Polk County Department of Education

Family Engagement Plan

Studies show that when parents are actively engaged in the school life of a child, that child performs better. Consequently, the Polk County Department of Education has adopted the following goals:

Goal #1 – Break down all barriers to parent involvement.

• Ensure that parents feel welcome in the schools and at the district level.
• Involve parents in all aspects of decision-making at the school and district level.
• Keep parents informed of their children’s academic achievement.
• Provide notifications in other languages for non-English speaking parents.
• Provide ongoing and updated information on the Polk Co. website.
• Provide frequent information (notes/newsletters) to parents about ways they can be involved at their child’s school.

Goal #2 – Involve the community in family engagement.

• Invite agencies to participate in district and school level activities
• Make referrals to parents for family needs
• Include the community in aspects of decision-making at the school and district level

Goal #3 – Each school will encourage an active PTA, PTO, parent support group, and/or a family engagement program.

§ Title I schools shall develop a family engagement plan.

§ Title I schools shall implement, and evaluate their policy and plan to promote family engagement activities with emphasis on student learning.

§ All schools are encouraged to develop a family engagement plan

Goal #4 – Each school shall provide opportunities for parents to volunteer in the schools.

Goal #5 – Evaluate the effectiveness of the Family Engagement Plan on a regular basis.

§ Schools shall keep their parent volunteer hours on file at each individual school.

§ Monitoring of Family Engagement Plans at the district and school level shall be done annually by the Tennessee Department of Education annually.

2a. The Polk County Department of Education shall involve parents in the joint development of its district-wide parent engagement plan and pare/school compact under section 1112 of the (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) ESEA by using the following strategies.

• The Parent Advisory Committee, consisting of two parents from each Title I school in the district, shall review and provide input on the district’s Family Engagement Plan, as well give input to the director.
• Parent coordinators shall share the information with parents at the school level.

The Polk County Department of Education shall require the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA.

• Each school will include parents on its Tennessee Comprehensive Systemwide Planning Process (TSIPP) committee.
• Parents will be represented on the Consolidated Federal Programs Advisory Committee where data are reviewed regularly.
• Parents will be encouraged to give suggestions for improvements at the school and district levels.
• The district shall encourage all schools have an annual Open House.

2b. The necessary coordination, technical assistance and other support to assist Title I schools in the planning and implementation of effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance will be done as follows:

• All Title I schools shall be required to reserve 1% of its Title I allocation into parental involvement. The funds will be used to provide materials and to carry out family engagement activities at each school.
• The district shall reserve 1% of the Title I budget for parental involvement/family engagement activities.
• When possible, all Title I schools shall be associated with a Family Resource Center to receive support in the areas of parental involvement.
• The lending library shall provide services to parents in Title I schools.
• The Title I parent coordinators shall provide technical assistance to the Title I schools in the area of family engagement.

2c. The Polk County Department of Education shall build the schools’ and parent capacity for strong parent involvement by

• Providing training for administrators and teachers in parent engagement activities.
• Involving the community in the training of parent coordinators and district personnel.
• Include family engagement strategies in Title I Principals’ meetings.
• Encourage parents and teachers to attend state or local conferences on family engagement.
• State standards for each grade level will be available for viewing at the Polk Co. Schools web site.

2d. The Polk County Department of Education shall coordinate and integrate parent involvement strategies and programs with the following agencies in the following ways:

• Pre-Kindergarten Initiative – Title I Schools, Head Start, Department of Human Services, and Signal Centers shall work together to ensure that the parents of the pre-kindergarten program receive proper training.
• Family Resource Centers and adult education shall provide hands-on parent involvement training, GED classes, , computer training, and other activities shall be provided.
• The Polk County PTAs shall promote parental involvement throughout the district.
• .

2e. The Polk County Department of Education will annually evaluate the Family Engagement Plan at its Consolidated Federal Programs Advisory Committee meeting. (More meetings will be held if needed)

2e(i) The Polk County Department of Education shall make a realistic assessment of how services are meeting the needs of parents in the district and how the district has identified 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 and have limited literacy or are of any racial or ethnic minority background) by using the following strategies.

