The first priority of every parent, every family, and every educator is the safety and security of our children.

• Host speakers on topics related to supporting students;
• Engage in a letter writing campaign to our NYS Congressional Delegation on the federal bills detailed here, and visit Congressional leaders in their home offices with students to discuss solutions;
• Host a school spirit rally to help with student morale or other events that celebrate students accomplishments;
• Host meaningful conversations about mental health, socio-emotional health, and bullying prevention;
• Host "Be Kind" days or other supportive events for students;
• Host a parent/family meeting about school security, and programs that support mental health, socio-emotional health, and bullying prevention.

The PTA message and mission have never been more important.

• We STRONGLY OPPOSE arming educators, administrators or teachers in our schools.
• We support increased mental health, socio-emotional health, and bullying prevention services for students, and we call for adequate funding, support, and reasonable case loads for school guidance counselors, school psychologists, school nurses and clinical licensed social workers for every school building.
• We strongly support the student voice advocating for meaningful input into safety and security matters.
• We strongly support and will ask New York's Congressional Delegation to co-sponsor the following federal bills:
  • The STOP School Violence Act (H.R. 4909)
  • The Gun Violence Research Act (H.R. 1478)
  • The Fix NICS Act (S. 2135/H.R. 4434)

Click here to read more about both NYS PTA and National PTA's positions.

HOW CAN YOU TAKE ACTION?

On Tuesday, March 13, we will email you a Take Action alert, asking you to call and email our Congressional Delegation and request they co-sponsor the federal bills listed above.

Our mission has never been clearer - to support EVERY child, with ONE voice, to ensure EVERY child is SAFE in school and home.

NYS PTA is requesting each one of our current 224,000 members to support children by asking just one person to join in our mission on March 28.

Our goal is to double the amount of voices speaking on behalf of all children in NYS in 24 hours. We will update our progress on our website, Facebook and Twitter throughout the day.

Who will be your +ONE?

Male Engagement Award

We encourage you to share with dads and male father figures that their involvement in PTA:

• Shows added interest in their children's education and school activities;
• Shows greater support for their children's teachers and school; and
• Improves relationships between parents and school personnel.

A Male-Engagement promotional flier has already been created for you to support a successful Men Matter badge contest campaign. Please click here for the promotional flier.

To qualify for the badge award, your unit needs to:

• Register and pay dues for male members representing at least 30% of your total membership by March 31.
• Identify male members using the gender field on the portal.

Badge Bonus: All Men Matter badge recipient units will be entered into a drawing to win one of five PTA Swag prizes.

Our students will soon take the 3-8 English Language Arts and Math state standardized tests.

We reaffirm our support for a parent's right to make educational decisions for their children.

"NYS PTA strongly supports a parent's right to make informed educational decisions for their children," offered Gracemarie Rozea, NYS PTA President. "We support the right of every parent to decide what is best for their child, which includes decisions around their child's participation in state assessment."

Executive Director Kyle Belokopitsky added, "NYS PTA believes that schools must establish a balanced use of assessments to inform instruction without over testing or emphasizing test performance. We do not support the use of a single test or assessment for placement, promotion, retention decisions or other high-stakes decisions affecting students. Over-emphasis on high-stakes testing, especially tests that can be linked to both educator and school accountability, is detrimental to students and the education process."

NYS PTA is committed to making every child's potential a reality and looks forward to working with New York State officials to see that every child's dream is achieved.

National PTA and Microsoft partnered to empower families to support student success and fill a critical gap in STEM education with 2018 National PTA STEM + Families Tech Grants.

Congratulations to two PTA middle schools who will each receive $1,000 to host a STEM + Families Tech Night this spring!

• A.D. Oliver Middle School [part of Brockport Central PTSA] in Brockport NY, Genesee Valley Region
• Eastchester Middle School in Eastchester NY, Westchester-East Putnam Region

Check out all the 2018 National PTA STEM + Families Tech Night Grant Recipients.

RSA Student Logo Design Contest!

Rural Schools Association needs a new look and is sponsoring a Student Logo Design Contest!

We will name five First Place Winners ($150 each) and one $500 Grand Prize Winner!

We know our New York State students are creative and innovative and we want to encourage that, as well as the use of new technologies that assist the graphic artists of tomorrow.

