Parent Involvement Policy

SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA

Rudolph Blankenburg Elementary Pre K-8th Grade School

PARENT INVOLVEMENT POLICY

2019-2020

 

PART I.         GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

Each school in its School-wide Parental Involvement Policy must establish the school’s expectations for parental involvement.  [Section 1118(a)(2), ESEA.]

The   R. Blankenburg Elementary School Pre-K-8th Grade School agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

  • The school district will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).   Those programs, activities and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.
  • Consistent with section 1118, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet the requirements of section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1118(d) of the ESEA.
  • The school district will incorporate this district wide parental involvement policy into its School District of Philadelphia plan developed under section 1112 of the ESEA.
  • In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district and its schools will provide full opportunities 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 ESEA in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
  • If the School District of Philadelphia’s plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1112 of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the State Department of Education.
  • The school district will 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 parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the schools.
  • The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and expects that its Title I schools 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.
  • The school district will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parental Information and Resource Center in the State.

 

PART II.         DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE SCHOOL WILL IMPLEMENT REQUIRED DISTRICT WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS 

[NOTE:  The School- wide Parental Involvement Policy must include a description of how the school will implement or accomplish each of the following components.  [Section 1118(a)(2), ESEA.] Regardless of the format the school chooses to use, a description of each of the following components below must be included in order to satisfy statutory requirements.]
  1. The  R. Blankenburg Elementary School will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its school-wide parental involvement plan under section 1112 of the ESEA: 
    • Back to School Night-September 20, 2019
    • Title I Parent Meeting-September 20, 20119
    • ‘School Options’ Meeting for 4th,  5th   and 8th Grade families
    • Regular meetings of a School Advisory Council with the Bryant stakeholders-Once a month.
    • Invite parents to the meetings involving the School Improvement Plan during the days of professional development.
    • Hold a meeting with parents and building representatives to review the school-wide parental plan and agree on the plan.
    • Report Card Conferences three (3) times a year in December, February and May.
    • Kindergarten Open House for new families-March 2018
    • Regular communication with parents through a monthly Bryant newsletter with calendar, School Messenger (phone dial system) and Daily Positive Behavior Support Calendar
  2. The __R. Blankenburg Elementary School__ will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA:
    • In the spring a meeting will be held with parents to discuss our 2019-2020 budget and how we will allocate funds to support our school goals and objectives for the upcoming school year.
    • Parent and caregivers will participate in the School Advisory Council (SAC) to review student data and help plan our School Improvement Plan and Federal Budget Addendum.
    • School Advisory Meetings will be held monthly and will serve as a forum for new ideas and strategies to improve our school.
    • We will have three Breakfast with the Principal meetings with parents to discuss data.
  3. The R. Blankenburg Elementary School will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance: 
    • In collaboration with the Grants Compliance Monitor, School Improvement Support Liaison, Deveraux Parenting Program, Philadelphia Home and School Council (PHSC), Title I Parent Advisory Committee, The Philadelphia Right to Know Educational Task Force, and other parent groups, provide workshops to schools on parent engagement.
    • Provide professional development by parents/caregivers for new and existing principals and other administrators on how to develop promising partnerships with parents/caregivers.
    • Train new and existing staff with parental engagement duties (e.g., School Improvement Support Liaisons, School-Community Liaisons, School Community Coordinators, and Bilingual Counselor Assistants) to assist school sites in implementing parental engagement.
    • Make available the staff of the Office of Educational Equity, Office of Specialized Instructional Support, and Office of Family and Community Engagement staff for technical assistance.
    • The Grants Compliance/Title I Office will provide technical assistance to schools and parent organizations, such as the Title I Parent Advisory Committee (PAC), Home and School Associations, The Philadelphia Right to Education Task Force, PARENT POWER, and other organized parent groups.
    • Provide coordination of professional development efforts through the Office of Leadership and Development.
    • Provide workshops to parents on supporting student achievement and parent engagement.
  4. The R. Blankenburg Elementary School will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs: Head Start,], by:
    • The R. Blankenburg Elementary School will solicit suggestions from parents and other Pre-K programs in the area regarding transition activities for children and parents.  Facilities with children in Pre-K will be invited to meet with Kindergarten teachers in May.  At the time, Kindergarten teachers will familiarize parents with Kindergarten assessments and requirements, as well as describe programs offered by Title 1.
  5. The R. Blankenburg Elementary School will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title I, Part A programs.  The evaluation will include identifying 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, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background).  The school will use the findings of the evaluation about its parental involvement policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary (and with the involvement of parents) its parental involvement policies.
    • The principal and School Improvement Support Liaison and the School Advisory Council will devise a questionnaire, sent out in the spring, which will help to identify barriers to parental involvement.
    • The evaluation of the parental involvement policy will be ongoing through verbal and written parent feedback at parent involvement activities, parent surveys and information provided at Annual Review and School-wide Planning Meetings.  Parents surveys will be given in November, January, March and June.
