FIA PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION

The mission of the Faith Islamic Academy PTO is to promote a positive partnership between parents and teachers in order to enhance our children’s religious, educational, and social experiences. FIA PTO is dedicated to improving and enriching the FIA experience for every student while assisting them in achieving their highest potential.

The PTA, or Parent-Teacher Association, is a national organization which requires membership, and each member would be required to pay dues to be a part of the group, among other differences.  Schools that do not have an affiliation with the national PTA, like us here at FIA, have independent groups referred to as parent-teacher organizations, or PTOs. The PTO is sometimes perceived as a fundraising group, but this is not its primary responsibility. The purpose of the PTO is to encourage parents to assist with various school activities, functions, and services, provide financial assistance where needs are identified within the school, foster a community atmosphere, and support the mission and vision of Faith Islamic Academy.  This can include recruiting and coordinating volunteers, providing special recognition in awards ceremonies or through other activities, organizing parent education events, planning teacher appreciation activities and much more.

Most importantly, all PTO activities are in support of the education, well-being and success of our children. School PTO meetings can serve as venues for discussions about a variety of educational issues. Teachers may talk to the parent community about a new educational program or student discipline issues. Experts from the community may talk about building better relationships with our adolescents or share important information about school improvement initiatives. Parents may raise concerns about such things as homework or proposed changes in the school curriculum. The PTO can also provide a powerful mediating function, providing a neutral forum for resolving conflicts that sometimes occur in schools around controversial issues.

Regardless of what your exact interests are, you can be certain that your participation will be welcomed in our school’s parent-teacher organization. And the PTO is not just for moms. Many dads play an active role as volunteers and can take on leadership roles in the organization. We have sign-up sheets here today on the tables and in the school office and will send home information about organizational activities throughout the year for your involvement. Even if you don’t have much time, attending FIA’s PTO meetings is an excellent way to stay on top of what’s happening at the school and to connect with other parents and school staff.  Please seriously consider joining the PTO.  You can help in so many ways! We will have a meeting every month Insha’Allah. An agenda will be sent out ahead of time so you know what topics are being discussed. We also want to include things that will improve and strengthen our community and organization, so topics will not just be fundraisers and activities.

We intend to plan events much more in advance going forward. Some of the ideas we are discussing for this year are:

• Parents’ Night Out

• Cultural Festival

• COSI school field trip

• Special Interest Clubs

• Having a PTO Announcement Bulletin in the lobby

We would like to have many parents join our meetings to discuss these ideas and more and to make decisions together about this year’s events.

Jazaakumu Allahu khairan!

To join the PTO, please request an FIA PTO membership Form from the Front Office