The C.W. Henry School Parent Teacher Association (PTA) was formed in June 2010, as a successor to the long-standing C.W. Henry Home & School Association (HSA). Parents at Henry School decided to form a Parent Teacher Association rather than continue as a Home & School Association to have more freedom in working towards our mission, including the ability to have teachers, alumni and others in the community as members. The Henry PTA is a member of both the Pennsylvania PTA and the National PTA. Our status as an affiliate of the state and national PTA gives us an independent 501(c) (3) status.
The PTA has sought to put C.W. Henry students first and to provide them with a safe and attractive learning environment where we enrich their educational opportunities and support the teaching staff as best we can. In support of these goals, the PTA has brought two nationally recognized programs to the school: Playworks and Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students). We have also created the Henry School Garden, turning a section of the schoolyard into an outdoor classroom where students can participate in hands-on learning with their teacher, a Farm Educator, or knowledgeable PTA parents.
We also help to coordinate an annual Martin Luther King Day of Service with the Unitarian Society of Germantown funded and provide volunteers for special science-themed programs each year. In 2010, after vandals destroyed play equipment on the kindergarten playground, we raised $4,000 to replace the equipment and organized volunteers to install it. At the same time, the C.W. Henry PTA has continued the core annual activities of the HAS including providing reimbursements of up to $100 per teacher for special project supplies; funding graduation awards and mementos for eighth graders; organizing and hosting teacher/staff appreciation activities; and organizing school-wide activities including an annual back-to-school picnic and fall/spring schoolyard cleanups.
