your life easier and turn your dreams of doing fantastic things for your school community into reality. 

The President’s Success Kit is jam-packed with bite-sized nuggets of guidance that will empower you to lead with confidence.

Get your copy today!