Every PTO volunteer knows the routine. The fall festival is three weeks out, the handouts are printed, and on Friday afternoon a stack of them goes into the folder each child carries home. By Tuesday you start to wonder how many parents actually saw one. The answer is usually at the bottom of a backpack, folded into quarters and squashed under a lunch box.
A school notice travels farther than most of us realize. It starts on a classroom desk, slides into the take-home folder, rides along with library books and a water bottle, and finally lands on the kitchen counter next to the mail. A full-size sheet doesn’t survive that trip very well. It gets creased, torn at the corners or crumpled before anyone even reads the date. And a notice nobody can read might as well have stayed at school.
Choosing a Size That Survives the Trip Home
Size matters more here than design. HelloPrint calls its 4 x 6 inch flyer ideal for coupons and handouts, a pocket size that also works for event invitations, and in its size FAQ it names 5.5 x 8.5 and letter size as the most popular formats. Popular doesn’t mean right for every job, though. A letter-size sheet works great on the bulletin board by the main office, where people stop and read. The smaller card is the one that rides home in one piece and still fits under a magnet on the fridge door.
Keeping the PTO Budget in Check
Most parent groups work with a small budget and a lot of goodwill. If you order flyers by HelloPrint, the basic Custom Flyers are the cheapest option, and you can still get them in the 4 x 6 size that fits a take-home folder. And if the festival date sneaks up on you, there’s an express shipping option for orders that can’t wait. Every dollar you save on printing is a dollar left for prizes, pumpkins and the cider stand.
One Event, Two Sizes
You don’t have to pick one format for everything. Hang the full-size sheet where parents walk in at drop-off, and tuck the little card into every child’s bag. Keep the small one short: what’s happening, when, where, and one line about how families can help, such as baking for the bake sale or signing up for a shift at the ticket table. Families have a packed October, with corn mazes, pumpkin patches and plenty of other fall events competing for their weekends. A short, clear handout makes it easier for your festival to land on the family calendar, and for parents to remember it when Saturday comes around.
On the Fridge by Tuesday
A notice only works if a parent actually sees it. So when you plan the next fall festival or fundraiser, think about the trip home first. The little 4 x 6 card, the size HelloPrint suggests for handouts and invites, is the one that slides out of the backpack without a crease and gets stuck to the fridge. Save the big sheets for the hallway by the front doors.
