What does the PTA do? Why should I join? Where does all our money go? What is [EVENT]? All your questions are answered below!
Have a question that we didn’t answer here? Email us at board@dtespta.org and we’ll answer it and add it to the list!
What does the PTA do?
Our stated purpose that gives us 501(c)(3) designation is – “The focus of the Dominion Trail Elementary PTA is to bring the voice of the parents and school staff together in an effort to best identify how our students’ education can be enhanced. We strive to augment the quality education provided by DTES staff through fun and educational activities, supplies and equipment purchases, and volunteering. Through our fundraising efforts and donations from our generous supporters, we are able to provide many programs and purchases that DTES would otherwise have to do without.”
Why should I join the PTA?
Get Connected. There’s no better way to know what’s happening in your school.
Tap into a Network. PTA functions are opportunities to meet other parents and teachers, building rapport and discussing issues that are on your mind. You can share ideas, concerns, and experiences.
Watch Yourself Grow. By volunteering with your PTA, you put your skills and hobbies to use for a noble cause—your child and all children in the community.
Speak Up. PTA can be a way for you to more effectively suggest change at your child’s school.
Witness Improvement. By getting involved at your child’s school you’ll be part of the solution, helping make positive changes. Our PTA plays an important role by supporting building improvements through advocacy and plays an important role in fundraising for curriculum based programs and social events.
Be a Role Model. By becoming a PTA member, you’ll be demonstrating to your child the importance you place on education.
I work full time! I can’t contribute!
Yes you can! The majority of our board members and volunteers are full time working parents! Many volunteer opportunities are something you can do from home almost completely through email including sourcing and scheduling assemblies, coordinating Spirit Nights, collecting and scanning Coke rewards, working with Broad Run High School on the DTES Scholarship Program, reaching out to local businesses for donations and sponsorships, helping to coordinate events, and so much more! Any time you’re able to give to the PTA, even if it’s just an hour, is time well-spent!
I have young kids and can’t come to the meetings! How do I stay informed?
We post our meeting minutes online after every meeting. The board is always available at board@dtespta.org. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions! Our Facebook group is extremely active with many involved parents and families that have been at DTES a long time, so asking questions there is also encouraged. We WANT to help you be engaged and involved but we can’t help if you don’t ASK!
Why are you always asking for money?
All the money we spend on events and school improvements comes directly from funds we raise through events and fundraisers. Even though we are affiliated with the national PTA we receive NO funds from them and we receive NO funds from the school OR Loudoun County Public Schools. In order to do everything we do, we rely completely on donations and funds raised through events and fundraisers.
Where does all this money GO???
For a full breakdown of our finances, see our monthly budget on the agenda page here.
Over the past 2 years along the DTES PTA has raised over $50,000 that has gone directly back into the school to fund improvements and support such as:
- A new sound system for the gym
- A Kindergarten playground
- A new digital sign for the outside of the school (our current fundraising goal!)
- Staff support for additional classroom supplies for all teachers, staff, and admin
- School events such as assemblies, field trips, and field day supplies
- Agendas for every 4th and 5th grader
- Funds for the 5th grade carnival and D.A.R.E. t-shirts
- Education subscriptions for Scholastic and Studies Weekly for every student in the school
- Free family events such as the End of the Year Picnic, Movie Nights, and the Free Spaghetti Dinner
- The gardens and flowers around the school
What is [EVENT]?
Monster Mash
A fun family friendly Halloween event that’s open to everyone in the community, young and old! We’ve recently changed this up and made it into a trunk or treat event. This is a fundraising event so every family pays admission. That admission gets you a wristband to allows you to trunk or treat at every trunk. Tickets are also available for you to play games at each trunk and win extras treats and prizes. A band/DJ is in the gym for the kids to jam out to and the cafeteria has pizza, drinks, and snacks available for purchase (via tickets). Concessions normally support the 5th Grade Carnival Fund. We normally raise $4,500 through this event.
What do volunteers do: coordinate pizza discount and delivery, run the trunks (you will be stationed at your trunk for the duration of the event so if you’d like time to join the festivities, join with another parent/family to swap half way through), run concessions, run admission, set up, clean up, concessions
Husky Hustle
A 1 mile fun run / 5K that is open to students, family, and friends. A registration fee is used to purchase ribbons for every runner and medals for the top finishers. It’s a smaller fundraising and normally brings in $300.