• Parents shall be surveyed using the Family Friendly Schools survey (or other appropriate survey) to determine the barriers to greater participation.
• Barriers to parent involvement participation will be addressed in district-wide Title I meetings, and Family Engagement meetings. Samples of barriers cited by parents are as follows:

1. Lack of time
2. Lack of communication between the school and parents
3. Feeling unwelcome in the school setting
4. Feeling they have nothing to contribute
5. Lack of child care
6. Language and cultural differences
7. Lack of transportation
8. Scheduling conflicts

To address the perceived barriers

• Title I schools shall use portions of their funds reserved for parental involvement to address the specific needs of their schools.

• The Consolidated Federal Programs Advisory Committee shall review survey results on the involvement of parents in the spring of each year and discuss funding to address perceived barriers.

2e(ii) The Polk County Department of Education will evaluate the district’s findings of strategies to improve stronger parental involvement in the following manner.

· Title I schools will keep a roster of parent volunteers. These reports will be kept at each school. The information will be shared with the Consolidated Federal Programs Advisory Committee where strategies and funding will be developed to address any need.

· Each school in Polk County will survey families they serve in the district to plan for the next year’s program and School Improvement Plan.

2e(iii) The District-wide Family Engagement Advisory Council will evaluate and/or revise the program in the spring of each school year.

2f. Polk County’s Parent Advisory Committee consists of two parents from each Title I school. They meet annually (more meetings if needed) in the spring with the federal programs supervisor to discuss district issues – including programs, activities, procedures, and policies. They also strategize on how to work with the community and gain support from community agencies.

2g. The Polk County Parent Advisory Committee will design improvement strategies such as homework, attendance and discipline.

• All parents are provided with a student handbook which outlines Polk County’s “Code of Acceptable Behavior and Discipline.” This document outlines the discipline policy for the district.
• All students receive a Student Handbook that details the homework and attendance requirements of the district.
• The Polk County Schools website contains the board policy which outlines all policies.

The Polk County Department of Education shall develop strategies for more effective parent involvement in the district to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities.

· The district shall provide each school with three times per year from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. for parent teacher conferences. These afternoon conferences will be used to discuss strategies for academic success. Conferences times can also be flexible to accommodate parent’s schedule.

· The district shall encourage all Title I schools to have a “Family Reading” or “Family Literacy Night” for the purpose of providing parents with strategies to help their children with reading/language arts, and (3) other Family Nights, as appropriate.

· The district shall require all Title I schools to include parents in the development of (1) parent school compact and (2) a family engagement plan.

· The district shall provide training and materials to parents on (1) the State’s academic content standards, (2) how to monitor their child’s progress, (3) how to work with educators, and (4) how to receive services that are available (Homework Hotline, Lending Libraries, Active Parenting Classes, Family Health and Adult Education).

· The Title I schools web site shall make grades, attendance available to parents.

· Each school’s handbook will contain a grading scale

· Each school will inform parents about the curriculum being taught and learning materials being used during the district-scheduled Parent Conference Days

· Each school’s description will be posted on the website

· Each Title I school will have two parents as a member of the Parent Advisory Council, where strategies will be shared for family engagement and academic success.

· A copy of the districts’ Family Engagement Plan will be made available at each school

· Packets of written information explaining Terra Nova Scores and Gateway testing will be sent to each parent. If necessary, parents can arrange a meeting with testing supervisor for further explanation.

6. Polk County Department of Education has built into its calendar parent-teacher conferences for each school.

7. Polk County Department of Education has a website with a plethora of information including the following:

• Family Engagement Plan
• School Report Cards/Assessment Data (School Performance) and expected student proficiency levels.
• District Calendar
• Meetings and Upcoming Activities
• Link to Individual School Web pages
• E-mail Address of All Principals

8. Polk County Department of Education requires that all Title I schools have school level family engagement plans are developed. The Title I office and the office of Parent, School, and Community Involvement provides assistance in the development of these plans.

9 Polk County Department of Education requires that the Title I budget reflect a minimum of 1% of the total budget on parental involvement activities. The Consolidated Federal Programs Advisory Committee determines how the district funds are to be spent.

10. The Polk County Department of Education requires that all Title I schools set aside 1% of the schools’ Title I budget for parental involvement activities. However, schools put much more than 1%.

The undersigned have reviewed and provided input on Polk County’s Family Engagement Plan.

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