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Graham Middle School’s Parent Teacher Association was one of over 300 PTAs across the country to receive this year’s School of Excellence award from the National Parent Teacher Association. It was the only Mountain View PTA to get the honor.
The two-year School of Excellence designation is granted to PTAs that have demonstrated a commitment to building strong partnerships among students, families and school administrators, according to Peggy Prendergast, who was Graham’s PTA president last school year.
Crittenden Middle School, also in the Mountain View Whisman School District, received the award in August 2025.
Prendergast, along with parent volunteers Cherylle Goebel and Kerry Klein, initiated the award application process in October 2025. That’s when Graham’s PTA sent parents a preliminary survey to better understand what it was doing right and what it could do better.
The data allowed the PTA to specifically address concerns, which included communication with families whose first language isn’t English. The PTA added go-to parents who could communicate in languages including Hindi, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin and German, Prendergast said.
“What was really important is we added the languages, and parents, they can contact in their native language,” she said.
The PTA then sent a follow-up survey at the end of last school year. The results showed an increase in families reporting feeling welcomed by the PTA and that information was available in their preferred language, Prendergast said.
When parents arrive at Graham’s back-to-school-night this week, new families will receive a PTA resource guide that provides information in multiple languages, Prendergast said. It was created as a result of the survey.
“The whole point is to build community through making people feel welcome in the language that they are most comfortable with,” Prendergast said. “As they feel more comfortable, they’re more inclined to get involved.”
