Enjoyable School life in Yamagata City

7. PTA and Guardians' Activities

PTA (Parents and Teachers Association)

What is the PTA?

 The PTA is an association made of guardians and teachers who work together to strengthen educational values and build a study environment where children can grow up safely.

PTA general meeting

 The PTA representatives in charge of activities and budgets are elected at the start of every school year by all the PTA members during this meeting. PTA meetings may also be held in case of emergency.

Grade PTA

 Elected representatives will create a PTA activity calendar for the year and communicate it to the other members. Guardians will work together to realize the activities planned. Contents vary from school to school and grade to grade but generally include meetings and guardian/children activities. 6th graders' activities also include preparation for the graduation ceremony.

Representatives Election

 Representatives for grades and districts are elected. Election procedures and positions available are different from school to school. Representatives will have to plan events but all the PTA members will help with those events.

Guardians' Activities

Class Observation

 Parents and guardians will have several opportunities to observe their children in the classroom setting. Class observations allow the guardians to experience an average day in the life of their children while at school. Some schools welcome observation at any time during the entirety of the day while others operate on a fixed schedule. Observation is also possible during other events such as Sports Day or Swimming Trials. Guardians will be notified of these observation opportunities in advance.

Parents and guardians' Meeting

 Parents and guardians gather after class observations and discuss matters relevant to the class, the school grade in general, or their children within that class setting. At times, these meetings may be called suddenly, such as in the case of emergency.

Teacher's Visit

 Teachers visit their students' homes in order to strengthen dialogue and communication with the families of their students. The homeroom teacher will contact each and every family in order to set up a date and time to meet.
*If the homeroom teacher does not change between years, some schools will only conduct teacher visits every other year.

Distribution of School Grade Reports

 The child's grades and conduct at school are relayed to the guardians every semester. There are cases where the report is given directly to the guardian/parent and other situations where the child takes the report home to his/her guardians. When the reports are distributed to the guardians, please be aware that it may be accompanied by homework for long vacations and other information may also be given at semester's end. Consultations may or may not be held, depending on the school semester. (A notice will be sent out beforehand.)
*If you cannot pick up the grade report, please contact the homeroom teacher and change the date and time. Without fail, the guardians should go to the school to get the score reports.

Individual Consultation

 The homeroom teacher meets the guardians at school to discuss the child's studies and life at school. (A notice will be sent out beforehand.)

＜Others＞

Children's Association

 Each district has its own Children's Association. Guardians acting as representatives will organize, prepare, and hold events for children. Activities vary from association to association.

＊ Some PTA or Children's Association activities (food making or mini-sports competition) do not require fluency in Japanese. They are great opportunities for guardians to meet each other through their children's activities. Please try to participate when you can.

Grade PTA Activity "Let's make Kendama(cup & ball)"