PTO

Help the PTO reach this year's goal: $30,000 and 100% participation among CHS families! Any contribution counts ... whether you give $5 or $5,000, your participation matters!

Why You Should Give

The CHS PTO supports and enhances the education of students through volunteering, fundraising, and fostering relationships among members of the school community — teachers, staff, parents, and students alike. How does the PTO achieve this mission, and how much does it cost?*  

Faculty/Staff Appreciation

We provide multiple meals and snacks to honor our hardworking faculty and staff at key moments, including back-to-school night, fall and spring conferences, before the winter holiday, and at year’s end ($8,600). 

Support for CHS

We directly support student planners and faculty and staff special projects not funded through conventional District channels ($12,300). Past awards include a video camera and a still camera for photo journalism students and newspaper staff; a combination metal lathe/mill used by robotics students to make custom parts; and Catalyst’s modernized meeting room reservation system.

Community Building

We hold activities throughout the year designed to foster relationships, both at the grade level through Parent Connections and schoolwide ($6,800).

Donate to the CHS PTO Funds for Excellence

How to Give

Prefer to donate via check? Make your contribution payable to "CHS PTO," and either drop it off at the front office or snail mail to CHS PTO, #1 Mark Twain Circle, Clayton, MO 63105. Be sure to indicate the name of your student(s) and their grade(s) on your check. The CHS PTO is a 501c3, tax ID 43-1747553.

Want to make your gift go even further? Find out how your employer can match your donation. 

*Estimated cost based on 2025-2026 budget

Since the tornado hit last May, one of our Clayton High School teachers, along with a group of North City neighbors, has been helping with a grassroots rebuilding effort in the Academy neighborhood in North St. Louis. The Academy Neighborhood is in our voluntary transfer zone, and some of our Clayton High teachers live there, too. This community is connected to ours. 

For over five months, this group of neighbors has organized 100s of volunteers to rebuild -- scraping brick, demoing walls, tarping roofs, boarding windows, cleaning up debris, renting dumpsters and boom lifts. 

They have raised over $200,000 from everyday people. No corporate donors yet. No real help from the city yet. Every dollar raised goes directly into the work: bricks, roofs, cleanup supplies. With the goal of getting families home. But they’ve only begun to scratch the surface. Millions of dollars will be needed, so every dollar helps. 

This grassroots group has partnered with the Urban League to accept tax-deductible donations, and they need our help!

To learn more:

• Watch the Clayton Brick by Brick Video
• Read a story from STL NPR about the rebuild efforts

Make your direct donation here.

Each year, the CHS PTO raises money to support CHS Faculty/Staff Special Project Awards, a portion of our Funds for Excellence. These funds are used to support events, projects, and equipment not funded through conventional District channels that help further the academic mission of CHS. In 2024-25, $13,000 was allocated to these special projects, the largest component of the PTO's budget. Dr. Gutchewsky and the PTO review faculty award requests in the winter, and continue to accept and review requests until all funds for the year have been allocated.

All 2024-25 awards have been made! Please click the links below for videos from some of our award recipients. 

• Thank you from the Globe
• Thank you from Josh McMillian in the physical education department

Awards given in the 2023-2024 school year include the following:

• a modernized meeting room reservation system for the Catalyst program (Watch this video about the meeting room reservation system)
• a video camera and photo camera/equipment for journalism students
• supplies and materials supporting the Global STEM Squad's project to improve health and sanitation for a small community in Honduras
• access to emerging online platforms for English Department students to publish digital essays
• support for launching a pilot program for Spanish students to connect and converse with Spanish teachers in Spanish-speaking countries

Read more about the 2023–24 awards,.

Awards given in the 2022-23 school year include the following:

• a combination metal lathe and mill, which will give students experience in milling and turning precision parts based on student-created CAD models and assist in robotics builds (Steve Beauchamp, Robotics)
• a giant interactive floor chess set for the library to create a fun, academic activity for students (Lauran DeRigne, CHS Library)
• CPR manikins used in tenth grade health class to fulfill state first aid and CPR requirements. The manikins are realistic and durable and provide students with instant feedback about depth and cadence of compressions (Sarah Gietschier-Hartman, Health and Physical Education)

Join the PTO in helping those in need. Here are some worthy options.

District Families

• District's Amazon List
• MySchoolBucks donations 
• Turkey Trot donations
• Help our Academy neighbors in North STL rebuild after the tornado.

Our Wider Community

• Operation Food Search
• St. Louis Area Food Bank
• St. Vincent de Paul