Skaggs Elementary PTA Earns National School of Excellence Designation

We are proud to announce that Skaggs Elementary PTA has been named a National PTA School of Excellence!

This recognition celebrates the partnership between our families, teachers, staff, school leadership, and PTA. It reflects the work of an entire community committed to making Skaggs Elementary a place where every family feels welcomed, respected, informed, and included.

Our journey began by listening.

Through the National PTA School of Excellence program, Skaggs families were invited to share feedback about their experiences within our school community. The results showed that families already felt a strong sense of connection to Skaggs, but they also helped us identify opportunities to improve language accessibility, cultural representation, family communication, and meaningful participation.

Based on this feedback, our Excellence Action Plan focused on School Climate and Engagement and National Standard 1: Welcoming All Families Into the School Community. Our goals were to build an even stronger community of belonging and create an inclusive environment where families of every language, culture, and background felt represented and empowered to participate.

Throughout the year, Skaggs PTA worked closely with families, staff, school leadership, and volunteers to turn these goals into action.

We created a new Language Inclusion Chair position to support multilingual families and help coordinate more accessible communication. Important information was shared through language-based parent groups, including WeChat, and we began making PTA materials more inclusive and representative of the families who make up our school community.

We also expanded the ways families could connect and participate. The Skaggs PTA Dad’s Club created new opportunities for fathers and father figures to become involved, while Skaggs Moms Meet-Ups provided a welcoming space for mothers to build relationships and strengthen their connection to the school. The Skaggs Appreciation Roll gave us another way to recognize the people who contribute their time, talents, and support to our community.

Communication was another major part of our plan. We launched and expanded the Skaggs Star PTA eNewsletter, providing families with consistent updates about PTA programs, school events, volunteer opportunities, celebrations, and community resources. We also completely updated the Skaggs PTA website to make information easier to find, more inclusive, and more accessible to both families and staff.

Most importantly, we continued asking families for feedback and comparing their responses throughout the program.

The results showed meaningful progress. Positive responses across the surveys increased from approximately 88.6% to 95.7%. Families who felt the school was responsive to their suggestions increased from 66.7% to 100%, while positive feedback about communications reflecting families’ cultures increased from 61.1% to 87.5%. Families also reported stronger trust in sharing concerns, with the percentage who worried their child might be treated differently decreasing from 50% to 18.8%.

Our focus on belonging and engagement also helped strengthen participation in the PTA. Membership grew from 149 members during the 2024–2025 school year to 243 members during the 2025–2026 school year—an increase of 94 members. We believe this growth reflects a community in which more families feel informed, connected, and invited to take part.

The National School of Excellence designation is not the end of our journey. It is a celebration of the progress we have made and a commitment to continue building upon it.

Skaggs PTA will sustain these efforts by continuing the Language Inclusion Chair position, Dad’s Club, Moms Meet-Ups, Skaggs Appreciation Roll, Skaggs Star PTA eNewsletter, and our inclusive website and communication practices. We will continue listening to our families, sharing how their feedback influences our decisions, and creating new opportunities for every family to participate.

Thank you to our families, volunteers, teachers, staff, and school leadership for helping make this achievement possible. Together, we have shown what can happen when a school community listens, collaborates, and works intentionally to ensure everyone belongs.

Together, We Shine—and together, we are a National PTA School of Excellence!

2025-2027 PTA Schools of Excellence

Past National School of Excellence Awards

	2022-2024 School of Excellence Awardee