Parent Involvement Policy

         

Goshen School Parentl Involvement Policy

PART I.           EXPECTATIONS  

Goshen Elementary School agrees to implement the following statutory requirements: 

      The school will jointly develop with parents, distribute to parents of participating children, a School Parental Involvement Policy that the school and parents of participating children agree on.

      The school will notify parents about the School Parental Involvement Policy in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, will distribute this policy to parents in a language the parents can understand.

      The school will make the School Parental Involvement Policy available to the local community.

      The school will periodically update the School Parental Involvement Policy to meet the changing needs of parents and the school.

      The school will adopt the school’s school-parent compact as a component of its School Parental Involvement Policy.

      The school agrees to be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and 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 SCHOOL WILL IMPLEMENT REQURED SCHOOL                                                PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS  

 

1. Goshen Elementary School will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development and joint agreement of its School Parental Involvement Policy and its schoolwide plan, if applicable, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way under section 1118(b) of the ESEA: 

• Goshen Elementary School will inform and involve parents in a variety of ways so as to get input for our parent involvement policy.  Parent informational meetings including Back to School Night , Parent Coffee Annual Needs Assessment Meeting, Healthy Start Planning Meetings, ELAC, and GATE advisory meetings will be venues for parental input.  The plan will then be taken to the School Site Council for further input and recommendation for improvement and acceptance of the plan. 

1. Goshen Elementary School will take the following actions to distribute to parents of participating children and the local community, the School Parental Involvement Policy: 

• The Goshen Parent Involvement Policy will be distributed to parents at the beginning of each year in conjunction with the Parent/Student Handbook. 

1.  Goshen Elementary School will update periodically its School Parental Involvement Policy to meet the changing needs of parents and the school. 

1. Goshen Elementary School will convene an annual meeting to inform parents of the following:

       That their child’s school participates in Title I;

       About the requirements of Title I;

       Of their rights to be involved;

       About the rights of parents of English Language Learners;

       Of their rights to participate on committees, councils, the planning and revision of the single school plan, parent involvement plan, Gifted and Talented Education, and the English Language Acquisition Committee.

       Goshen Elementary School will submit to the District any parent comments if the school wide plan under section (114)(b)(2) is not satisfactory to parents of participating students 

1. Goshen School will hold a flexible number of meetings at varying times related to Parent Involvement.  

• Goshen School will provide parent education opportunities such as monthly parent coffee meetings, parent education nights, preschool parent education, First Five Sponsored trainings, Family Resource Center Trainings, and school advisory committees.    All meetings will focus on parents building capacity to better educate their children. 

1. Goshen Elementary School will provide timely information about Title I programs to parents of participating children in a timely manner. 

• A meeting for parents of Title I students will be provided within the first two months of each school year.
• A monthly bilingual newsletter will inform parents of Title I programs and events.
• Parents will receive written notification of meetings in both English and Spanish.
• Meetings date will be posted in the school office and/or the school marquis. 

1. Goshen Elementary School will provide to parents of participating children a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet. 

• Meetings for parents of Title I students will be provided on a regular basis (Parent Coffee Meetings, ELAC, Back to School, Parent-Teacher Conferences, SSC, PTO) to inform parents of expectations, curriculum, and assessments. 

1. Goshen Elementary School will provide parents of participating children if requested by parents, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible. 

• Regular meetings for all parents will be provided throughout the school year, including SSC, ELAC and GATE.
• Parents will receive written notification of all meetings in English and Spanish.
• Meeting dates will be posted in school office and/or the school marquis. 

1. Goshen Elementary School will submit to the District any parent comments if the schoolwide plan under section (1114)(b)(2) is not satisfactory to parents of participating children.

 Goshen Elementary School will provide parents with opportunities to serve and participate on various committees.  Information regarding these meetings will be available through minutes of the meetings and general information will be included in monthly newsletters in both English and Spanish.               

PART III.         SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HIGH STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT 

1. Goshen Elementary School 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: 

• Goshen School will provide parent education meetings that will be focused on building parent capacity to support the academic program, providing opportunities for parent involvement on school advisory committees, and information about how to access resources in our community.   
• Goshen School will provide parent education that focuses on transition of students between grades such as preschool, kindergarten, and sixth grade to middle school transitions.  Education will focus on building parent capacity to support students through important pivotal grade transitions in school. 

1. Goshen Elementary School will continue to utilize the school-parent compact as a component of its School Parental Involvement Policy.  Parents will meet with teachers each year during the first trimester to discuss the components of the compact and sign it. 

1. Goshen School will, with the assistance of its District, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school in understanding topics such as the following:

      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 Title I;

      how to monitor their child’s progress, and

       how to work with educators. 

1. Goshen School will, with the assistance of the District, 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: 

• Goshen School will provide parent education meetings that will be focused on building parent capacity to support the academic program, providing opportunities for parent involvement on school advisory committees, and information about how to access resources in our community. 

1. Goshen School will, with the assistance of its District 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: 

• Providing staff development that includes components for helping parents assist their children in meeting academic and social milestones.  In addition, by providing opportunities for staff to collaborate with parents to develop relationships and partnerships to improve the effectiveness of our instructional program and increased parent capacity to support their children with their education through parent conferences, Back to School Night, Parent Education Nights, and Open House. 

1. The school will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities such as Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading, 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: 

• Providing 0-5 parent education through Goshen First Five Program
• Providing a State Preschool program
• Providing ESL through Visalia Adult Education
• Parent Education Preschool
• Providing Parenting classes through the Goshen Family Resource Center 

1. The school will, to the extend feasible and appropriate, 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:

 Send written notice of all meetings in English and Spanish and post notices of meetings in the school office and on the school marquis in a timely manner. 

PART IV.         ADOPTION  

Each year, this School Parental Involvement Policy will be developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by the School Site Council Minutes and signature of the School Site Council Representative.