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PTA is a grassroots organization made up of parents, teachers and others around the state who have a special interest in children, families and schools. By joining the PTA, a member automatically becomes part of the largest child-advocacy organization in the state – over 630,000 strong across Texas!
Studies have proven that membership in PTA provides your child and other children around you with a greater chance of achieving in school. As a PTA member, you are more likely to be an informed, involved parent.
The Barton Hills Elementary PTA is a local branch of the Texas PTA. The Texas PTA…
- Maintains states headquarters with a staff available for assistance and direction for local PTA officers and members
- Provides leadership training through seminars, workshops and conferences
- Publishes various materials available to local PTAs
- Offers scholarships for educators and students
- Provides an annual state convention for training and state business
- Sends information to local PTA leaders on critical issues
- Provides legislative representation for the children of Texas
In addition, members are eligible for special offers and discounts from businesses that partner with the Texas PTA. Find out more in the members-only section on the Texas PTA website. You’ll need the username and password from the back of your PTA Membership Card or Texas PTA Member Benefits Card to access it.
Learn how you can join the PTA today by contacting Jill Torres.
The Mission of PTA
The mission of the PTA is three-fold:
- To support and speak on behalf of children and youth in the schools, in the community, and before governmental agencies and other organizations that make decisions affecting children;
- To assist parents in developing the skills they need to raise and protect their children;
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- To encourage parent and public involvement in the public schools of this nation.
The Purpose of PTA
- To promote the welfare of children and youth in home,
school, community and place of worship.
- To raise the standards of home life.
- To secure adequate laws for the care and protection of
children and youth.
- To bring into closer relation the home and the school, that
parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the
education of children and youth.
- To develop between educators and the general public such
united efforts as will secure for all children and youth the
highest advantages in physical, mental, social and spiritual
education.
100-Year Anniversary of the PTA
On February 17, 1897, the PTA idea took on the force and vitality of a nationwide movement when some 2000 people arrived in Washington, DC to discuss “questions most vital to the welfare of children and the manifold interests of the home.” They came in response to the call of Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst and met for three days. When they left, they had brought into being a national organization dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in home, school, place of worship and community. Today there are fifty-four congresses in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and schools serving military dependents in Europe and the Pacific. The Texas Congress of Parents and Teachers joined this group in Dallas on October 19, 1909 when the constitution was adopted and the first officers were elected. Ella Caruthers Porter served as the first president. The state headquarters moved from Dallas to Austin in 1921.
Today, membership stands at over 630,000.
Watch this space in the coming months to learn interesting facts about the first 100 years of Texas PTA and to learn details of upcoming events to mark this momentous occasion.
Stay tuned…
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