Parent and Family Engagement Policy

Eliza B. Kirkbride Elementary School

Parent and Family Engagement Policy

School Year 2020-2021

Revision Date: 05/18/2020

In support of strengthening student academic achievement, Kirkbride Elementary School receives Title I, Part A funds

and therefore must jointly develop with, agree on with, and distribute to parents and family members of participating

children a written parent and family engagement policy that contains information required by section 1116(b) and (c) of

the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The policy establishes the school’s expectations for parent and family

engagement and describes how the school will implement a number of specific parent and family engagement activities,

and it is incorporated into the school’s plan submitted to the local educational agency (LEA).

The Kirkbride Elementary School agrees to implement the following requirements as outlined by Section 1116:

● Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of programs

under Title I, Part A, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school parent and family

engagement policy and the joint development of the schoolwide program plan under Section 1114(b) of the Every

Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

● Update the school parent and family engagement policy periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and

the school, distribute it to the parents of participating children, and make the parent and family engagement policy

available to the local community.

● Provide full opportunities, to the extent practicable, 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 ESSA in an understandable and uniform format, including

alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.

● If the schoolwide program plan under Section 1114(b) of the ESSA is not satisfactory to the parents of

participating children, submit any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the

local educational agency.

● Be governed by the following statutory definition of parent and family engagement and will carry out programs,

activities, and procedures in accordance with this definition:

● Parent and Family Engagement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful

communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring:

(A) Parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning

(B) Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school

(C) 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) Other activities are carried out, such as those described in Section 1116 of the ESSA

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DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE SCHOOL WILL IMPLEMENT

REQUIRED SCHOOL PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS

Section A: JOINTLY DEVELOPED

Kirkbride Elementary School will take the following actions to involve parents in an organized, ongoing, and

timely manner in the planning, review, and improvement of Title I programs, including opportunities for regular

meetings, if requested by parents, to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to

the education of their child and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible.

Parents are invited through a flyer home and robo-calls to attend the Annual Title I Winter and

Spring Parent Meeting where the Parent and Family Engagement Policy and School-Parent

Compact will be jointly developed. This year’s Winter meeting was held in January 16, 2020.

Parents/guardians shared in a discussion about the Schoolwide Plan, school goals, funding, and the

parent documents. Parents are also encouraged to give feedback to the school about our parental

engagement at SAC meetings and through the annual parent survey. This year’s spring meeting

took place on May 18, 2020.

Section B: ANNUAL TITLE I MEETING

Kirkbride Elementary School will take the following actions to conduct an annual meeting, at a convenient time,

and encourage and invite all parents of participating children to attend to inform them about the school’s Title I

program, the nature of the Title I program, the parents’ requirements, the school parent and family engagement

policy, the schoolwide plan, and the school-parent compact.

Parents and families are invited to an Annual Title I meeting held in the Fall. School

leadership will discuss the Title I program, parent rights, Title I requirements, how to monitor

your child’s progress, working with educators, and the schoolwide plan. The September 2020

the meeting will be announced on the school calendar and a flyer will be sent home.

Section C: COMMUNICATIONS

Kirkbride Elementary School will take the following actions to provide parents of participating children with (1)

Timely information about the Title I programs, (2) Flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or

evening, (3) transportation, child care or home visits, as such services relate to parent and family engagement and

may use Title I funds and (4) 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.

● Kirkbride Elementary School will offer multiple meetings throughout the school year at different

times of the day to encourage parental engagement.

● Materials are sent home in parent-friendly language and translations are available, as needed.

Translations and interpretations are provided 5 days a week via walk-in service. BCA’s are

present everyday and provide language support. Additionally, translation service via phone service

is utilized and needed.

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Section D: SCHOOL-PARENT COMPACT

Kirkbride Elementary School will take the following actions to jointly develop with parents of participating

children a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the

responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build

and develop a partnership to help children achieve the state’s high standards.

● Parents and school leadership will meet in the Spring jointly developed the School Parent

Compact. This year, the document was reviewed and updated at a meeting on May 18th 2020.

● Parents are also encouraged to participate in SAC meetings and to complete the parent survey to

give input to the school’s academic and family engagement activities.

Section E: RESERVATION OF FUNDS

Kirkbride Elementary School will take the following actions to 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 parent and family

engagement is spent by:

Parents and families are invited annually to an annual Title I Winter meeting to discuss the

budget and schoolwide plan. The budget will be discussed in detail, including the 1% parental

engagement set-aside funds. Parents offered suggestions on how to spend the parental

engagement funds during the Spring Meeting held on May 18, 2020.

Section F: COORDINATION OF SERVICES

Kirkbride Elementary School will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent and

family engagement programs and activities with other Federal, State, and local programs, including public preschool

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:

Kirkbride Elementary School collaborates with pre-K teachers and the Head Start Program

for the Building Bridges transition plan. An Open House and Classroom visit is available for

all pre-K students and their families.

Section G: BUILDING CAPACITY OF PARENTS

Kirkbride Elementary School will build the parents’ capacity for strong parent and family engagement to ensure

effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school and the community to improve

student academic achievement through the following:

1. Providing parents with a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of

academic assessments used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of the challenging

State academic standards; and

2. Materials and training to help parents to work with their child to improve their child’s achievement, such

as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy), as

appropriate, to foster parent and family engagement

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3. Providing assistance to parents of participating children, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as

the following:

a) The challenging State’s academic standards

b) The State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments

c) The requirements of Title I, Part A

d) How to monitor their child’s progress

e) How to work with educators to improve the achievement of their child.

The Annual Title I meeting held during Back to School Night will address academic standards,

assessments, Title I requirements, curriculum, parent rights, working with your child’s teacher,

and monitoring your child’s progress.

To ensure the success of parents’ understanding of state and local requirements, parent workshops

will be held to facilitate topic discussions that afford parents opportunities to ask questions and

engage in conversation around state and local standards. The Parent Café will hold workshops in

the Spring and Fall. Parents will be informed of workshop dates in all home languages via

monthly newsletter, phone calls by BCA’s and translation and interpretation services will be

provided.

Section H: BUILDING CAPACITY OF SCHOOL STAFF

Kirkbride Elementary School will provide training to educate teachers, specialized instructional support personnel,

principals, and other school leaders, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of

contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners,

implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school by:

● All staff members (instructional, non-instructional, secretary, and school police) will receive

professional development related to working with parents as equal partners and parent

engagement. Strategies and expectations for reaching out to parents include, but are not limited to,

phone calls, tea-time, with teachers (scheduled according to individual teacher’s time) and letters

and interim notices to parents translated in all home languages.

● Feedback from the parent survey will be incorporated into professional development for staff.

Kirkbride Elementary School will provide other reasonable support for parent and family engagement activities

under Section 1116 as parents may request by:

● Training parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;

● Providing necessary literacy training for parents; and

● Adopting and implementing model approaches to improving parental engagement;

___Rebecca O. Julien_____ ____9/16/20____

Principal Signature Date

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