School Parental Involvement Policy

NOTE: In support of strengthening student academic achievement, each school 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 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (parental involvement policy).

Schools, in consultation with parents, may use the sample template below as a framework for the information to be included in their parental involvement policy. Schools are not required to follow this sample template or framework. If they establish the school’s expectations for parental involvement and include all of the components listed under “Description of How a School Will Implement Required School Parental Involvement Policy Components” they will have incorporated the information that section 1118 requires be in the school parental involvement policy. Schools, in consultation with parents, are encouraged to include other relevant and agreed upon activities and actions that will support effective parental involvement and strengthen student academic achievement.

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PART I. GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

NOTE: There is no required format for written expectations; this is a sample of what might be included.

The Richwoods High School agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

· Consistent with section 1118, the school will work to ensure that the required school level parental involvement policies meet the requirements of section 1118 of the ESEA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1118(d) of the ESEA. (See Enclosure)

· Schools will notify parents of the policy in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand. The policy will be made available to the local community and updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school.

· In carrying out the Title I, Part A, parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school will provide full opportunities 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 ESEA in an understandable and uniform format and including alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in language parents understand.

· If the school-wide program plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1114(b) of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school submits the plan to the local educational agency (school district).

· The school will 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 parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the 1 percent reserved goes directly to the schools.

· The school will build its own and the parent’s capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement.

· The school will provide other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under section 1118 of the ESEA as the parents may request.

· The school will 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—

(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;

(D)  The carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA.

PART II. DESCRIPTION OF HOW SCHOOLS WILL IMPLEMENT REQUIRED SCHOOL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS

NOTE: The School Parental Involvement Policy must include a description of how the district will implement or accomplish each of the following components. [Section 1118, ESEA.] There is no required format for these descriptions. However, regardless of the format the district chooses to use, a description of each of the following components below must be included in order to satisfy statutory requirements.

1.      Richwoods High School will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its school parental involvement plan under section 1118 of the ESEA:

A.    Seek parent membership through use of Parent Link

B.     Schedule meeting of the members of both the parent involvement committee and the Universal Leadership Team to draft the parent involvement plan.

C.     Present the draft to the entire Richwoods High School community at the Back to School Night event for parents asking for their input.

D.    Place a copy of the draft on the Richwoods High School website requesting parental input.

E.     Place a copy of the policy on the Richwoods High School website after approval by the Universal Leadership Team for parents to view and provide feedback. 

F.      Send a Parent Link notifying parents of the revised policy’s adoption and location on the Richwoods High School website. 

2.      Richwoods High School will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA:

A.    Include parent representation in our Universal Leadership Team (ULT) responsible for using data to drive school-wide decision making.

B.     Prepare and present a monthly Principal Report at the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) meeting at Richwoods.

3.      Richwoods High School will hold an annual meeting to inform parents of the school’s participation in Title I, Part A programs, and to explain the Title I, Part A requirements and the right of parents to be involved in Title I, Part A programs. The school will convene the meeting at a time convenient for parents and will offer a flexible number of additional parental involvement meetings, such as in the morning or evening, so that as many parents as possible are able to attend. The school will invite all parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs to this meeting, and will encourage them to attend, by:

A.    During Back to School Night presentation, parents will be informed of the Title I opportunities available at Richwoods High School.

B.     Once the ULT has identified the Title I students using data, the parents will be invited to a parent night at Fall Parent Teacher Conferences to explain the support services offered and provide the data used to identify their children for the services.  Students are identified using multiple data points including but not limited to, NWEA-MAP scores.  Support services include push in support by interventionists to English and math classes as identified by Fall NWEA-MAP scores, as well as after school tutoring by certified teachers for all students.

C.     Upon completion of the interventions for the Title I students, parents will be invited to a parent night to provide them with the results of the interventions.

4.      Richwoods High School will provide parents of participating children information in a timely manner about Title I, Part A programs that includes a description and explanation of the school’s curriculum, the forms of academic assessment used to measure children’s progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet by:

A.    Course syllabi will be posted on each teacher’s webpage for easy access. The syllabi include information about the curriculum, assessment requirements, and proficiency levels.

B.     Teachers share information about curriculum, assessments, and course expectations at Back to School Night and at the Richwoods Curriculum Fair.

C.     NWEA MAP score data is available for review of students indicating mastery levels in reading and mathematics. This information is available on the Richwoods High School website and also provided to and explained to parents whose children receive Title I services at our initial parent meeting.

5.      Richwoods High School will at the request of parents, provide opportunities for regular meetings for parents to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions about the education of their children. The school will respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible by:

A.    Staff members will respond to parent requests via phone call or email within 48 hours.

B.     Parent teacher conferences will be held at minimum twice per year. These dates and times will be communicated in multiple ways (i.e. Parent Link phone and email messages, electronic message board, marquee, website, and monthly newsletter).

C.     Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) meetings will be publicized through the Richwoods High School website. At these monthly meetings, parents receive a report out from the principal and have opportunities for input on all aspects of the school community.

