PARENT INVOLVEMENT POLICY

For

Eleanor Skillen Elementary School #34

Indianapolis Public Schools

1410 Wade Street

Indianapolis, IN 46203

2016-2017

Purpose:

Education is a shared responsibility of students, parents/family, schools, and community. Eleanor Skillen School #34’s adopted school plan is based on the belief that students learn best when their education is the result of collaborative planning by adults from the school, home, and community who work together to implement the school program.

The purpose of this policy is to support parents/guardians in their efforts to provide their children with a home/school/community environment that ensures students achieve and excel in meeting and exceeding state and district academic standards. The policy will also serve to provide constructive interactions between school, community, and parents that affect positive change in school climate and promote improved academic achievement. It encompasses structured and organized interaction through a series of collaboratively planned and implemented events and activities which bring parents, staff and students together.

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In order to involve parents collaboratively in the development and review of the parent involvement policy and school improvement plan, we will annually invite the parents/guardiansof School 34 students with the Title I staff, the administration, and the parent liaison to review and modify our parent involvement policy.

The administration, Title I staff, Parent Involvement Educator (PIE) of School 34 and parents will review and revise the Parent Involvement Policy’s content and effectiveness. This will be done in the second semester of 2017. School 34 will utilize a suggestion box with ideas, concerns and suggestions as well as parents attending the review meeting to evaluate the Parent Involvement Policy. All gathered information will be used by the school to revise/rewrite their Parent Involvement Policy.

In addition, parents will be invited to serve on the Parent Involvement Committee, the various subcommittees, and the Community Council that meet throughout the school year. These groups will have continuous input into the school improvement and school governance processes.

To ensure that School #34 continues to build strong parental involvement; we will continue to implement the following activities:

An Annual Meeting will be held in the first nine weeks of 2016. At this meeting, information concerning the Title I program will be shared with parents and families.

  • Title I staff will share what is Title I, the assessment procedures (DIBELS, RAPS 360, PIVOT, and ISTEP) used to qualify a student for services, and the types of services that a student will receive. We will discuss our reading and math curriculum. Our expectations will be that all students will pass ISTEP in grade 3-6 and our kindergarten through grade 2 students will be on level in our DIBELS assessment.
  • Title I staff will share other ways that we keep the parents involved: classroom newsletters,WildcatDaily Behavior Sheet, building based team (BBT—a team that helps diagnose and suggest interventions for struggling students), Parents in Touch Day (PIT). We will also share information about our Parent Resource Center.
  • The PIE will explain the parent involvement calendar, the monthly newsletter, and the workshops offered throughout the year. If parents are unable to attend a workshop, our parent liaison will come to your home and share the material.
  • We will encourage our parents to arrange for a conference if they feel there is a need.
  • Pacing guides and standards for the appropriate grade will be passed out at the annual meeting if available.
  • We will inform parents how to utilize the IPS online tool. Parents may visit our parent room for more specific information. Also a workshop will be given to help with this tool.
  • We will encourage parents to read the parent packet concerning discipline, attendance, and the uniform policy
  • Each parent will be asked to read and sign the Parent Compact
  • The Parent Involvement Policy will be available for review.

A handout with the above information will be passed out at the Annual Meeting and on PIT day.

Our PIE,supported by the Staff at School 34,will facilitate and plan flexible monthly workshops that will give assistance to parents in understanding topics that will help our students improve academic performance in reading and/or math. Notices will be sent out prior to each workshop. Phone calls will also be made to encourage participation. Evaluations from workshops will be used for improving our parent involvement policy.

Our Fall/Winter workshops will include: Kindergarten Readiness, Make and Take Reading with the use of Technology, Family Math Night, Navigating IPS online, Celebrate Diversity, and Bingo for Books

The spring workshops will include: Family Science Night, ISTEP and IREAD-3 prep., Grandparents Day, Read Green for Earth Day, Multicultural workshop, Kindergarten Roundup, Bingo for Books, Math Fluency and a Family Community Fair.

Our Family/Social Events club meets monthly and conducts several events with the inclusion of reading/math activities. They conduct a Family Dance Night incorporating reading and math activities.

Another way that we will help our parents is by maintaining a Parent Resource Center containing multiple resources that parents may check out and use with their students. As teachers, parents or students see the need for additional help; the Title I staff and/or PIE will provide extra materials and maintain the inventory.

Information to parents will be ongoing through the year. At our nine weeks Honors Day program, we will communicate with parents and encourage their participation. Also our PIE will speak about upcoming events, reminding parents of the resource center. The PIE will maintain frequent contacts with parents to assure needs are being met. Our PIE will organize telephone and home visits to reach parents who are reluctant to support school efforts. Home visits will include reading and math materials that can be worked on at home. A record will be kept. We will seek out volunteers to help at various tasks such as noon helpers, fund raisers, weekly sales, and bookstore. We will continue to sponsor student performances, winter and spring that draw family members to watch their children perform. Parents will be provided student checklists and homework kits so parents have resources to assist students at home. Our PTA will give us input and assistance in the above areas when appropriate.

Transitioning our students from preschool to kindergarten and sixth grade to middle school is very important for academic success. Our school has formed a partnership with neighboring preschools. Throughout the year, we will send newsletters to our neighboring preschools. For our incoming kindergarteners we will have a kindergarten round-up in the spring. Our PIE will invite preschool students and parents from the neighboring area to visit and tour our school in the spring of each year. Invitations will be sent out as well as home visits. A workshop in the spring will be conducted by the PIE and a kindergarten teacher for our incoming kindergarteners.

Our outgoing 6th graders will receive information on their options for middle school selection in the Fall. The social worker and/or 6th grade teachers will conference with students and parents to make an informed decision in accordance with published application deadlines.

School #34 teachers receive training in Invitational Practices. We will review the School/Parent Compact and Parent Involvement Policy every fall. Teachers will also receive professional development training that will help them learn how to be more effective in the teaching of reading and math. Parent survey results (regarding invitational practices) will be shared regularly with the staff. Staff members will rotate to attend extracurricular and parent involvement activities (i.e. PTA meetings, skating parties, evening parent workshops). Teachers will try to achieve 100% parent participation at our Parents in Touch fall conference. At the conference the teachers will strive to build positive communication with the parents. They will share the pacing guides and state standards if these have not been distributed previously.

The PIE will be certified and receive ongoing training and will use this information to ensure that educators and parents will be provided with updated information.

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In summary, the administration, Title I staff,PIE of School 34, and parents will review and revise the Parent Involvement Policy’s content and effectiveness. This will be done in spring 2017. School 34 will utilize a suggestion box with ideas, concerns and suggestions, as well as parents attending the review meeting, to evaluate the Parent Involvement Policy. All gathered information will be used by the schools to revise/rewrite the Parent Involvement Policy. All activities, both for parents, students, and teachers will work to promote effective communication between home and school in an effort to improve the academic achievement of our students.