Choice is committed to the goal of providing quality education for every child in this district. To this end, we want to establish partnerships with parents and with the community. Everyone gains if Choice and home work together to promote high achievement by our children. Neither home nor Choice can do the job alone. Parents play an extremely important role as children’s first teachers. Support for their children and for the school is critical to children’s success at every step along the way.
Choice recognizes that some students may need the extra assistance available through the Title I program to reach the state’s high academic standards. Choice intends to include parents in all aspects of the school’s Title I program. The goal is a school-home partnership that will help all students to succeed.
PART I-SCHOOL PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT POLICY/PLAN REQUIRED COMPONENTS
- Choice will jointly develop/revise with parents the school Parent and Family Engagement policy/procedures and distribute it to parents of participating children and make available the Parent and Family Engagement policy/procedures to the local community.
- Convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents of participating children shall be invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their school’s participation under this part and to explain the requirements of this part, and the right of the parents to be involved.
- Offer flexible meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening, and provide, with funds provided under this part, transportation, child care, or home visits, as such services related to Parent and Family Engagement.
- Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of the school plan under Section 1112, schoolwide under Section 1114, and the process of the school review and improvement under Section 1116.
- Provide parents of participating children—
- Timely information about programs under this part.
- 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.
- If requested by parents, 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 practically possible.
- If a schoolwide program plan is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, submit any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the district.
PART II-REQUIRED SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HIGH STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
As a component of the school-level Parent and Family Engagement policy, each school shall jointly develop with parents for all children served under this part, a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement.
-Conduct a parent/teacher conference in elementary schools, annually (at a minimum), during which the compact shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual child’s achievement.
-Provide frequent reports to parents on their child’s progress.
-Provide parents with reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class and observation of classroom activities.
- Ensuring regular two-way, meaningful communication between family members and school staff, and, to the extent practicable, in a language that family members can understand.
BUILDING CAPACITY FOR PARENTS AND STAFF – REQUIREMENTS FOR ENGAGEMENT
To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, each school and district must:
- Assist parents in understanding the challenging State academic standards, how to monitor a child's progress, and work with educators.
- Provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children, such as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy).
- Provide professional development to teachers, specialized instructional personnel, and other staff on the value of parents and their communities to increase academic achievement.
- Coordinate and integrate parent engagement programs and activities with other Federal, State, and local programs, including public preschool programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parent engagement.
- Ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.
The following are allowable activities:
- May involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training.
- May provide necessary literacy training from funds received under this part if the district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for such training.
- May pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with local Parent and Family Engagement activities, including transportation and childcare costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions.
- May train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents.
- May arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school, in order to maximize Parent and Family Engagement and participation.
- May adopt and implement model approaches to improving Parent and Family Engagement.
- May establish a district parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to Parent and Family Engagement in programs supported under this section.
- May develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in Parent and Family Engagement activities.
PART III-ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
In carrying out the parent and family engagement requirements of this part, local educational agencies and schools, to the extent practicable, shall provide opportunities for the informed participation of parents and family members (including parents and family members who have limited English proficiency, parents and family members with disabilities, and parents and family members of migratory children), including providing information and school reports required under section 1111 in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language such parents understand.
PART IV-ADOPTION – This Choice Parent and Family Engagement Policy/Procedures have been developed/revised jointly with, and agreed upon with, parents of children participating in Title I program, as evidenced by meeting minutes.
