HARMONY
AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
District
Wide Parent Involvement Policy
PART I. GENERAL
EXPECTATIONS OF THE PARENT INVOLVEMENT POLICY
The Harmony Area School District agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:
· The school district will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Those programs, activities and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.
· Consistent with section 1118, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet the requirements of section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1118(d) of the ESEA.
· The school district will incorporate this district wide parental involvement policy into its LEA plan developed under section 1112 of the ESEA.
· In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district and its schools 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 a language parents understand.
· If the LEA plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1112 of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the State Department of Education.
· The school district 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 one percent reserved goes directly to the schools.
· The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and expects that its Title I schools 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 THE DISTRICT WILL IMPLEMENT REQUIRED DISTRICT WIDE
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS
o The district holds an annual parent meeting.
o The district will form a parent advisory council comprised of parents from the school district.
o The district will request regular parental feedback from parents related to parent involvement activities and the academic program. This information will be collected in the form of surveys and data will be made available to staff and parent advisory council members for purposes of program improvement.
3. The Harmony Area School District will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:
o
Administrators will budget appropriate funds for reasonable parent
involvement activities.
o
All members of the school district will be asked to support parent
involvement activities.
o
The district will openly welcome parents as partners in learning
through formal and informal parent involvement activities.
4.
The Harmony Area School District will coordinate and integrate parental
involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the
following other programs:
o
Head Start, District Pre-K
program, Quality Pre-K program, IU early intervention and Family Center.
5. The Harmony Area School District will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title I, Part A schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parental involvement activities (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background). The school district will use the findings of the evaluation about its parental involvement policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary (and with the involvement of parents) its parental involvement policies.
o The district uses a parent survey that is sent to parents in the spring of each year and used at the annual meeting. Results from the survey are tabulated, studies, and shared with administration and staff. Parents see changes brought about by survey results reflected in programs for the following school year.
A. The Harmony Area School District will build the schools’ and parent’s capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities specifically described below:
The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following, 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:
o Parents receive a Title I newsletter and District newsletter published by the school district. Parent/teacher conferences are convened throughout the year.
o A district student assessment schedule is published annually in the district newsletter, which is mailed to every household in the school district.
o School district assessment data is published on the district website.
o A link to Academic Standards is featured for parents on the district website.
o Information on standards and assessments are shared at parent teacher conferences.
B. The school district will, with the assistance of its schools, 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:
o Hosting a Back to School Night and Open House.
o Offering parents e-mail addresses and phone extension numbers with voice mail capability to all professional staff.
o Offering parents of new kindergarten pupils a home visit during the summer.
o Offering parents of elementary children the opportunity for a make and take it, which focuses on games to enhance reading and math concepts.
o Offering all parents Grade Logic, a secured internet based grade reporting system.
o Offering information to all parents through the district website.
o Providing all students will a student handbook.
C. The school district will, with the assistance of its schools and 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:
o Administrative team meetings
o Title I staff meetings
o School Community Council meetings
o Parent Teacher Association meetings
D. The school district 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, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children, by:
o Title I parent lending library
o Instructional materials provided for at home student use.
o Open House night for parents and community members.
o Title I and District newsletters for all parents.
o Coordination with Head Start and IU 10 to transition students to district Pre-K and Kindergarten programs.
o Welcoming outside organizations to share information with parents.
E. The school district will take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent- programs, meetings, and other activities, is sent to the 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:
o The district has an approved ESL program, which stands ready to assist any ESL families.
o The district has available through the ESL program a translation service, which can be accessed quickly if the need arises.
o Open House evenings are well publicized.
o Face to face and telephone meetings with parents are encouraged.
o Annual Title I meeting is advertised in district publications as well as flyers sent home to all families.
o Title I and district newsletters are provided to all families in the district.
PART III.
DISCRETIONARY DISTRICT WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS
The Harmony Area School District, under section 1118(e) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, exercises its right to include parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of that training by:
o The Act 48 committee
o 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.
o Maximize parental involvement and participation by offering parent meetings at a variety of different times.
o Adopting district wide parent involvement policies and compacts at the school level through the school community council.
o Adopting a school community council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in Title I, Part A programs, as well as other district programs. This group meets every month to two months to review allocations and existing programs, as well as to review annual Title I parent survey results and suggest changes and improvements to Federally Funded Programs, including Title I program, throughout the district.
o Providing other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under section 1118 as parents may request.