About PTAlink

Rachel has extensive experience empowering NYC public school parent organizations to engage parents and improve education. At PS 321 in Brooklyn, she served as PTA co-president, was involved with numerous school committees and initiatives, co-developed and ran one of the school’s largest curriculum-enhancing and community-building events, and was an elected parent member of the School Leadership Team (SLT). In 2008, while active with a citywide coalition of public school parents, Rachel recognized the need for a mechanism for PA/PTA officers and other parent leaders to share their knowledge and experience, and started to connect PA/PTAs working on similar projects or issues. Later, she began providing technical assistance to PA/PTA officers at other public schools. Rachel is former Legal Aid Society staff attorney and a former Assistant General Counsel at the Administration for Children’s Services. She currently serves on the Osborne Association's Board of Directors.

Marta is a proud product of the NYC public school system and has four sons currently enrolled in public schools. She graduated from PS 26K, JHS 324K, and Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn’s District 16 before attending Medgar Evers College. An accomplished parent leader, Marta currently is PTA co-president at PS 26, having also served as treasurer, vice president, and president. Marta also serves as PTA president at Brooklyn School for Math and Research, and sits on the School Leadership Team at both schools. She is a member of the DIstrict 16 Community Education Council and the District Leadership Team (DLT). She previously served as corresponding secretary of the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council (CPAC). As a parent leader, Marta has helped create a number of events that have broadened parent ad community involvement at the school, and has come up with novel ways to gauge parents’ interests and concerns to ensure that the PTA involves and is responsive to all families. Please read the Q&A to learn more about Marta.