Revised and Approved by SAC 4/30/15 Approved by SBDM 5/14/15

Revised and approved by SAC 4/30/15 Approved by SBDM 5/14/15

Munfordville School

Title I Family Engagement Policy

Family participation in the education process is essential to academic success of students. Community support is also crucial to that success. Munfordville School recognizes that a child’s education is the shared responsibility of the school, the family, and the community; therefore, Munfordville School shall advocate for and support active family and community involvement to foster continued academic achievement for all students.

Research indicates a strong correlation between family involvement and student achievement. Increased family involvement in school activities provides the following benefits:

·  Children generally achieve better grades, test scores, and attendance.

·  Children consistently complete their homework.

·  Children have better self-esteem, are more self-disciplined, and show higher aspirations and motivation toward school.

·  Children's positive attitude about school often results in improved behavior in school and less discipline problems.

·  Fewer children are being placed in special education and remedial classes.

For the purpose of this policy, we will refer to parents/guardians as family leaders, administrators/faculty as school and classroom leaders, and parent involvement as “family engagement”, which has two meanings: 1) the participation of family leaders in regular, two-way, meaningful communication about student achievement and other school activities; and 2) the participation of the family leaders in providing assistance to a child in the performance of homework and the acquisition of basic skills.

This family engagement policy and the plan to implement it have been developed by the School Advisory Council, which consists of family leaders, classroom leaders, school leaders, and FRYSC leaders. The policy shall be distributed to all families. The policy shall be delivered in the family leaders’ primary language. The policy will also be made available to the community at large. This policy and the plan to implement it will be updated each spring to meet the needs of both families and the school.

It is our intention to engage families and community, provide outreach strategies, provide home learning activities, utilize community resources, and tap the strengths of all stakeholders to foster the success of all students in an academically rigorous, positive, and safe school climate.

Excerpt from Home-School Relations: Working Successfully with Parents and Families, by G. Olsen, M.L. Fuller, 2008 edition, p. 129-130.

Parent Engagement Goals

1.  To provide parents with timely information about their children’s school progress.

2.  To support parents’ efforts to assist their children at home with the acquisition of reading and math skills.

3.  To build a strong relationship between the home and school, increasing and improving the communication between parents and teachers and encouraging volunteerism.

4.  To support parents in becoming equal partners in school decision-making processes.

5.  To build a stronger school-community partnership.

The Munfordville School

Title I Family Engagement Plan

Munfordville School will implement the following components to support student learning and to fulfill the requirements of the family engagement policy:

To provide family leaders with timely information about their children’s academic progress, school and classroom leaders will

·  Post grades in Infinite Campus weekly.

·  Provide at least 2 formal reports per grading period for each child with 2 additional formal reports per grading period for students with disabilities.

·  Contact family leaders in a timely manner when a student is not mastering a standard.

·  Provide family leaders with a clear understanding of what “mastery” or “proficiency” of each standard means.

·  Provide the email address(es) and planning time(s) of the child’s teacher(s).

·  Conduct twice-yearly family-teacher conferences.

·  Invite families to meet and discuss a child’s progress.

To support families’ efforts to assist their children with the acquisition of reading and math skills, school and classroom leaders will

·  Assign homework consistent with the homework policies posted in the faculty and student handbooks.

·  Share clear information in multiple ways about each child’s academic achievement in a timely manner.

·  Provide families with information including instructional materials and training to assist them in helping their children learn.

·  Provide families with information on the standards that students will learn in a common, shared language.

·  Provide families with information about the types of assessments used to measure mastery.

·  Provide families with the school grading policy.

·  Send home a school-wide newsletter at least 4 times each year that includes information about the Title I program and practical educational family practices.

·  Consistently model and collaboratively promote high expectations for all students.

·  Offer well-planned and publicized family literacy events to enhance the family-school partnership.

To support families’ efforts to assist their children with the acquisition of reading and math skills, the Title I leader and family resource leaders will

·  Survey families once per year to learn what services or activities would most help them support the education of their children.

·  Offer a well-planned, well-publicized set of programs, both during and after school, to meet the needs identified by the survey.

·  Host a kindergarten orientation meeting to educate parents about continuous progress, kindergarten standards, and instructional practices.

·  Provide a transition meeting for parents of 8th graders before they enter high school.

To support families in becoming equal partners in school decision-making processes, school and classroom leaders will encourage family leaders to

·  Become members of the various parent-teacher organizations at school including but not limited to the site-based decision-making (SBDM) council, SBDM committees, District Title I Advisory Council, the School Advisory Council, and the PTO.

·  Attend various family-teacher organization meetings.

·  Read and provide comment on draft policies and plans including the home-school compact.

·  Participate in surveys and other opportunities to define school needs and develop solutions.

·  Attend the yearly Title I meeting.

·  Attend family-teacher conferences, open houses, and literacy events.

To support family leaders in becoming equal partners in school decision-making processes, school and classroom leaders will

·  Hold meetings at times that are conducive to the greatest family participation.

·  Provide child care during organized meetings.

·  Publicize organized meetings in a variety of ways including paper notes, email, One Call, Twitter, the school webpage, the local newspaper, local radio stations, and the local television channel.

·  Attend PTO meetings.

·  Post minutes of organized meetings on the school webpage.

·  Provide multiple avenues for parents to voice their concerns and evaluate programs, including but not limited to surveys and a suggestion box.

·  Provide the results of surveys to parents and the community at large.

·  Use the results of surveys to make adjustments in school policies and plans.

To build a stronger relationship between the home and school, school and classroom leaders will

·  Personalize communication.

·  Provide training to staff members on ways to effectively communicate with parents and community partners.

·  Find ways to make positive connections with parents.

To build a stronger relationship between the home and school, school and classroom leaders will encourage family leaders to

·  Attend parent volunteer training.

·  Become a tutor.

·  Assist teachers with classroom activities and/or preparation of instructional materials.

·  Participate in Read across America Week as a reader.

·  Eat lunch with their children.

To build a stronger school-community partnership, school and classroom leaders will

·  Provide real-world experiences to students by reaching out to community agencies and businesses.

·  Ask community and business leaders to share their expertise in classrooms.

·  Organize community service activities to support local causes.

·  Survey local businesses and community leaders concerning perceptions of the school.

·  Invite community leaders and businesses to organized parent-teacher meetings.

·  Contact appropriate government or community agencies to assist families when necessary.

·  Model and teach the 7 Habits.

***All documents sent home to families shall be written in the language of the parents.