Here are the specifics:

• We are a statewide association and our full name is the Rural Schools Association of New York State.
• We need your design to be in "Vector Art" so we'll have a crisp, EPS file that will work well for our printers and other uses. To do that, you should create your logo design in "Illustrator" so that it can be two spot colors in the end (PMS Black and 186 Red are the colors traditionally associated with RSA).
• Please do not use "Photoshop" or "Publisher" for your design, as it doesn't work well for printing.
• Please email your design to dal295@Cornell.edu. Deadline for entry is March 30, 2018.

DeFEET Distraction Poster Contest - Your Unit Could Win $1,500!

In collaboration with the National Road Safety Foundation, NYS PTA just released a contest to develop a statewide traffic safety poster!

One grand prize of $1,500 will be awarded to the winning PTA Unit

Three runners-up will each receive $500 for their schools' PTA Unit

TO ENTER: Students in grades 1-6 must create a poster or collage on 8.5 x 11 inch paper showing how they can help prevent distracted walking. Teachers may mail entries in one envelope for the whole class.

For the complete Official Rules, see Contest Rules here

MAIL ENTRY (with completed Entry Form) to:

DeFEET Distractions NY Poster Contest, c/o New York State PTA
One Wembley Court
Albany, NY 12205
ATTN: Lynne Degnen-Kolawole

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE MAY 15, 2018

Have you checked out the NEW NYS PTA Online Store! You can order PTA gear like shirts, hats, cups, gifts and awards.

NEW - you can order apparel like shirts and sweatshirts, and have your own unit name as the logo! Checkout the new Custom Shop here!

Now is the time for your voice to be heard! 

Last year PTA members sent nearly 10,000 emails to our state Capitol on critical issues facing our kids, plus thousands of Facebook posts and Tweets!

And this year, you have already sent nearly 5,000 messages to Albany on #TakeActionTuesdays!

You can still Take Action here if you missed the emails:

• Support a $2 Billion Investment in Our Children
• No Student, No Child, Should Ever Go Hungry
• Support and Expand School Mental Health Programs
• A Meaningful Diploma for ALL Students 
• Supports for Recovery High Schools, and the Prevention and Treatment of Heroin and Opioid Abuse
• Meaningful Family Engagement Matters

Save the Date for Summer Leadership - July 20-22 at Union College

When: July 20-22, 2018
New location! Union College in Schenectady, NY

Held on a college campus, Summer Leadership is casual, fun and filled with workshops for learning. Join your fellow PTA members from around the state #LeadingTheWay at this great PTA experience.

NYS PTA's 122nd Annual Convention

When: November 9-11, 2018
Where: Saratoga Springs, New York

Check out the Storify HERE and watch all the action in YouTube videos HERE of Convention 2017!

The dollar store offers so many ways to save on classroom supplies for reading, math, science and more. Check out some teacher-tested dollar store hacks for the classroom from WeAreTeachers.

Testing accommodations allow students with disabilities to participate equally with their non-disabled peers. The NYS Education Dept released a manual with info to help stakeholders make appropriate decisions about accommodations.

Kids with learning and attention issues are more likely to be bullied at school than others. Fortunately, kids have legal protections that require schools to act. Here's a breakdown of how the law protects your child against bullying from Understood.org.

Dear Parents,

Last week, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and I issued a reminder that despite what is happening at the federal level, New York State protects transgender students. 

Click HERE to read more.

Parents profoundly affect future generations. In addition, they need to remind children that a student's GPA and ACT® test or SAT® test scores still serve as the main criteria for college admissions.

• Click here to purchase NYS PTA PrepCast for the SAT Test.
• Click here to purchase NYS PTA PrepCast for the ACT Test. 

CLYNK is the only bottle redemption system that allows you to create a personal account, drop off bags of redeemable containers, accumulate cash in an electronic account, and donate to your school online from your own home computer. Read more here and think of us as a modern bottle drive that's simple and effective!

KidGooRoo is the only place to go online to read ratings and reviews of kids' classes, camps and programs in your area.

Math & Movement is a kinesthetic, multi-sensory approach to teaching math and literacy. Incorporating physical exercise, stretching, cross-body movements, yoga and visually pleasing floor mats designed to encourage students to practice concepts. Students can physically hop, walk, crawl, dance or touch the mats and banners as they learn.