Whether you’re starting kindergarten or moving here in the middle of the year, here’s what you need to know about the PTO.
You’re already a member
If you’re a parent, guardian, or caregiver of a King student, you’re in the PTO. No dues, no forms, no minimum commitment. Show up to a meeting and you get a vote.
How we’ll reach you
Email newsletter. This is the main one, and you’re already on it. We send it through the school’s email list, so there’s nothing to sign up for.
WhatsApp. King families run a community group and a group for each grade level. They aren’t PTO groups, but they’re where a lot of day-to-day questions get answered. Click here to join!
This website. Calendar, meeting minutes, and whatever we need volunteers for.
Flyers home. We may send a paper flyer home with your student for certain events and activities.
Come to a meeting
Whenever they land: bring your questions, bring your kid if you need to. You don’t need to have read anything or prepared anything, and coming once doesn’t sign you up for a committee. We promise.
Volunteering
There’s no minimum. Some families run whole committees. A lot of us help at one event a year. Plenty of people do neither, and that’s completely fine.
If you do want to help, two things:
Fill out the AAPS volunteer form
The district requires it once a year before you can volunteer in the building or chaperone a field trip. Do it in September if you can, because staff can’t let you help without it, and it always comes up at the worst moment.
Volunteer opportunities are updated throughout the year
Sign-ups come by email and will be listed on the website.
Words you’ll hear
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Specials | Art, music, PE, and library |
| PLTW | Project Lead The Way, the hands-on STEM curriculum AAPS uses. Kids design, build, and test things in engineering, computer science, and biomedical science. |
| Y5 | Young Fives, an extra year before kindergarten for kids with birthdays close to the cutoff. |
| Bagel Fridays | A few mornings a year, families can buy bagels, muffins, juice, and coffee at school before the bell rings. More of a social hour than a fundraiser. King staff don’t pay for theirs. |
| International Night | Our annual celebration of the cultures in the King community |
| Silent Auction | Held in early spring. One of our biggest fundraisers of the year. |
| Turkey Trot | Fall run, with donuts and cider afterward |
| Field Day Frenzy | End-of-year outdoor games day |
| Restaurant Night | A local restaurant gives King a cut of the night’s sales |
| Lego League | Robotics and engineering club |
| Science Olympiad | Competitive science teams for grades 2-5 |
| Learning Garden | King’s school garden |
| King Community Fund | Money set aside to quietly help King families who need it |
| Mini grants | Per-student funding we provide to teachers for their classrooms |
| PTOC | Ann Arbor PTO Council, the district-wide group all the AAPS PTOs belong to |
| AAPAC | Ann Arbor Parent Advisory Committee for special education |
| Rec & Ed | AAPS Community Education & Recreation. After-school classes, sports, summer camps. |
| Kindergarten Roundup | The winter information and enrollment sessions for incoming families |
Who to ask
| If you need | Ask |
|---|---|
| General PTO questions | President, Lisa Arnsdorf Vice President, Harini Sundararaghavan |
| Volunteering | Secretary, Buffy Beattie |
| Donations or reimbursements | Co-treasurer, Sara Hammerschmidt Co-treasurer, Shital Patel |
| A fix to the PTO website or newsletter | Meredith Laverty |
| Enrollment, attendance, health forms | King front office |
| Something about your own child | Your teacher first, then Principal Bogins |
If money is tight
We keep money set aside for King families, and requests go through the school social worker or the principal so they stay private. That covers things like winter gear, backpacks, shoes, Book Fair books, and field trip costs. What we’re able to cover depends on how fundraising goes in a given year, but we’d much rather you ask than assume the answer is no. That’s what the fund is there for.