Parents...
Please read through the 2020-2021 Parent Involvement Policy below. We are in the process of getting feedback from parents regarding our 20-21 policy. Please click on the Documents Page of the Harper Website to view the 2020-2021 Parent Involvement Compact. If you have any suggestions please contact Ms. DeAngela Lewis, Harper Parent Involvement Coordinator. Her e-mail address is lewisd@tcitys.org.
School Parent and Family Engagement Policy
Harper Elementary School
2020-2021
Revised: April 24, 2020
In support of strengthening student academic achievement, Harper Elementary School receives Title I, Part A funds and therefore must jointly develop with, agree on with, and distribute to parents and family members of participating children a written parent and family engagement policy that contains information required by section 1116(b) and (c) of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The policy establishes the school’s expectations for parent and family engagement and describes how the school will implement a number of specific parent and family engagement activities, and it is incorporated into the school’s plan submitted to the local educational agency (LEA).
Harper Elementary School agrees to implement the following requirements as outlined by Section 1116:
- Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of programs under Title I, Part A, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school parent and family engagement policy and the joint development of the schoolwide program plan under Section 1114(b) of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
- Update the school parent and family engagement policy periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school, distribute it to the parents of participating children, and make the parent and family engagement policy available to the local community.
- Provide full opportunities, to the extent practicable, for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under Section 1111 of the ESSA in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
- If the schoolwide program plan under Section 1114(b) of the ESSA 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 local educational agency.
- Be governed by the following statutory definition of parent and family engagement and will carry out programs, activities, and procedures in accordance with this definition:
Parent and Family Engagement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring:
(A) Parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning
(B) Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school
(C) Parents are full partners in their child’s education and are included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child
(D) Other activities are carried out, such as those described in Section 1116 of the ESSA
JOINTLY DEVELOPED
Harper Elementary School will take the following actions to involve parents in an organized, ongoing, and timely manner in the planning, review, and improvement of Title I programs, including opportunities for regular meetings, if requested by parents, to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their child and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible.
We believe a strong collaborative partnership among the school, home and the community is vital for improved academic achievement. School personnel encourage parents to become actively involved in their child’s education. The school will involve the parents in the development, review and improvement of the Parent and Family Engagement Policy by conducting meetings that will involve discussions and revisions of the policy that’s in place. At this point, the school will jointly develop and revise with parents a Parent and Family Engagement Policy that the school and parents/guardians of students enrolled at Harper can agree on.
Harper Elementary seeks to involve parents in the decision-making process related to the operation of the school and its programs through the following means:
- Parent Surveys
- Parent meetings
- Flyers
- Monthly Newsletters
- Marquee
- Parent REMIND
The school will facilitate and implement the Parent and Family Engagement Policy. The policy is published in the Student/Parent Handbook, which is sent home by each student during the first week of school or upon enrollment into the school. It will also be posted on the school’s website.
ANNUAL TITLE I MEETING
Harper Elementary School will take the following actions to conduct an annual meeting (prior to Nov. 1st), at a convenient time, and encourage and invite all parents of participating children to attend to inform them about the school’s Title I program, the nature of the Title I program, the parents’ requirements, the school parent and family engagement policy, the schoolwide plan, and the school-parent compact.
In conjunction with the Director of Federal Programs, the school will conduct its Annual Title I Meetings during the first month of school. Parents will be issued a Back-To-School packet containing an informational flyer that highlights the topic to be discussed. The purpose of this informational meeting is to inform parents of the school’s Title I program and share pertinent information regarding Title I requirements and expectations.
Parents will be notified by:
- Flyers
- REMIND
- School Website
- HES Facebook
- Marquee
- Student Handbook
COMMUNICATIONS
Harper Elementary School will take the following actions to provide parents of participating children the following:
- Timely information about the Title I programs (Section 1116 (c)(4)(A)
- Flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening, and may provide with Title I funds, transportation, child care or home visits, as such services relate to parent and family engagement. Section 1116(c)(2)
- Information related to the school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities, is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand: Section 1116(b)(1)
The Parent and Family Engagement Policy and information about programs and other activities will be sent to in a timely-manner and a format, and to the extent practical, in a language the parents can understand. The school utilizes the following means to inform parents/guardians of system and/or school events by way of:
- Flyers, newsletters notifications
- Student-Parent Handbook
- System’s website and school’s website
- Community Scroll
- School Marquee
- Parent Engagement Coordinator
- HES Facebook
- REMIND
SCHOOL-PARENT COMPACT
Harper Elementary School will take the following actions to jointly develop with parents of participating children a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the state’s high standards.
- Host meetings where students, parents and teachers can provide input
- Outline the agreement that states the roles and responsibilities that each party will do to help all students meet and/or exceed state academic standards.
- Discussion & Revision
- Compilation of Final review
Parents/guardians are encouraged to meet with teachers to address specific concerns and areas of need. The following activities are scheduled to assist them in understanding standards and assessments:
- Parent Workshops (Content-related workshops: Reading, Math, Science, GMAS Homework Help)
- Parent Engagement Activities
- Parent-Teacher Conferences
Various accountability measures are in place to help parents monitor their child’s academic progress:
- Progress Reports
- Infinite Campus
- Midterm Reports
- Report Cards (each 9-week period)
- Attendance Letters/Referrals
- Classroom/Grade Level Newsletters
- Conferences
(Conferences may be arranged through the office or by a note to a child’s teacher. Parent-teacher conferences can be scheduled before school, after school or during a teacher’s planning period).
