• CLENDENIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

    CAMPUS AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT POLICY

    2023-2024

     

    STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

    Clendenin Elementary School is committed to the goal of providing quality education for every child. We feel parent involvement is an essential piece in ensuring that our students are successful in school. We believe that when parents are more involved in the academic process, school becomes more of a priority for their children. Everyone gains if Clendenin Elementary and parents/families work together to promote high achievement for our children. Neither parents/families nor Clendenin can do the job alone. Parents play an extremely vital role as children’s first teachers.

    Title 1 regulations require that each school served under Title 1 jointly develop with and                         distribute to parents of participating children, a written parental involvement policy agreed on   by the parents that describes the requirements outlined in Title 1 law.

    SCHOOL PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT POLICY

    1. Convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents of [participating children shall be invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their school’s participation of Title 1 and to explain the requirements of this part, and the rights of the parents to be involved.
      1. Our school holds a Coffee with the Principal at the beginning of the school year to review with the parents Title 1 School requirements and the school’s Parent Involvement Policy. We also present Title 1 requirements in the evening at our first PTA Meeting.
      2. In addition, the principal gives parents an update on school test data, adequate yearly progress status, and facilitates a review of the school’s improvement plan.
    2. Offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening.
      1. Parents are invited to participate in a variety of meetings and activities over the course of the school year. An Open House is held in August to provide the parents the opportunity to formally visit their child’s classroom to become better informed about grade level expectation and their student’s academic progress.
      2. Parent meetings and workshops scheduled throughout the year are guided by parent input and survey data and vary in date and time.
      3. Parents will be invited to participate in parent-teacher conferences at least twice a year to discuss their child’s progress. Teachers may receive parents during their prep time during the day or after school to accommodate as many parents as possible.
    3. Involve parents in the planning, review, and improvement of programs to include the school parental involvement policy.
      1. Our school will invite parents to participate in review and revision meetings to examine and discuss our Campus and Engagement Policy. An organized PTA has been established in our school to create a forum for parental input and involvement. Our Parental Engagement Liaison (PEL) connects our school to parental involvement resources.
    4. Provide parents with timely information about the programs, descriptions, and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet; and if requested by parents, 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 possible.
      1. Our school communicates with parents often about the state’s curricular and assessment expectations, school wide requirements in relation to delivery of instruction, the techniques used to evaluate students work, and individual classroom rituals and routines pertinent to the academic success of the students.
      2. We use a variety of communicative techniques such as the School Website, Communication Folders, School Messenger, Parent/Teacher Conferences, PTA meetings, individual notes/calls home, Family Fun Nights, surveys, Open House, Back to School Open House, Mid-Term Progress reports, Report Cards, benchmarks results and fluency scores to solicit parent participation and deliver important information in hopes of creating productive dialogue between home and school concerning improved students achievements.

    SHARED RESPONSABILITIES FOR HIGH STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.

    1. As a component of the school-level parental involvement policy, the school will develop a school-parent compact that outline how parents, teachers, staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved academic achievement.
    2. The education of a student is not only the responsibility of the teacher, but also of the parent and the student. For this reason, a Parent-Teacher-School-Student Compact has been developed and is utilized in our school.
    3. This document serves as an agreement between all parties that they will adhere to certain duties and responsibilities to ensure the success of the student. It is distributed to all parents at the beginning of each school year, usually at the first parent/teacher conference.
    4. The compact is kept by the teacher and used in student and parent conferences to remind each participant of their responsibilities. These compacts are also used to motivate students and parents to become more involved in the educational process and to let parents know that they are equal partners in their children’s learning.

    BUILDING CAPACITY FOR PARENT AND STAFF

    To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the schools and parents to improve student academic achievement.

    1. Shall provide assistance to the parents of the children served by the school in understanding such topics as the state’s academic content standards, STAAR standards and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with the teacher to improve the achievement of their children.
    2. Shall provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s achievements, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement.
    3. Shall educate teachers, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value of parent contributions and in how to reach out to parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and the school.
      1. Parental input will be solicited throughout the year in meetings, through surveys and during one-on-one conferences.
      2. The information derived will be utilized by the school’s Administrative Team and strengthen the tie between school and home for the purpose of increasing student achievement. The Family Engagement Department will take the lead in providing many opportunities such as a Strong Father events, parent classes, Building School and Home connections with the Teachers Created Materials per grade level, Reading Night for parents to become involved in our school during the course of the year in order to take full advantage of the benefits that come with active parent involvement.
    4. Shall coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with community based early learning programs and conduct other activities that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children.
      1. Our school includes Pre-K classes with an early learning program appropriate for students. The teachers take an active role in bridging a strong relationship between home and school. There are plenty of activities throughout the year and parents are encouraged to attend these events as often as possible.
    5. Shall make sure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings and other activities is sent to the parents in a format and a language that all parents can understand.
      1. Clendenin Elementary has made it a practice to send school correspondences in English and Spanish to make sure all information related to our school is understandable. 

    ACCESIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

    In carrying the parental involvement requirements, the school shall provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with children limited English proficiency and parents with children with disabilities, including providing information and school reports in a format and in a language such parents can understand.

    Parents of all students, regardless of English proficiency or disability, are considered to be an important part of our language community. All parents have the opportunity to be involved in their child’s school. For this reason, if a special need is identified that would help a parent to fully understand the educational process and the academic progress of the child, assistance will be provided to that parent.

    ADOPTION

    Clendenin Elementary Parent and Family Engagement Policy has been developed/revised jointly with, and agreed upon with, parents of children participating in Title 1 program on 4/18/19 and will be in effect for the period of 2023-2024 school year. The school will distribute this Parent and Family Engagement Policy to all parents, and we will make it available on the school website at the school office with the parental engagement liaison.