This school-level parent and family engagement compact provides an understanding of the joint responsibility of the District and parents/guardians for improving student academic achievement and school performance. The District provides opportunities for parent/guardian involvement at the school level by:

Parent/Guardian Involvement

1.  Convening an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents/guardians of participating children are invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents/guardians of their school’s participation under Title I and to explain the requirements of Title I, and the right of the parents/guardians to be involved. The Building Principal or designee shall:

• Invite all parents/guardians of participating children to the annual meeting at school.

• Explain the rights of parents/guardians to be involved in establishing this compact.

• Introduce and involve the building representatives on the District-level committee.

• Provide an overview of Title I and give parents/guardians an opportunity to express questions and concerns.

• Indicate the mechanisms by which the committee work will be communicated.

• Seek the involvement and input of parents/guardians.

• Provide child care so that all parents/guardians who would otherwise be unable to attend may attend.

2.  Offering a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening, and may provide, with funds provided by the relevant provision in Title I, transportation, child care, or home visits, as such services relate to parental involvement. The Building Principal or designee shall:

• Provide parents/guardians with opportunities to ask questions and dialogue informally about student academic achievement and school performance.

• Engage building-based parent organizations to assist with communication and implementation needs.

• Develop and use outreach programs to involve community groups and organizations.

3.  Involving parents/guardians in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of programs under Title I, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school parent and family engagement policy and the joint development of the school-wide program plan (under 20 U.S.C. §6314(b)(2), except that if a school has in place a process for involving parents/guardians in the joint planning and design of the school’s programs, the school may use that process, if such process includes an adequate representation of parents/guardians of participating children.  The Building Principal or designee shall:

• Identify and establish a process by which an adequate representation of parents/guardians of participating children can occur.

• Establish a schedule for the building-based committee to plan, review, and recommend improvements to the District parent involvement policy.

4.  The Building Principal or designee shall:

• Provide parents/guardians of participating children timely information about programs.

• Communicate updates through use of school newsletters, the District website, email and telephone contact, and home visits if needed.

5.  The Building Principal or designee will provide a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of challenging State academic standards.

The Building Principal or designee shall:

• Provide parents/guardians, upon request, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any suggestions as soon as practicably possible.

• Develop a feedback loop for parents/guardians to ask questions and receive follow-up.

6.  If the school-wide plan under 20 U.S.C. §6314(b) is not satisfactory to the parents/guardians of participating children, the Building Principal or designee shall:

• Submit any parent/guardian comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the School Board.

• Provide a process for parents/guardians to express concerns and complaints.

Shared Responsibilities for High Student Academic Achievement 

1.  The School is responsible for providing a high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the children served under Title I to meet the State’s challenging academic standards. Each parent/guardian is responsible for supporting their children’s learning by:

• Volunteering in their child’s classroom. 

• Participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to their children’s education and positive use of extracurricular time.

2.  Communication between teachers and parents/guardians occurs on an ongoing basis through:

• Parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the compact shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual child’s achievements.

• Frequent reports to parents/guardians on their child’s progress.

• Reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and observation of classroom activities.

• Ensuring regular two-way, meaningful communication between family members and school staff, and, to the extent practicable, in a language that family members can understand.

Building Capacity for Involvement

To ensure effective involvement of parents/guardians and to support a partnership among the school’s involved, each school shall:

• Provide assistance to parents/guardians in understanding the challenging State academic standards, State and local academic assessments, and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children.

• Provide materials and training, such as, literacy and technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy), to help parents/guardians work with their children to improve their children’s achievement.

• Educate teachers, instructional support personnel, principals, other school leaders, and other staff, with the assistance of parents/guardians, in: a) the value and utility of contributions of parents/guardians; and b) how to effectively communicate and work with parents/guardians as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent/guardian programs, and build ties between parents/guardians and the school.

• To the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent/guardian involvement programs and activities with other federal, State and local programs, including public preschool programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent/guardian resource centers, that encourage and support parents/guardians in more fully participating in their children’s education.

• Ensure that information is sent to the parents/guardians of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language that parents/guardians can understand.

• Provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this section as parents/guardians may request.

In addition, each school may:

• Involve parents/guardians in the development of training for teachers, Building Principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training.

• Provide necessary literacy training from funds provided by the relevant provision in Title I if the District has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for such training.

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

• Train parents/guardians to encourage and enhance the involvement of other parents/guardians.

• Arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-home conferences between teachers and other educators, in order to maximize parental involvement and participation.

• Adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement.

• Establish a District-wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in supported programs.

• Develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent/guardian involvement activities.

Accessibility

In carrying out the parental involvement requirements of this compact, the school, to the extent practicable, will provide opportunities for the informed participation of parents/guardians and family members (including those with limited English proficiency, with disabilities, and migratory children), including providing information and school reports in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language such parents/guardians understand.