So What Exactly Does the Westwood High School PTO Do? Glad You Asked

By: Michelle Micone Doherty

The Westwood High School PTO has taken on a new structure this year, with responsibilities spread among a nine person board, dedicated to working together with parents, students and administrators to enhance the educational experience for our children. Four of our board members recently sat down with Tom Leyden at Neroli Mercato to discuss our goals, how things work and what people can do to get involved:

Michelle Micone Doherty: We found over the years that it was difficult to find that one president who wanted to do all the work. Yes, there are other roles, but the president really took on the brunt of the work to run the PTO. What we found was there were a lot of willing parents who would say, “I have some spare time. I really believe in this cause. I’m willing to give some time.”

So now we have a small board. We split up the work and frankly, it’s also given us more ideas. We’re able to bounce ideas off each other. We use text. We Zoom. We communicate in a very modern manner.

Sandra Castaldini: The Superintendent, Tim Piwowar, occasionally comes to our meetings. We have a representative from the school committee at the meetings, too. Throughout the year, we get all kinds of requests from teachers who might need additional supplies. We get requests from students who might be in clubs that need things. One thing I work with is the grants on the PTO. Grants are for student clubs and faculty members to request funding for things that aren’t funded elsewhere. We review the requests, as a committee, along with anyone who comes to the PTO meetings, and we try to distribute far and wide.

Some of the things that we’ve done recently is give the science department an extra pizza oven because they have a class that uses the oven very often, and I know they use that oven during J-Term as well. We’ve given gavels to the Model UN. We also helped the transition students start a business making and selling dog biscuits for the holidays. We have helped the science department with some data collection/experimental stuff they needed. So it’s exciting. It’s a great way to stay connected to the community because, as we know, high school is the end of the road in our academic journey in Westwood Public Schools, and the needs change at this level.

Brooke Brown: I’ve been doing fundraising for a long time. I started at Deerfield, and then worked my way through what is now Pine Hill, then ran fundraising at the middle school, and then joined the team last year, with Stacie Reiser. During my research, through all of the different things we’ve done at these schools, I’ve been able to come up with some unique ways to run fundraisers and raise money so we can help the schools and help the teachers and, in turn, help all the students. I’m looking forward to this spring and launching a new fundraiser that I’m hoping will work well.

Steph Finegold: As Michelle mentioned, we don’t have two presidents anymore, but each of us has a role. With this structure, people have an opportunity to come to our meetings and express their own opinions, apart from the board, on each of the agenda items. Usually, we start with the money. We go over the fundraising. We go over the grants, and we also have all kinds of connections across town for outreach, including representatives from the School Engagement Committee, SEPAC and the All-Night Grad Party. Everyone is invited. It’s not a closed meeting.

Michelle Micone Doherty: It used to be that you would pay $40 or $50, and you’d become a member of the PTO. Now, everyone is a member of the Westwood High School PTO. Some people don’t know that. You’re automatically a member by virtue of having a student at the school. Anyone who wants to show up at meetings, you’re invited, you don’t have to pay. What we ask for is a contribution, and we find the sweet spot is $50. Most people give $50. Some people give more. Some people give less. That’s all great. We also like to leave room throughout the year, whether people contribute the $50 or not…. sometimes we ask for help with specific projects, like Teacher Lunches – a special lunch for the teachers at the end of the year. It’s very, very open. No amount is too little, we put the funds to work.

As far as the meetings go, I know sometimes a meeting may not fall at a time that’s convenient. We all have busy schedules. If you can make a meeting or two, you’ll find the meetings to be a really great place to get information about what’s going on at the high school. We hear directly from Amy Davenport, the principal. I was completely clueless about all of the events that go on throughout the school year when my daughter was a freshman, and now I understand what the cadence of the school year because of the PTO meetings. So come join us at a PTO meeting. You can reach me by email at michelle.micone@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to share our schedule with you.