No sense of community at school--Non Public

[Anonymous]

There is a push from the administration at my kids school to create a sense of community. Sounds like a job for the PTA--except there isn't one. I'd also like to be able to do something for teacher appreciation and the elem kids holiday parties but that takes money. I'm happy to take charge but I need a bit of help getting started. I have a few challenges that I'm trying to think through as I consider how to approach this.

1. The school pulls from the entire county
2. Many families lack private transportation
3. School includes elem, middle, and HS grades.

Here's what I've come up with and crossed off

1. After school activity--how will the kids get home once the busses have left?
2. Community picnic---challenging for people without private transportation. No central community location
3. Dining Out fundraiser---how do you do this across the county? I thought that it was location dependent. I could be wrong.4.
4. Selling something--no one likes those fundraisers

I could use some ideas and suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Is this for a private school? If so, it’s in the wrong forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this for a private school? If so, it’s in the wrong forum.

It is not. The school is MCPS non public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this for a private school? If so, it’s in the wrong forum.

It is not. The school is MCPS non public.

That sounds like an oxymoron. I didn’t know these existed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this for a private school? If so, it’s in the wrong forum.

It is not. The school is MCPS non public.

That sounds like an oxymoron. I didn’t know these existed.

They are special education schools.

[Anonymous]

You need something that occurs more than once a year - not a one time picnic or fundraiser.

I would do monthly coffees (one per grade or a few grades together) or meet ups a playground. You also need to do a variety of morning, after school and evening stuff so everyone can try to make it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need something that occurs more than once a year - not a one time picnic or fundraiser.

I would do monthly coffees (one per grade or a few grades together) or meet ups a playground. You also need to do a variety of morning, after school and evening stuff so everyone can try to make it.

Yes, playground meetups are a great start ... you just have to vary the times so that no one group gets excluded.

Don't worry about pleasing everyone -- that's impossible. Of the four ideas you listed, I think the community picnic is the best. Sure, some people won't be able to come, but lots will.

Building community takes time. I think charity drives are a great way to foster community. You can do lots of fun things like setting a challenge for which grade can bring in the most school supplies/nonperishable food/socks, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this for a private school? If so, it’s in the wrong forum.

It is not. The school is MCPS non public.

There’s no such thing. It’s either MCPS school or private. Name it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need something that occurs more than once a year - not a one time picnic or fundraiser.

I would do monthly coffees (one per grade or a few grades together) or meet ups a playground. You also need to do a variety of morning, after school and evening stuff so everyone can try to make it.

Yes, playground meetups are a great start ... you just have to vary the times so that no one group gets excluded.

Don't worry about pleasing everyone -- that's impossible. Of the four ideas you listed, I think the community picnic is the best. Sure, some people won't be able to come, but lots will.

Building community takes time. I think charity drives are a great way to foster community. You can do lots of fun things like setting a challenge for which grade can bring in the most school supplies/nonperishable food/socks, etc.

Charity drives are a great suggestion! Playground meetups will be great for the elem kids. What do the MS and HS kids typically do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this for a private school? If so, it’s in the wrong forum.

It is not. The school is MCPS non public.

There’s no such thing. It’s either MCPS school or private. Name it.

The MCPS non publics are:

Stephen Knowlls
Longview
RICA
Rock Terrace
Carl Sandburg
AEP at Blair Ewing

[Anonymous]

First of non-public MCPS school does sound like an oxymoron, I guess better name may be special services MCPS school? But thats not the question.
I am assuming that other parents are also interested in fostering a sense of community? I would start with newsletter and may be a FB group. Just to gauge the overall interest of other parents before you put too much effort into this.
Also, monthly coffee/meet up idea is great. Have you talked with school's stuff about this? They might need help with admin tasks volunteers can do (copying/filing/mailers/etc) and you can organize a "Sip and file" meet up at the school itself. Since the common link for everyone is the school, I would naturally try to make that your gathering/central point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First of non-public MCPS school does sound like an oxymoron, I guess better name may be special services MCPS school? But thats not the question.
I am assuming that other parents are also interested in fostering a sense of community? I would start with newsletter and may be a FB group. Just to gauge the overall interest of other parents before you put too much effort into this.
Also, monthly coffee/meet up idea is great. Have you talked with school's stuff about this? They might need help with admin tasks volunteers can do (copying/filing/mailers/etc) and you can organize a "Sip and file" meet up at the school itself. Since the common link for everyone is the school, I would naturally try to make that your gathering/central point.

Thank for this! It makes a lot of sense. I know there are core group of parents that are interested but you're right, if most people are not, it's a lot of effort for no reason.

I posted in the MCPS forum rather than the Kids with Special Needs because I'm looking for community/raising ideas. I know a lot of people on DCUM have been in leadership positions in their schools and I thought I would get the most helpful response in this forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this for a private school? If so, it’s in the wrong forum.

It is not. The school is MCPS non public.

There’s no such thing. It’s either MCPS school or private. Name it.

The MCPS non publics are:

Stephen Knowlls
Longview
RICA
Rock Terrace
Carl Sandburg
AEP at Blair Ewing

Those are not non publics. They are public schools.

First thing is to figure out where your child goes to school. If one of the above they are public schools.

Non-public are private schools.

[Anonymous]

Start a pta or pto. Mcps mostly has PTAs but Virtual Academy is a PTO. You really need a formal organization and insurance to do some of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this for a private school? If so, it’s in the wrong forum.

It is not. The school is MCPS non public.

Is it a non public school which is a private school specifically for students with disabilities some of whom have their tuition paid by MCPS, or some place like RICA or Stephen Knolls which is a county wide public school?