Policies

Middletown Public Schools No. 1091

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY FOR TITLE I

PURPOSE: In support of strengthening student academic achievement, each local educational agency (LEA or school district) that receives Title I, Part A funds must develop jointly with, agree on with, and distribute to, parents of participating children a written parental involvement policy that contains information required by section 1118(a)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (district wide parental involvement policy). The policy establishes the LEA's expectations for parental involvement and describes how the LEA will implement a number of specific parental involvement activities, and is incorporated into the LEA's plan submitted to the State educational agency (SEA).

PART I. GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

The Middletown Public Schools agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

• The school district will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with Section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Those programs, activities, and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.

• Consistent with Section 1118, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school–level parental involvement policies meet the requirements of Section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and each include, as a component, a School–Parent Compact consistent with Section 1118(d) of the ESEA.

• The school district will incorporate this district-wide parental involvement policy into its LEA plan developed under Section 1112 of the ESEA.

• In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district and its schools will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children and will provide information and school reports required under Section 1111 of the ESEA in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.

• If the LEA plan for Title I, Part A developed under Section 1112 of the ESEA is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the state department of education.

• The school district will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1% of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95% of the 1% reserved goes directly to the schools.

• The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement and expects that its Title I schools will carry out programs, activities and procedures in accordance with this definition:

Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two–way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring:

A. that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;

B. that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;

C. that 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; and

D. the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in Section 1118 of the ESEA. [Section 9101(32)ESEA]

• The school district will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parental Information and Resource Center in the State.

PART II. DESCRIPTION OF HOW DISTRICT WILL IMPLEMENT REQUIRED DISTRICT-WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS

1. The Middletown Public Schools will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its district-wide parental involvement plan under Section 1112 of the ESEA:

The following will be disseminated to parents for review through newsletters, informational meetings, opening day packets, open houses, advisory committees, mailings and internet communication tools:

• District Parental Involvement Policy;

• School Parental Involvement Policy;

• School-Parent Compact;

• Parent Notices as they apply to the Title I, Part A Non-Regulatory Guidance.

• Regularly scheduled parental involvement advisory meetings scheduled through the office of the Community Outreach Coordinator

• Conducting an annual review/revision of the District parent involvement policy with Title I parents and staff

• Soliciting feedback through an open public meeting of the Middletown School Committee prior to adoption of the District parent involvement policy

• Soliciting feedback by posting a draft of the District parent involvement policy on the home page of the District web page for a period of two weeks prior to School Committee adoption

2. The Middletown Public Schools will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under Section 1116 of the ESEA:

• Including parent/community involvement as an objective in each school’s annual School Improvement Plan

• Including school review and improvement in the discussions with parents at regular meetings and Title I information nights, with specific focus on the Supplemental Reading Program

• Including parents and community members on School Improvement Teams

• Inviting parents to annual School Progress Report Nights

• Conducting surveys after all parent involvement activities to solicit information about strengths and needs of each program presentation

• Conducting beginning and end-of-year surveys mailed home to all Title I eligible families

3. The Middletown Public Schools will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:

• A Community Outreach Coordinator is paid to facilitate parental involvement activities in each of Middletown’s Title I eligible schools

• Pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with Title I parental involvement activities, including transportation, food, and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions

• Allocate resources to Title I parent involvement activities beyond minimum requirements

• Conduct activities at times identified as reasonable and convenient for families, i.e. Saturdays or evenings

• Meet regularly with Title I reading teachers and principals to allow them time and provide assistance to plan meaningful parent involvement activities

• Distribute parent newsletters to Title-I eligible families to help families increase parental involvement and reading success.

4. The Middletown Public Schools will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs:

• Coordinating written materials to parents regarding these programs

• Information is shared through the Community Outreach / COZ Coordinator

• Conducting regular and meaningful consultation with the private schools to include participation of eligible private school students in the District’s parent involvement activities

• Maintaining open lines of communication with the Department of Human Services for the purpose of identifying families experiencing homelessness and coordinating school and town resources

5. The Middletown Public Schools will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title I, Part A schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parental involvement activities (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background). The school district will use the findings of the evaluation about its parental involvement policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental involvement and to revise, if necessary (and with the involvement of parents), its parental involvement policies.

