Title I Parent/Guardian Involvement Policy

Franklin Public Schools

Helen Keller Elementary School

 

 

The Helen Keller Title I Program has developed and agreed upon this parent involvement policy in consultation with teachers, principals, program administrators, and parents/guardians/guardians of participating children.

 

The Helen Keller Elementary School welcomes the participation of parents/guardians in

support of student learning and recognizes that parental involvement increases the

opportunities for student success. It is the policy of our school to foster and maintain

ongoing communications with parents/guardians concerning their opportunities for

involvement, their children’s eligibility for special programs, their children’s educational

progress, the professional qualifications of their children’s teachers, and the status of the children’s schools. We strive to provide such information in an understandable and

uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and to the extent practicable, in a language that parents/guardians can understand. To the extent practicable, the Helen Keller Elementary School shall provide full opportunities for the participation of parents/guardians with limited English proficiency, parents/guardians with disabilities and parents/guardians of migratory children, including providing information and school reports in a format and language such parents/guardians understand. Communications with parents/guardians shall, at all times, respect the privacy of students and their families.

 

It is the policy of the Helen Keller Elementary School to consult with parents/guardians,

teachers, principals and program administrators of federally funded programs in the

development and revision of the district’s consolidated application for federal funds and

in the process of school review and improvement under Federal Education Law. The

process of school review includes timely publication and dissemination of the results of

its annual progress report to parents/guardians, teachers, principals, and the school

community which includes the school and district accountability percentile based upon

student progress toward meeting district improvement targets.

 

The Helen Keller Elementary School will publish and disseminate to parents/guardians

and to the public, information regarding school initiatives designed to address factors that may have impacted the school’s performance toward meeting improvement targets. This information will be included in our school’s annual progress report cover letter and in our school improvement plan.

 

Helen Keller school administrators will notify parents/guardians of participating children

at the beginning of each school year that they may request and the district will provide information on the professional qualifications of their child’s classroom teachers and whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.  In order to build the capacity of schools and parents/guardians for strong parental performance, the Helen Keller Elementary School will:

 

1. Provide assistance to parents/guardians of children served by the district, as

appropriate, in understanding such topics as the State’s academic content

standards and State student academic achievement standards, State and local

academic assessments, and how to monitor their child’s progress and work with

educators to improve the achievement of their children;

 

2. Provide materials and training to help parents/guardians to work with their

children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy and math

training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement;

 

3. Educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff, with the

assistance of parents/guardians, in the value and utility of contributions of

parents/guardians, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with

parents/guardians as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs,

and build ties between parents/guardians and schools;

 

4. Ensure that information related to district and school parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents/guardians of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents/guardians can understand; and

 

5. Provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities as

parents/guardians may request; and

 

6. Involve parents/guardians in the development of training for teachers, principals,

and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training.

 

To the extent feasible and appropriate, school administrators and staff will coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with all other programs that

encourage and support parents/guardians in more fully participating in the education of

their children.

 

To ensure the effectiveness of this parent involvement policy, the Helen Keller Title I

department conducts, with the involvement of parents/guardians, an annual evaluation of its parent involvement policy in improving the academic quality of the schools served,

including identifying barriers to greater participation by parents/guardians in activities

authorized under Federal Education Law. This evaluation will focus particular attention

on parents/guardians who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited

English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority

background. The Helen Keller Title I department will use the findings of this evaluation

to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary,

the parental involvement policies described herein.

 

It is the policy of the Helen Keller Elementary School and Title I Program to involve

parents/guardians in the following activities:

 

1. Convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents/guardians of participating children shall be invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents/guardians of their school’s participation under Title I and to explain the requirements of Title I, and the right of the parents/guardians to be involved;

 

2. Offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening,

and may provide, with funds provided under Title I, transportation, child care, or

home visits, as such services relate to parental involvement;

 

3. Carry out capacity-building activities for parents/guardians;

 

4. Involve parents/guardians, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the

planning, review, and improvement of programs under Title I, including the

planning, review, and improvement of the school parental policy;

 

5. Provide parents/guardians of participating children

 

a. Timely information about programs under Title I; and

 

b. A description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the

forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the

proficiency levels students are expected to meet; and

 

c. If requested by parents/guardians, opportunities for regular meetings to

formulate suggestions and to participate as appropriate, in decisions

relating to the education of their children and respond to any such

suggestions as soon as practicably possible.

 

As a component of our parental involvement policy, we will jointly develop a

school-parent compact that outlines how parents/guardians, the entire school staff, and

students share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the

means by which the school and parents/guardians will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the State’s high standards. These compacts, available in the

district/school Title I office, shall:

 

1. Describe the Helen Keller Elementary School’s responsibility to provide

high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning

environment that enables the children served under this policy to meet the State’s

student academic achievement standards, and the ways in which each parent will

be responsible for supporting their children's learning, such as monitoring

attendance, homework completion, and television watching; volunteering in their

child’s classroom; and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the

education of their children and positive use of extracurricular time; and

 

2. Address the importance of communication between teachers and

parents/guardians on an ongoing basis through, at a minimum –

 

a. Parent-teacher conferences, at least annually, during which the compact

shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual child’s

achievement;

 

b. Frequent reports to parents/guardians on their children’s progress; and

 

c. Reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in

their child’s class, and observation of classroom activities.