Hosting a Party for PBS Event

We hope to schedule an end-of-year party and a back-to-school party for each grade:
End-of-year and back-to-school parties need to have space for the entire grade.

• Tickets to end-of-year and back-to-school parties will be priced at $25 per student.
• Tickets to end-of-year and back-to-school parties are free for families on financial aid. 
• Parties can take place outside at a PBS family home or at a non-home location, but they may not be hosted on campus at PBS. (See the FAQ below for more.)
• Parties must adhere to the most up-to-date county guidelines for health and safety. 

In addition to celebrating the book-ends of the year, Party for PBS often includes multi-grade child parties, as well as grade-specific parties at other times of the year. These events are less regulated:

• Child parties may be of any size, as long as they are not marketed as “full-grade” or “full-class” parties, which must be sized appropriately to accommodate all interested students in the grade or class.
• Child parties have a maximum ticket price of $50 per student. Exceptions must be approved by the Advancement Office.
• Families on financial aid and new families do not receive complimentary tickets to these events provided by the school; however, party hosts may choose to offer complimentary tickets to either or both groups at their expense. Notify Olana Khan if you would like to offer this option.
• Parties can take place outside at a PBS family home or at a non-home location, but they may not be hosted on campus at PBS. (See the FAQ below for more.)
• Parties must adhere to the most up-to-date county guidelines for health and safety.

• Get a few co-hosts together. Discuss budget and expectations with co-hosts regarding labor division, costs, etc. 
• Come up with an idea. Simple ideas are sometimes the best! 
• If your party is designed to be in person:
• Do the size and other parameters follow county guidelines?
• Can it easily be moved online? 
• What is your back-up plan if county guidelines change?
• Fill out the Party for PBS form by April 1. 

If you have any questions, please contact Olana Khan. We are here to help! If you would like to be involved but aren’t sure how please contact us, and we can connect you with potential co-hosts.

Tickets to parent parties are some of the most sought after items available at the Spring Benefit! If you’d like to host one, keep in mind:

• Parent parties may be of any size, as long as they are not marketed as “full-grade” or “full-class” parties, which must be sized appropriately to accommodate all interested parents in the grade or class.
• Parent parties have a maximum ticket price of $250 per person. Exceptions must be approved by the Advancement Office.
• Complimentary tickets provided by the school are currently not available to families on financial aid or new families to these types of events. However, party hosts may choose to offer complimentary tickets to either or both groups at their expense. Notify Olana Khan if you would like to offer this option.
• Parties can take place outside at a PBS family home or at a non-home location, but they may not be hosted on campus at PBS. (See the FAQ below for more.)
• Parties must adhere to the most up-to-date county guidelines for health and safety.

Parent Party Ideas: Game Night, Cultural Celebrations (Chinese New Year, Diwali, Persian New Year), Parent’s Night Out, Wine Tasting, Poker Party, Yoga/Exercise Event, etc.

1. Get a few co-hosts together. Discuss budget and expectations with co-hosts regarding division of labor, costs, location, size, etc. 
2. Come up with an idea. Simple ideas are sometimes the best!
3. If your party is designed to be in person:
   • Do the size and other parameters follow county guidelines?
   • Can it easily be moved online? 
   • What is your back-up plan if county guidelines change?
4. Fill out the Party for PBS form by April 1. 

Hosts volunteer to underwrite the party’s cost so that 100% of the ticket proceeds support financial aid at PBS. We know that some types of parties can require more financial inputs than others, and we encourage you to consider the costs when you decide to host and also to consider group-hosting opportunities. We have set the following guidelines for ticket prices:

• Child end-of-year and back-to-school parties are universally priced at $25 per student.
• Other child parties may not exceed $50 per child without permission from the Advancement Office.
• Parent parties range more widely in scope and in price, so pricing is more flexible. Events priced above $150 must receive approval from the Advancement Office.

In general, please consider the size of your party and its accessibility to our community. It is up to you (and your co-hosts) whether you would like to have the ticket price of your event be below, at, or above the per-person cost of running the event; however, most hosts choose a price that is far enough above cost to make the party feel like it’s accomplishing its goal of raising financial aid funds.
 

Balancing the dual roles of Party for PBS events – community-building and fundraising – is an important priority for PBS! This is why we have set specific prices for end-of-year and back-to-school parties, which are intended to be for entire grade-levels. We also take some other steps to increase accessibility: 

• Families on financial aid may attend end-of-year and back-to-school parties free of charge

Some party hosts in the past have gone the extra mile and underwritten the comped tickets to their events with a direct, tax-deductible donation to the school.

In addition to these steps, we encourage hosts to keep accessibility in mind when planning their parent parties as well. For example, if you’re considering a cake decorating party, what ingredients can you purchase that will keep the costs down? If you’re planning a large themed event, in what areas can you save yourself some costs to keep the ticket price down? If you want to brainstorm ways to make your party more accessible, please contact Olana Khan.