• Conducting surveys at all parent involvement activities to solicit information about strengths and needs of each program presentation and again several weeks later to evaluate effectiveness

• Using survey results to identify barriers and training needs so as to address concerns and increase family participation in parent involvement activities

• Conducting end of year parent meetings with families of Title I eligible students

• Reviewing formative and summative assessment data at the District, school, and classroom level

• Conducting regular meetings with the District Title I staff

• Considering input from all formal and informal evaluations to craft yearly parent involvement plans

• The Community Outreach Coordinator monitors parent’s needs and responses to our activities by attending all Title I events and talking with parents.

6. The Middletown Public Schools will build capacity of school staff and parents to create strong parental involvement programs, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement. The following strategies will be used:

A. The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph:

• the state’s academic content standards,

• the state’s student academic achievement standards,

• the state and local academic assessments including alternate assessments,

• the requirements of Title I, Part A,

• how to monitor their child’s progress, and

• how to work with educators.

This goal will be accomplished by:

• Convening the parents of Title I eligible students at a public meeting to explain the federally funded program

• Inviting parents to annual School Report Nights and Title I information sessions

• Notifying parents regularly of a child’s progress in supplemental or alternative placement programs – both formally in writing and informally through parent-teacher conferences

• Providing workshops/training for parents to increase their involvement with the success of school programs. Training topics may include assessment, understanding Common Core State Standards, Literacy Program, Personal Literacy Plans, and/or other areas as needed.

B. The school district will, with the assistance of its schools, provide materials and training to help parents work with their child to improve their child’s academic achievement, such as literacy training, and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement, by

•Providing workshops/training for parents to increase their involvement with the success of school programs and to assist their children with educational progress. Training topics may include how to help with homework, strategies to support developing readers at home and/or other areas as needed

• Providing materials such as free resources from the United States Department of Education to families of Title I eligible students

•Distributing newsletters, in the home language, to families of Title I eligible students. The purpose of this newsletter is to help increase parental involvement and reading success. All articles include suggestions for parents to use with their children at home to help build reading skills

• Distributing free books, summer resource packets, and community resources to families of Title I eligible students

C. The school district will, with the assistance of its schools and parents, educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools, by

• Coordinating regularly scheduled meetings with the Community Outreach Coordinator and Title I staff at each school to discuss family outreach practices

• Conducting regular meetings of the District Title I staff

• Coordinating with other programs, such as Parents as Teachers, to help families become active members of the educational program for their children

• Provide funds for Title I staff to attend training and conferences specifically geared toward increasing parental involvement (RIDE trainings, etc.)

D. The school district will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers program, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their child, by

• Collaborating with the Community Outreach Coordinator to identify families and distribute appropriate resources to parents of eligible children

• Invite eligible children to parent outreach activities sponsored by the Middletown Public Schools

• Maintaining open lines of communication with the Department of Human Services for the purpose of identifying families experiencing homelessness and coordinating school and town resources

• Use data to share with Title I staff for the purposes of identification and selection into the Title I program

• Sharing information and materials from agencies such as the Rhode Island Parent Information Network to Title I eligible families.

E. The school district will take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parental involvement 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.

• Distributing parental involvement newsletter, in the home language, to families of Title I eligible students

• Using traditional mail, e-mail and a resource web site to communicate with families of Title I eligible students

• Provide reminder phone calls prior to all school-based parent involvement activities

• Ensuring that all written communication sent home to Title I eligible families is in parent-friendly language.

F. The school district will provide other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under Section 1118 as parents may request.

PART III. ADOPTION

This district-wide parental involvement policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by the Title I Annual Meeting in November 2014.

This policy was adopted by the Middletown Public Schools on [mm/dd/yy]. The school district will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children on or before _________________.

GAUDET MIDDLE SCHOOL/LEARNING ACADEMY

SCHOOL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY for Title I

PART I: GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

• The school will jointly distribute and evaluate a School Parental Involvement Policy that the school and parents of participating children in Title I services agree on.

• The school will notify parents about the School Parental Involvement Policy in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, will distribute this policy to parents in a language the parents can understand.

• The school will make the School Parental Involvement Policy available to the local community.

• The school will periodically update the School Parental Involvement Policy to meet the changing needs of parents and the school

• The school will adopt the school’s school-parent compact as a component of its School Parental Involvement Policy.