What do volunteers do: secure sponsors, work with the HOA and the LCSO to make confirm date/time/race lanes of event, register runners, station through the race to make sure runners stay on track and cars don’t cross the track boundaries, help track runners as they finish, hand out ribbons and medals, collect snack and water donations, handing out fruit/water (free)
Movie Nights
A FREE family event where we show a G or PG family friendly movie. In the fall we screen on the blacktop of the playground and in the winter we screen in the gym. Popcorn is available for free. Concessions are available for purchase and they normally support the 5th Grade Carnival Fund.
What do volunteers do: make and serve popcorn, run concessions, work with Mr. Ivory for set up and tear down of screening equipment, clean up after the event
Bingo Night
A family friendly event we hold in the gym in the winter. Bingo cards need to be purchased and additional cards and daubers are available for an additional fee. Pizza is available for purchase and concessions are also available, normally benefiting the 5th Grade Carnival Fund. Funds for this event normally cover the bingo supplies and the PTA takes in a profit of approximately $1,000.
What do volunteers do: make sure we have enough bingo supplies stocked, find MC(s) to call bingo (teachers, sponsors, parent volunteers, middle schoolers or high schoolers), run admissions/pass out supplies, run concessions, set up, clean up
Talent Show
A FREE family friendly event for all our students to showcase their talents! This event involves at least 1 audition, all acts get to perform no matter what, the audition is to determine how long each act is, what props and music each act needs, and to determine the best order for the acts to go in. There is also a “dress rehearsal” during the day performed for the whole school as an assembly.
What do the volunteers do: attend and manage the audition, coordinate the order of events, make sure props and songs are noted and accounted for, source a MC(s) (teachers, sponsors, parent volunteers, middle schoolers or high schoolers), attend dress rehearsal to make sure it runs smoothly, corral the performers, at the night event set up and clean up chairs, manage the performers and props, ensure the show runs smoothly
Penny Wars
A new fundraising event we started in 2023. Students collect coins (with their parents help and permission!) and whichever house collects the most coins gets a special party! This event brought in $1,200 in its first year.
What do the volunteers do: decorate the school, count the coins, hype up kids on the morning news.
Boosterthon
Our biggest fundraising event of the year! Last year we raised over $20,000! Boosterthon is a third party vendor that runs a two week fundraiser that ends in a fun run that all the students participate in. We’ve recently gone down a service tier which nets us more profit but also means we need more parent support to make the event run smoothly. The Boosterthon team provides instructions for every single day and still runs the event itself.
What do the volunteers do: solicit business sponsors to help pay for a custom DTES Fun Run t-shirt for every students, volunteers help sort and pass out daily prizes, assist with admin and teachers with any morning announcements, sort and pass out t-shirts.
Staff Appreciation Week
A week we celebrate our teachers, staff, and admin! They do so much for our students, they deserve to be spoiled a bit! The week is themed and every day has some kind of event for the teachers and something simple and fun for the students to do. Room parents assist with classroom door decorating and lobby decorating. During the week we normally host a breakfast, lunch, snack cart (once to twice a week), goody bags or gifts for every teacher, staff, and admin, recess coverage, gift basket raffles, and donated free 15-minute sitting massage. For the kids we ask them to wear their teacher’s favorite color, a dress-up day coordinated with the theme, bring flowers, and write a note/draw a picture for their teacher.
What do the volunteers do: decide on a theme, plan out what events will happen on what day, gather quotes and order food for breakfast and lunch, make a donation list and share with the community to collect donations (food to round out the meals and snacks cart, gift cards, gift baskets), set up/clean up for each day, inventory donations through the week, raffle off the gift baskets, roll the snack cart through the school, coordinate with room parents to make sure every teacher and staff member is appreciated, decorate the lobby.
End of the Year Picnic
A free event at the end of the year for the whole school community to come together for food, fun, music, and play. Mr. Joseph grills hot dogs on the playground black top, a band or DJ plays music, summer camp and after school vendors set up tables and donate to a raffle. Everything is free!
What do the volunteers do: reach out to local camps, after school centers, and other businesses that cater to our student age range, and ask them to rent a table at the picnic/donate a raffle item. Build a donation list of food/supplies and share it with the community to make sure we have everything we need for the picnic. Set up and clean up.