McDonald Elementary School Title I Parent Engagement Plan
Parent Engagement 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 in decision-making and on advisory committees as appropriate to assist in the education of their child;
that parents are involved in identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parent engagement activities.
Purpose: The purpose of parent engagement is to increase each parent’s capacity to help their child(ren) be successful in school.
To facilitate meaningful parent engagement in our school we will:
Develop a Title I Parent Advisory Committee: The school will establish a Title I parent advisory committee to assist in the review of the parent compact, parent engagement plan, use of parent engagement funds, and the annual review and evaluation of our school Title I program as well as the review and plan for school improvement. The school will solicit parents to serve on the committee at the start of each school year. Any parent of a student is eligible to serve on this committee. The school will establish, from a list of parents willing to serve on the committee, a group of parents who serve throughout the school year. Every effort will be made to make all parents aware of the efforts of this committee and solicit input from all parents concerning these efforts. The Title I Parent Advisory Committee, or any parent, may request opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate in decisions relating to the education of their children, and the school will respond to such suggestions as soon as practicable.
Annually review our Parent Engagement Plan: McDonald Elementary will, with consultation and input from their parents, annually review, and when necessary, revise this parent engagement plan. The plan will outline how the school will work with their parents throughout the school year. A meeting will be held within the first month of school to review and possibly revise this plan. This plan will clearly establish when and how parents will be involved in all aspects of the Title I program.
Annually review our Parent /Student/Teacher/Principal Compact: McDonald Elementary will annually review the Parent/Student/Teacher/Principal compact with consultation and input from parents. The compact will list the responsibilities of the student, parent/guardian, classroom teacher, and school administrator. A meeting will be held in the fall of each year to provide parents copies of the Parent/Student/Teacher/Principal compact, and will be provided with opportunities for input into this document throughout the year. A parent advisory meeting will be held in the spring of each year to provide parents an opportunity to review and possibly revise the current parent/school compact. Throughout the school year, parent input on the parent/school compact will be solicited and used during the spring meeting in the possible revision of this document.
Annually establish how Title I Parent Engagement Funds will be used: McDonald Elementary will, with consultation and input from their parents, annually develop a plan for use of Title I funds. These funds will be used to host the Title I parent engagement event, provide parents with materials to help their children grow academically, pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental involvement activities to enable parent participation in such activities, related meetings and training, and other costs directly associated with increasing parental involvement. A plan for use of these funds should be discussed and completed at the first Title I Parent Advisory meeting of the school year, and will be shared with all parents at the fall parent involvement event.
Annually review and assess the effectiveness of the Title I program: Through a survey provided to parents in the spring each year, parents will be asked for their input and provided the opportunity to provide feedback regarding the effectiveness of the Title I program. Survey data will be reviewed to discuss any needed modifications to the Title I program going forward. Additionally, data will be collected, analyzed, and reviewed to assess the effectiveness of our program.
Facilitate regular, meaningful two-way communication: McDonald Elementary will hold an annual meeting for parents to explain Title I and what it means to them as a parent and to their student and to explain the right of parents to be involved in the school and in their child(ren)’s education. This will be done at the Parent Engagement Event in the fall. For parents unable to attend, the school will provide this information through flexible and convenient methods (Ex. Newsletter, parent information packet, phone call, or meeting with the parent.) The school will provide parents a description and explanation of the curriculum, student progress measures, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve the student achievement. Curriculum, content standards, measures and proficiency levels will be highlighted in a parent newsletter and/or the Title I website. The school will ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to parents in a timely manner and in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand, and provide reasonable alternate formats as requested.
Build the capacity of parents to support their child(ren)’s learning: The school will provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement This will include a family reading event hosted by the school and/or Title I program.
Coordinate and integrate the school’s parent engagement programs with early childhood programs in the community and in the school: To the extent feasible and appropriate, McDonald Elementary will work with the preschool program to encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children. At a minimum, parents in these programs will be invited to participate in the Back to School night before the start of school for parents of children transitioning to Kindergarten.
Build the capacity of school staff to work with parents: The school will work with the district Title I and English Language Learner (ELL) programs to train and educate staff in how to reach out to, communicate with, work with parents as equal partners and build ties between the parent and the school.