National PTA School of Excellence

In August 2025, Keheley PTA was recognized by National PTA with the 2023-2025 National PTA School of Excellence designation, an honor given to PTAs committed to building an inclusive and welcoming school community where all families contribute to enriching the educational experience and overall well-being for all students. Our PTA was one of only 16 PTAs in the state of Georgia to receive this distinction for the 23-25 timeframe.

In October 2024, PTA conducted a survey open to all our families, and, based on that survey, PTA identified multiple areas to improve family-school relationships with a focus on two key standards within National PTA: Sharing Power and Collaborating with Community. We built an action plan to leverage community partnerships, help new families navigate Keheley, and host events that are relevant and inclusive. The results:

Leverage community partnerships

The executive board, with the lion's share of the work done by our fantastic VP of Ways & Means Kate Milberger, intentionally went out into the community to establish relationships with local businesses and organizations. We were able to secure enough PTA sponsors to fund 77% of the cost of our printed calendar provided each month to families. And many of those new community partners donated to our events throughout the year, including free and discounted catering, giveaway prizes for students and staff, entertainment such as dance numbers at events, and venue space for offsite events. We will continue that work this year to ensure that our school is connected to the community around it.

Host events that are relevant & inclusive

This started in 2023 when we transformed our Breakfast with Santa event into a celebration of all of the holiday traditions celebrated by our families, created a service project for MLK Day of Service, and setup calming areas at our events to make them sensory-friendly. In 2024, PTA General Membership bought into these efforts by providing more money in the budget for inclusive programs including a $400 spending category specifically for supporting student needs. This past year, PTA used those funds to provide additional support to teachers and students in our AU/Integrated classrooms sponsoring fun in-class events like movie day, ice cream day, end-of-year class party, and their awards banquet. With the continued buy-in from our community, we hope to expand these efforts even more.

Help new families navigate Keheley

This year, PTA will be providing an online resource guide with answers to frequently asked questions from families new to our school. We have also created the Welcome Committee which we want to fill with experienced volunteer caregivers who can answer questions posed by anyone who has a student at Keheley.

School of Excellence is a two-year program that will be starting again in 2025. If you'd like to be a part of the committee to help analyze the results and come up with an action plan to help improve the educational experience at Keheley, please contact us and let us know!

Survey Results and Action Plan

76 members of the Keheley community participated in the survey, with participants representing the wide diversity of backgrounds of students in our school. It was marketed via email, text message, social media, in student take home folders, and at in-school activities.

Click here to view results of the survey (PDF)

"Our family engagement has completely transformed in ways we wouldn't have thought of if it hadn't been for participation in [the School of Excellence] program. It challenged us and held us accountable to be better advocates for all children."