• The school agrees to be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and will carry out programs, activities and procedures in accordance with this definition:

Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring

• that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;

• that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;

• that 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;

• the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA.

Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its Parental Involvement Plan:

• Include parent representation from the onset of the development through membership on the Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy School Improvement Team.

• Include parent input by soliciting feedback from parents of the Title I Parent Advisory during Title I Parent Meetings.

• Take the Parent Involvement Policy draft to the Gaudet Middle School /Learning Academy for PTG for input.

• Share the Parent Involvement Policy draft with all of Gaudet Middle School /Learning Academy’s parents by sending it home at the beginning of the school year, along with an informal survey allowing for additional parental input.

Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement:

• Parents will be involved in reviewing and updating Title I Targeted Assistance program plans.

• Past, current, and future School Improvement Plans (SIPs) have and will always include a parental/family engagement piece as well as a parent as a member of the School Improvement Team (SIT).

• At the fall Title I Information Night, Title I staff will actively recruit parents to serve as members of the District’s Title I Parent Advisory Team and the school’s PTG.

• Membership in either group is open to all interested parties.

• Provide assistance and training to parents to prepare them for meaningful participation.

PART II: DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE SCHOOL WILL IMPLEMENT REQUIRED SCHOOL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS

1. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development and joint agreement of its School Parental Involvement Policy and its school-wide plan, if applicable, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way under section 1118(b) of the ESEA: The following will be disseminated to parents for review through newsletters, informational meetings, opening day packets, open houses, advisory committees, mailings and internet communication tools:

• District Parental Involvement Policy;

• School Parental Involvement Policy;

• School-Parent Compact;

• Parent Notices as they apply to the Title I, Part A Non-Regulatory Guidance.

2. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will convene an annual meeting during the first quarter of the school year at a convenient time to inform parents of the following:

• That their child’s school participates in Title I,

• About the requirements of Title I,

• Of their rights to be involved,

• About their school’s participation in Title I.

3. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will provide information about Title I programs to parents of participating children in a timely manner:

• Newsletters;

• “Back to School” Night/Open Houses;

• Internet communication;

• First Day Packets;

• Advisory meetings;

• Hard copy mailings

4. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will provide parents of participating children a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, the proficiency levels students are expected to meet, and an opportunity for parents of participating children to provide suggestions as practicably possible through:

• Parent-Teacher Conferences;

• Title I Annual Meetings;

• IEP’s (Individual Education Plan);

• Assessment Report sessions;

• RtI Meetings;

• Needs Assessment Surveys.

5. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will submit to the district any parent comments if the school-wide plan under section (1114)(b)(2) is not satisfactory to parents of participating children. Submission of comments will be made to the Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent and parent will be notified by the district for conference.

PART III: SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HIGH STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

1. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will build the schools’ and parent’s capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities specifically described below:

• Newsletters;

• “Back to School” Night/Open Houses;

• Parent-Teacher Conferences;

• District Volunteer program packets;

• First Day Packets;

• Annual Title I Advisory Meeting.

2. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will incorporate the school-parent compact as a component of its School Parental Involvement Policy and will be disseminated by mail in the first trimester of every school year.

3. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy, with the assistance of the district, provides assistance to parents of children served by the school in understanding topics such as the following:

• The State’s academic content standards;

• The State’s student academic achievement standards;

• The State and Local Academic Assessments including alternate assessments;

• The requirement of Title I;

• How to monitor their child’s progress, and

• How to work with educators.

4. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, ensure that information related to the school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities, is sent to the parent 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.

5. J.H. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy will, with the assistance of the parents, educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools, by:

• Securing and utilizing the expertise of a District Community Outreach Coordinator to provide ongoing communication with both schools and parents, serving as the liaison between the two.

• Supporting the activities of the school’s local PTA, through which parent involvement is encouraged, organized, and valued.

6. J.H. Gaudet Middle School/Learning Academy, to the extent feasible and appropriate, will coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Middletown Community Outreach / COZ, Head Start, private school programs, and other programs, and conduct other activities that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children by:

• Coordinating written materials to parents regarding these programs. Coordinating or sharing parent involvement activities.

• Encourage Gaudet families to participate in the summer reading program at the Public Library.

FOREST AVENUE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

SCHOOL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY for Title I

PART I: GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

Forest Avenue Elementary School agrees to implement the following statutory requirements: