Title 1 Parent Involvement Policy
Our school encourages the involvement of our students’ parents. We believe our students benefit from a healthy partnership between parents and the school. To that end, we offer the following opportunities for parents to be involved with the school:
School Council – Our school council includes parents of our students. The school council functions as an advisory committee to the principal and in a liaison capacity for our school and community.
PTSLO – Our school has an active Parent-Teacher-Student Learning Organization (PTSLO). The officers of this organization are parents from our school. They help support the school programs through fundraising and volunteer initiatives. All parents are encouraged to be active with the PTSLO.
Parent Information/Training Meetings – Our school hosts special training sessions for parents during the course of the year. Usually these meetings have agenda that focus on such topics as curriculum, effective study techniques, student health, safety & nutrition, and testing info & tips. Ordinarily we have.
Fiesta of Learning – Our ESOL teachers conduct a special training for the parents of our ESOL students. At this training, our parents receive important information about the ESOL program, including how children qualify for ESOL and how they exit the program. Parents are also armed with helpful information for working with their children at home. Also, we make sure that parents understand the best way to communicate with the school when they have questions or concerns.
Bi-lingual Meetings – Our school has bi-lingual staff members who help ensure that our Spanish speaking parents stay informed. We conduct our parent meetings/trainings in both English and in Spanish.
Translators at Conferences – We provide translators to be available for parents who need them at our bi-annual parent conferences.
FSPIC – We employ a full-time Family Services Parent Involvement Coordinator (FSPIC) at our school, whose role it is to work with families and parents. This person helps identify areas of need and facilitates the connections necessary to tap community resources for families in need. This person is also available to make home-visits to check on children and/or parents. Often she will accompany teachers when home visits are necessary.
Parent Resource Center – Our school maintains a Parent Resource Center (PRC) where parents may receive an assortment of helpful information about our school and community resources. There is also a computer connected to the internet in the PRC where parents may have access to their students’ school information, including grades and attendance. The PRC also serves as a meeting room for school staff and parents.
Parent Portal – Our school provides our parents access to their children’s school records with a web-based program called Parent Portal. Parents are given a logon identification with which they may view their children’s grades and attendance from any internet-connected computer. We conduct both system-wide and school-based trainings for parents to learn more about how to use Parent Portal.
Newsletter – Our school distributes, both electronically as well as by hard copy, a monthly newsletter to arm our parents with information about events that have occurred or that are going to occur at the school. The newsletter also includes helpful information for parents to better assist their children with their school work. The newsletter is made available in both English and in Spanish.
Bi-Annual Parent Conferences – Our school has early dismissal on two days in October and on two days in March for the express purpose of conferencing with 100% of our students’ parents. This allows critical communication between school and parents to take place.
Student-Parent-Teacher Compact – Our parents participate in a compact with our teachers and their children that describes the critical roles that they all play for ensuring the success of our students. The compact is published each year in the student handbook. An abridged copy of the compact is also provided to parents at our open house at the beginning of each school year. Parents sign a form, acknowledging their receipt and awareness of the compact.
Open House – We invite all of our parents to come in to the school to meet with their children’s new teachers before the first day of school. At this open house we provide parents with important information for the school year and work to get the school year started with a right relationship between school and parents.
Grandparents Day – Our school hosts annual “Grandparents Days” on which we invite the grandparents of our students to visit our school to have lunch with their grandchildren. This is a special way that our school helps nurture effective relationships between the school and home.
Family Bookfair Nights – Our school holds extended hours three times per year for parents to be able to visit the school with their children for the purpose of visiting our bookfairs.
Family Art Show Night – Our school hosts an annual art show where our parents are invited to visit the school to view the art produced by our students.
Musical Productions – We hold two musical productions each year where our parents are invited to attend. These programs are hosted at the Calhoun Civic Auditorium.
Field Trips – Our parents help plan and participate in field trips for our school. The parents play a major role in planning the 3rd grade walking tour of downtown each year. They also plan and prepare for the 4th grade visit to the Cherokee New Echota community. We have other field trips that parents do not play as vital of a planning role, but they are invited to attend the field trips with their children and to serve as chaperones, and many parents do.
Fall Festival – Our school hosts an festival each fall where students and their parents are invited to the school for fun and games. At the fall festival we have activities such as hay rides, cake walks, obstacle courses, face painting, and sack races. We also have games for the students and parents to enjoy. This annual festival is a wonderful opportunity for our school to nurture healthy relationships with the parents of our students.
Parents of Rising New Students Transition Meeting – Our school hosts a meeting each spring to meet with the parents of rising 3rd graders. The purpose of this meeting is to provide an orientation for the parents to our school. This is a wonderful time for answering questions and addressing any concerns the parents may have. It helps establish the relationship between school and parents that we believe is so critical to the success of our students.
Parent Surveys – Our school administers regular parent surveys to help us stay in touch with the perception and needs of our parents. The data collected from these surveys helps us as we make decisions affecting our students and parents.
Meeting for Gifted Students’ Parents – Our school hosts an annual meeting for parents of gifted students. At this meeting our teachers of gifted students provide information relevant to these parents, including, how children are identified and qualified for the gifted program and the criteria required to remain in the gifted program.
Volunteer Involvement Program (VIP) – Our FSPIC person helps coordinate a program for volunteers. Through this program, parents are encouraged to volunteer to assist in our school. We host an annual appreciation luncheon for these volunteers each spring. Their hours are logged and maintained by the school.
Parent Support for Teacher Collaboration Days – Our teachers receive an extended planning time to collaborate across an entire grade level on a monthly basis. On these days, we solicit parent volunteers to help supervise classes and to carry out teachers’ plans in those classes while the teacher is planning.
Student Agenda – Our teachers and parents use the student agendas to facilitate regular communication between school and home. Every student receives a student agenda each year and is trained in how to use it. Parents are also shown how to use the agenda for a communication tool.