RESERVATION OF FUNDS
If applicable, Harper Elementary School will take the following actions to involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parent and family engagement is spent by:
- Conducting surveys and informational meetings to inform parents of the school’s Title 1 program and share pertinent information regarding Title 1 requirements and expectations, to gather information about how the funds should be used.
Per parents surveyed, they would like to see 1% allocation of parental involvement funds will be used in:
- Parent Workshops (model how parents can access programs i.e., infinite campus; AVID Student Portfolios, Teacher/Parent Math Demonstrations)
- Technology resources for at home use: (I-Stations, Foot Steps to Brilliance, Study Island, Prodigy, Freckle, Infinite Campus (parent portal)
- Educational materials for parent use (pamphlets, parent tips in newsletter, resources to help enhance and provide student learning, books to take home for additional at-home practice.
COORDINATION OF SERVICES
Harper Elementary will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent and family 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 parents in more fully participating in the education of their children by:
- Monthly Parent Newsletters (Recipes for Success; Math + Science Connections)
- Class Newsletters
- Daily Homework
- Home Connect (Accelerated Reader Program)
- Booklets for Parents: Channing Bete Publishers
- Take-Home Practice Books (Reading and Math)
- Summer Reading Program (BARK)
- Summer Learning Packets
- Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Tutoring
- E.A.G.L.E.S. Mentoring Program
- 21st Century Afterschool Program (Standards-based; Reading & Math)
- Practice sheets and resources for the Boys & Girls Club
- Junior Service League (JSL)
- Rotary Club
- Backpack Buddies (First United Methodist Church)
- DOJO (PBIS) Messaging
BUILDING CAPACITY OF PARENTS
Harper Elementary School will build the parents’ capacity for strong parent and family engagement to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school and the community to improve student academic achievement through the following:
- Providing parents with a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessments used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of the challenging State academic standards; and
- Materials and training to help parents to work with their child to improve their child’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy), as appropriate, to foster parent and family engagement
- Providing assistance to parents of participating children, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following:
- The challenging State’s academic standards
- The State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments
- The requirements of Title I, Part A
- How to monitor their child’s progress
- How to work with educators to improve the achievement of their child
- Provide orientation for parents of pre-kindergarten students entering school
- Utilize the Pre-K Parent Coordinator and the Kindergarten Liaison Committee to assist in explaining the transition from the pre-school to kindergarten to parents.
- Facilitate articulation meetings between pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers.
- Arrange campus visitation for fifth grade students who will transition to middle school.
- Conduct transition meetings for parents of fifth grade students with individualized education plans (IEPs).
- Host Parent Engagement Workshops (technology use of Infinite Campus, Study Island,
- Flyers/Newsletters
- Student Planners/Home-School Communicators
- Parent/Student Handbook
- System’s Website and School Website
- Community Scroll
- School Marquee
- Parent Engagement Coordinator
- HES Facebook and REMIND
I-Stations, Freckle, Prodigy, Footsteps To Brilliance)
The school will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents/guardians with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children. The school utilizes the following means to inform parents of system and/or school events.
The school will conduct a needs assessment each year to determine focused areas to be addressed for continued success of its educational program. Parents/guardians will be given the opportunity to provide feedback and make recommendations for improvement. Results of the survey will be shared at the Annual Title I Meetings and Parent Engagement Activities.
BUILDING CAPACITY OF SCHOOL STAFF
Harper Elementary School will provide training to educate teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, and other school leaders, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school by:
- District PAC Meetings
- Faculty Meetings
- Leadership Team Meetings
- School Team Meetings
- Parent-Teacher Conferences
- Parent Engagement Meetings
Harper Elementary School will provide other reasonable support for parent and family engagement activities under Section 1116 as parents may request by:
- Provide orientation for parents of pre-kindergarten students entering school.
- Utilize the Pre-K Parent Coordinator to assist in explaining the transition from pre-school to kindergarten to parents.
- Arrange campus visitation for fifth grade students who will transition to middle school.
- Arrange campus visitation for Preschool students who will transition to elementary school.
- Conduct transition meetings for parents of fifth grade students with individualized education plans (IEPs).
- The school will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents/guardians with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children.
- Parent-Teacher Conferences
The school will utilize the following means to inform parents of system and/or school events.
- Flyers/Newsletters
- Parent/Student Handbook
- REMIND
- System’s website and school’s website
- Community Scroll on local television
- School Marquee
- Parent Engagement Coordinator
- HES Facebook
The school will conduct a needs assessment each year to determine focused areas to be addressed for continued success of its educational program. Parents/guardians will be given the opportunity to provide feedback and make recommendations for improvement. Results of the survey will be shared at the Annual Title 1 Meetings and Parent Engagement activities.
DISCRETIONARY SCHOOL PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT
POLICY COMPONENTS
- Involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of that training.
- Provide necessary literacy training for parents from Title I, Part A funds if the school has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for that training.
- Pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with local parent and family engagement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions.
- Train parents to enhance the engagement of other parents.
- To maximize parent and family engagement and participation in their child’s education, arrange school meetings at a variety of times or conduct in-home conferences with teachers or other educators who work directly with participating children and parents who are unable to attend conferences at school.
- Adopt and implement model approaches to improving parent and family engagement
- Establish a districtwide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parent and family engagement in Title I, Part A programs.
- Develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parent and family engagement activities.
Harper Elementary School will be willing to “pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with local parent and family engagement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions” by helping parents with childcare by providing services within the school, for the duration of the Parent Engagement in an effort to accommodate the parent’s participation. Transportation can and will be arranged through the District’s Student Services dept.
Harper Elementary School will “maximize parent and family engagement and participation in their child’s education and arrange school meetings in a variety of times” and locations for parents who are unable to attend school events/activities.