  6. The R. Blankenburg Elementary School  will build the school’s and parents’ capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities specifically described below: 
    • A) The R. Blankenburg Elementary School will, with the assistance of the School District, provide assistance to parents, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph —
      • the State’s academic content standards,
        • Back to School Night, September 20, 2019, Report Card Conferences (November 21st-23rd,  , February 15-17, April 19-21), Breakfast with the Principal (December 2019,  March 2019, June 2019), Weekly Friday Devereaux parent program
      • the State’s student academic achievement standards,
      • the State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments
        • Back to School Night, September 20, 2019, Report Card Conferences (November 21st-23rd,  , February 15-17, April 19-21), Breakfast with the Principal (December 2019,  March 2019, June 2019), Weekly Friday Devereaux parent program
      • the requirements of Title I-Part A
        • Back to School Night, September 20, 2019, Report Card Conferences (November 21st-23rd,  , February 15-17, April 19-21), Breakfast with the Principal (December 2019,  March 2019, June 2019), Weekly Friday Devereaux parent
      • how to monitor their child’s progress, and
        • Back to School Night, September 20, 2019, Report Card Conferences (November 21st-23rd,  , February 15-17, April 19-21), Breakfast with the Principal (December 2019,  March 201, June 2019), Weekly Friday Devereaux parent program
      • how to work with educators.
        • Back to School Night, September 20, 2019, Report Card Conferences (November 21st-23rd,  , February 15-17, April 19-21), Breakfast with the Principal (December 2019,  March 2019, June 2019), Weekly Friday Devereaux parent program
    • B)  The R. Blankenburg Elementary School will, with the assistance of the School 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:
      • We will have a Back To School Night on September 20.  
      • We will have a special Title I meeting that night to discuss SPI status, Supplemental Education Services (SES) and options for school choice in grades 4-8 (EH-36 process).  
      • We will hold other parents workshops throughout the school year on improving attendance, using computer-assisted instructions, helping to increase test scores, improving Math and Reading skills and summer opportunities.  
      • There will be Parent Workshops on IReady for supplemental research-based home support in Reading and Mathematics.
      • A meeting was scheduled for Back to School Night, September 2019, to inform parents of the school’s participation in the Title I program, explaining the requirements.
    • C)  The R. Blankenburg Elementary School will, with the assistance of the School District, 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:
      • We will address building a partnership with parent and caregivers through a professional development meeting on December 11, 2019 prepared and led by the Counselor and Community Relations Liaison.  All staff at Blankenburg Elementary School will be included. We will discuss ways tot communicate with our parents through phone and mail. We will discuss how to establish a correct listing of phone and email addresses, a barrier to parental involvement.
      • The SISL will greet parents and make phone calls around attendance each day and workshops (Customer Service, Research based interventions, PSSA and the instructional block) each day.
    • D)  The R. Blankenburg Elementary School  will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, 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:
      • The School improvement Support Liaison will continue to host a parent resource center.  We have a room provided for parents to get together with the Community Relations Liaison right on the first floor.
      • Inviting Pre-K parents to leadership meeting
      • Involving parents in school improvement planning
      • Providing resources and materials for parents during workshops and on a parents resources table that is available at all time for parents.
      • Inviting Pre-K parents to leadership meetings
      • Involving parents in school improvement planning
      • Providing resources and materials for parents during workshops and on parents resource table that is available at all times for parents.
    • E)  The R. Blankenburg Elementary School will 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:
      • Although the R. Blankenburg Elementary School does not need a translator at this moment, the school will contact with a translator to translate for non-Enlgish speaking households if needed; or use Google Translate (depending on the budget). Also, all information sent home is in “parent friendly language”
      • Phone message flyer, monthly calendars and reminders send parent communication in a parent-friendly language.  We use translations, where applicable.  We also utilize the services of Pacific Language Interpreters to assist communication in native languages.

 

PART III.         SCHOOL WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS

R. Blankenburg Elementary School

NOTE:  The School’s Parental Involvement Policy may include additional paragraphs listing and describing other discretionary activities that the school, in consultation with its parents, chooses to undertake to build parents’ capacity for involvement in the school and school system to support their children’s academic achievement, such as the following discretionary activities listed under section 1118(e) of the ESEA:

  • involving parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of that training;
  • providing necessary literacy training for parents from Title I, Part A funds, if the school district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for that training;
  • paying reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental involvement activities, including transportation to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions;
  • training parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;
  • arranging school meetings at a variety of times, or conducting in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend those conferences at school, in order to maximize parental involvement and participation in their children’s education;
  • adopting and implementing model approaches to improving parental involvement;
  • establishing a district wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in Title I, Part A programs;
  • developing appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parental involvement activities; and
  • providing other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under section 1118 as parents may request.]

 

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PART IV.         ADOPTION

This R. Blankenburg Elementary School Parental Involvement Policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents as evidenced by our parents  as evidenced by our meetings with parents in September and December of this year.

The school will distribute this policy to all parents on or before October 31, 2019.

 

LeAndrea Baltimore-Hagan, Principal

 

 

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