D.    PTO minutes will be publicized through placement on the PTO page within the Website of Richwoods High School within 48 hours of the regularly scheduled PTO meetings.

E.     Principal’s monthly report to PTO will be posted on the Website of Richwoods High School within 48 hours of monthly, regularly scheduled PTO meetings.

F.      Parents participate in and receive information about their child’s progress at 504 and IEP meetings.

G.    Parent workshops for students in the AVID program will be held at Fall Conferences and at the Richwoods Curriculum Fair.

6.      Richwoods High School will provide each parent an individual student report about the performance of their child on the State assessment in at least math, language arts and reading by:

A.    Student performance reports on State assessments are sent home via mail to parents each year (as applicable) for ACT and PARCC testing.

7. Richwoods High School will take the following actions to provide each parent timely notice when their child has been assigned or has been taught for four (4) or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified within the meaning of the term in section 200.56 of the Title I Final Regulations (67 Fed. Reg. 71710, December 2, 2002) by:

A.    Information to confirm highly qualified status of teachers at Richwoods High School is posted in the front office as well as on the school’s website. It is updated as needed.

8. Richwoods High School will provide assistance to parents of children served by the school, as appropriate, in understanding topics 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 Part A,

· How to monitor their child’s progress, and

· How to work with educators:

A.    Information regarding graduation requirements, academic progress, assessments, and academic success (including graduating) is located on the guidance page of the school webpage.

B.     Parents are invited to attend Back-to-School Night to meet teachers, receive course syllabi, receive student transcripts and advisement, and to receive contact information for school personnel who are available to offer support and assistance to children and adults throughout the school year.

C.     The Peoria Public Schools High School Registration book is available to all students through the counseling office at Richwoods.

D.    Training will be provided to teach parents how to use Skyward Family Access (i.e. Parent Conferences).

E.     Counselors will provide parents and students with a scheduled opportunity to review transcripts and graduation requirements annually.

F.      A bimonthly Richwoods High School newsletter is posted on the school’s website and paper copies are available in the office.

9.      Richwoods High School will provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement, by:

A.    Inviting parents to attend parent meetings two to three times per year to address reading and mathematics achievement and opportunities for support

B.     Communicating school-wide events such as Back-to-School night using multiple means (i.e. electronic sign, Parent Link voice and email messages, announcements, school website, and a bimonthly newsletter linked to the Richwoods High School website with hard copies available in the office).

C.     Training will be provided to teach parents how to use Skyward Family Access app (i.e. Parent Conferences).

D.    A website orientation will be provided to demonstrate use of the Richwoods High School website for parents (i.e. Parent Conferences).

10.  Richwoods High School will, with the assistance of its 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:

A.    Parental input through both the parent involvement committee and the PTO will inform staff regarding needs and opportunities for education of staff.

B.     PTO meetings are publicized via mass emails to members, Facebook posts, the school website, and the school newsletter.

C.     Parental input through participation in the AVID site team at Richwoods High School.

11.  Richwoods High School will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers Program, public preschool, and other programs. The school will also conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children, by:

A.      Richwoods High School’s Universal Leadership Team will support the District 150 Parent University, which serves as a resource for all families providing them with opportunities for involvement as well as information and education about programs available within the district and community.

B.      Richwoods High School provides parents with resources to support the college application process in the college room located in the counseling center, at FAFSA night, and events for parents during College Application Month (CAM) throughout October.

C.      The Universal Leadership Team will pass along needs identified by parents to the District as possible Parent University topics.

12. Richwoods High School will take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent-programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to 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:

A.    Each parent(s) of a Title I student(s) will receive a folder containing the individual assessment data for his/her child as well as information about services offered and future meetings. This information will be explained to parents during the Title I parent events.

B.     Letters to parents within Skyward generate in multiple languages (i.e. Spanish).

C.     A Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) translator is present at family events when a need is identified.

PART III. DISCRETIONARY SCHOOL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS (Sample Template)

NOTE: The School Parental Involvement Policy may include additional paragraphs listing and describing other discretionary activities that the school district, in consultation with its parents, chooses to undertake to build parents’ capacity for involvement in the school and school system to support their children’s academic achievement, such as the following discretionary activities listed under section 1118(e) of the ESEA:

· Involving parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of that training;

· Providing necessary literacy training for parents from Title I, Part A funds, if the school district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for that training;

· Paying reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions;

· Training parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;

· Arranging school meetings at a variety of times, or conducting in-home conferences between teachers or other educators who work directly with participating children, arrange meetings with parents who are unable to attend conferences at school in order to maximize parental involvement and participation in their children’s education;

· Adopting and implementing model approaches to improving parental involvement;

· Establishing a school parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in Title I, Part A programs;

· Developing appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parental involvement activities.

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PART IV. ADOPTION

This School 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 Universal Leadership Team agendas from meeting dates 9/21 and 10/5/15.

This policy was adopted by the Richwoods High School Universal Leadership Team on October 5, 2015 and will be in effect for the 2015-2016 school year. The school will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children on October 22 and 23, 2015.

October 5, 2015

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