About Us

Welcome to the Thompson School Parent-Teacher Organization!

Thank you for your interest in the PTO! We are an all-volunteer group of parents, caregivers, and teachers committed to creating positive experiences at Thompson.

What Does the PTO Do?

The primary goal of the PTO is to enhance the education and to build a safe and fun community for all children during their time at Thompson School. We do this by supporting enrichment during the school day and through community-building events during evenings and on weekends.

Our Mission

  • Support the education of students at Thompson School
  • Promote the welfare of Thompson School students at school, at home, and in the community
  • Strengthen the relationship between Thompson School families and the school
  • Develop among Thompson School, its students, and their families the highest advantages in academic, intellectual, physical, and social education

How To Join the PTO

All parents are automatically members of the PTO, and there is no fee to join. We welcome you and your input at any time to make school events and your child’s experience here at Thompson one of the most rewarding times of their lives! Not sure how to get involved? We can help with that!

Amazon Fundraising

Important News About Amazon Fundraising

As of April 2019, the Thompson School PTO is no longer part of the Amazon Associates program. But you can still support the school with AmazonSmile!

AmazonSmile is operated by Amazon and provides the same product selection, pricing, and convenient shopping. When you start your Amazon shopping at smile.amazon.com and choose Thompson PTO as your charity of choice, the AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the Thompson PTO.

Amazon makes a direct deposit into our PTO bank account each month. We then use that money to support all of the school programming the PTO organizes: enrichment, field trips, school supplies, and more. Your Amazon Prime membership still applies, too! Learn more about AmazonSmile.

To set up the Thompson School PTO as your charity, you can:

Frequently Asked Questions

0.5% sounds minimal; is it really worth it?

Totally. It adds up over time, and it’s easy passive income for the PTO, especially if you’re already there ordering things on Amazon. Amazon makes an automatic deposit into our PTO bank account each month. We then use that money in the same way as all our other PTO fundraising: enrichment, field trips, school supplies, etc.

How will I know which products are eligible?

Tens of millions of products on Amazon are eligible for donations. You’ll see eligible products marked “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on their product detail pages.

Can I see how my purchases are helping Thompson over time?

Yes! This is a really nice feature of AmazonSmile. When you’re logged in at smile.amazon.com, click on the “supporting” link in the top left of the page and you’ll see a running total of how much money your purchases are generating for the PTO.

Will I still be able to use my Amazon Prime membership?

Yes! You can enjoy your free one-day and two-day shipping and help Thompson at the same time.

What if I purchase through the Amazon app or the regular Amazon.com website?

Unfortunately, we won’t get a percentage. For your charity of choice to get the AmazonSmile donation, you have to do your shopping through smile.amazon.com in a browser.

Helpful tip: already have a cart full of items on Amazon.com but forgot to start shopping at AmazonSmile? No problem! With your items in the cart, simply type smile.amazon.com into your browser’s address bar and hit enter. You’ll then be brought to AmazonSmile, and all of your items will still be in your cart. In fact, some browsers, like Chrome, have an extension that will remind you to shop through AmazonSmile when you visit Amazon.com—quite convenient!

OK, I’m on board! How can I remember to order on AmazonSmile?

Some things that have worked for others are:

  • Put a sticky note on your computer screen.
  • Bookmark smile.amazon.com on your computer.
  • Create an icon for smile.amazon.com on your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone (instructions below).

How do I create an AmazonSmile/Thompson School PTO Home screen icon?

    1. Open up your phone’s web browser and go to smile.amazon.com.
    2. Add the icon to your Home screen. Here’s how:
      • iPhone: At the bottom of your iPhone screen, you’ll see an icon depicting an arrow that looks like it’s trying to get away from a square. Tap this button, then tap “Add to Home Screen.”
      • Android: click the 3 dots in the upper right corner of your screen, then tap “Add to Home Screen.”
    3. You’ll be asked to choose a name for the Home screen icon. Name your icon whatever you like and save it. When you’re done, the icon will show up on your phone’s Home screen, just like any other app.
    4. Now when you want to shop on AmazonSmile from your phone, simply click your new AmazonSmile Home screen icon!

Are you a visual learner? Watch this video for the same instructions: http://lifehacker.com/5809338/add-web-site-bookmarks-to-your-iphones-homescreen

There are so many charities involved with AmazonSmile; can I support more than one?

Not at the same time, but you can change your selected charity whenever you’d like! We totally understand that you might have more than just the Thompson School PTO in mind to support as you do your AmazonSmile shopping, so if you want to donate to us on a few orders and then select another awesome nonprofit for a few transactions, that’s great! AmazonSmile is just one of the many ways you can support Thompson School.

Thank you for your support, and happy shopping!

Newsletter Sign-Up

Subscribe to the Thompson School PTO newsletter! Sent every Monday, it includes a roundup of what’s happening at school and around campus. Don’t forget to add pto@thompsonschoolpto.org to your safe sender list.

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View previous newsletters

Lend a Hand

To run our exciting programs every year, we need parent participation. There are many ways to become an active PTO member, and we’d like to help you do so! Here are a few ideas:

Keep In Touch

  1. Attend a PTO meeting. If you can’t, stay in the loop by reading the meeting minutes (shared following each meeting).
  2. If attending a meeting is challenging, write us an email with your thoughts and ideas.
  3. Be informed about what’s happening at Thompson by reading our weekly newsletter.
  4. Share community events that could interest Thompson parents by publishing them in our weekly electronic newsletter. Email content to thompsonptoevents@gmail.com.
  5. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Volunteer

  1. Become a room representative. Each classroom at Thompson has one or two room representatives who serve as a liaison between the teacher and the other parents in the classroom.
  2. Volunteer your time to help during one of our popular community events by reaching out to the PTO Volunteer Coordinator (pto@thompsonschoolpto.org), filling out your interest on our Volunteer Form, or watching for Sign-Up Genius emails during event planning.
  3. Chaperone a field trip.
  4. If you are ready for even more commitment, become a committee member and help plan one of our events!

Help Fundraise

  1. Make a financial contribution to the annual Direct Donation Drive.
  2. Buy the Arlington Community Card and sell a few more to friends and neighbors.
  3. Take a few minutes to learn about our other fundraising partners: Box Tops and Maxima Gift Center.

A Little Birdie Told Me…

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