“This meeting of the East Hampton High PTSA will now come to order.”
These words will be spoken for the first time in over a decade on Sept. 30 when East Hampton High School’s PTSA organization convenes a charter meeting at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.
PTSA stands for parents, teachers, students, and administrators. Sara Smith, who has been the school principal since August 2021, said that this effort has been in the works since the second year of her tenure there.
“Around two years ago, I reached out to a group of parents asking them to help me put on a lunch for teacher appreciation week,” Ms. Smith said. “The response to that was an overwhelming outpouring of support and the teachers were incredibly appreciative of it as well.”
It has been 15 years since East Hampton had an active PTSA. The reasons behind its re-establishment are simple.
“We have a tremendous support system in the form of our teachers and parents, and we want to mobilize that to support student ideas,” Ms. Smith said. “Whether that’s academics or improved student life or school culture, we want
to improve our already very strong school-to-home connection.”
Another local resident helping to spearhead this process is John Dunchick, now a nominee for the presidency of the PTSA. “After the lunch was organized, Mr. Dunchick came up to me and asked what I thought about starting a PTSA,” Ms. Smith said.
Mr. Dunchick found himself in search of community involvement of a similar type once his son graduated from middle school. “I was a part of the PTSA at the middle school for a couple of years, and I had a very positive experience with it,” Mr. Dunchick said. “One thing I love about East Hampton and the surrounding area is that, though it can be hectic during the summer, we’re a small town at the end of the day. And any efforts in such a small space can have an outsize impact on the community.”
His goals for the organization line up with Ms. Smith’s. “As a parent, helping kids all along that formative process is really rewarding, but the stakes only get higher and higher,” Mr. Dunchick said. “I wanted to help augment programs that the high school already offered, but
with an eye toward college and career education.”
And his bid for the presidency? Mr. Dunchick seemed to fall into the leadership role naturally. “I reached out to Ms. Smith about a PTSA, and once it became clear that there wasn’t one, I offered to help get it off the ground,” he said. “I didn’t want to abandon the project once I’d proposed it. Someone had to do it!”
The East Hampton High PTSA is open to parents, students, teachers, administrators, and additional family members. “Anyone is welcome to join,” Ms. Smith said. “This meeting will be on Zoom, but all future meetings will be in person. We’ll have bilingual translators, too.”
Those interested in further information can consult the school’s ParentSquare feed, online at easthamptonschools.org, or contact Ms. Smith directly at [email protected].