Parent Compact and Family Engagement Policy

2024-2025 SCHOOL LEVEL TITLE I

School-Parent and Family Compact / School-Parent and Family Engagement Policy

School-Parent and Family Compact

The Centennial School District, and the Willow Dale Elementary School parents and family members of the students participating in activities, services, and programs funded by Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA), agree that this compact, which has been jointly developed with parents and family members, outlines how the parents and family members, the entire school staff, and the 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 that will help children achieve the State’s high standards.

SCHOOL COMMITMENT

Willow Dale Elementary School is committed to supporting student learning by:

Providing high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables students participating in Title I programs to meet the state academic standards.
Addressing the importance of communication between teachers, parents, and family members on an ongoing basis through, at a minimum:
- At least annually, parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, during which the compact shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual student’s achievement.
- Frequent reports to parents and family members on their child’s progress.
- Reasonable access to staff, and
- Ensuring regular two-way, meaningful communication between family members and school staff, including providing information and school reports in a format and in a language that the parent and family member can understand.
Providing parents and family members opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and to observe classroom activities.
Treating each student with dignity and respect.
Striving to address the individual needs of each student.
Acknowledging that parents and family members are vital to the academic success of their children.
Taking steps to provide a safe, positive, and healthy learning environment.
Assuring that school staff communicate clear expectations for the performance of both students and parents and family members.
Providing professional development for staff.

PARENT AND FAMILY COMMITMENT

As parents and family members, we are committed to supporting our children’s learning by:

Creating an atmosphere that supports learning by conducting activities at home to continue classroom learning.
Volunteering in school activities and events.
Participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of our children and positive use of extracurricular time.
Attending school meetings, functions, and conferences.
Communicating with teachers at conferences, by phone, by email, and by attending Title I parent and family workshops.
Being aware of Board policies and school rules.
Monitoring school attendance and school arrival times.
Making sure that homework is completed.
Encouraging student involvement in school activities held during and after school.
Reinforcing positive behavior.

STUDENT COMMITMENT

As students, we are committed to being responsible and taking ownership of learning by:

Coming to school each day on time and ready to learn.
Reading at home.
Completing homework assignments.
Taking home and returning necessary school papers and forms.
Maintaining a positive attitude and growth mindset.
Demonstrating mutual respect and empathy towards others.

School-Parent and Family Engagement Policy

The Title I Parent and Family Engagement section of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Section 1116(b) requires each Title I school to develop a written parent and family engagement policy that describes the means for carrying out the requirements of Section 1116. The school must ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings and other activities are sent to the parents of Title I children in a format and in a language the parents can understand. The policy must be: developed jointly with and agreed upon by parents and family members of Title I children; written in an understandable format and provided in a language parents can understand; distributed to all parents and family members of Title I children; made available to the local community; and updated annually to meet the changing needs of parents, family members, and the school. The policy describes how parents and family members will be involved in the planning, review, and improvement of the school's Parent and Family Engagement Policy (ESSA, Section 1116(b)(1)).

The administration, staff, and parents of Willow Dale Elementary School believe that the improved academic achievement of each student is a responsibility shared by the entire school community, including the school district, school, community members, school administration, staff, students, and parents (as defined for purposes of this policy to include guardians and all members of a student’s family involved in the student’s education). This policy outlines how the parents, the entire school staff, and the 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 that will help children achieve the State’s high standards.

How will the school involve parents and family members in the development of the parent and family engagement policy?

Willow Dale Administration will meet with parents during a regularly scheduled Home and School meeting to discuss parent and family engagement policy
- Parents will be informed of the meeting and agenda via bi-weekly S’more newsletter, website, and social media
- During the Principal Update during the Home & School meeting, the principal will inform the community that Willow Dale is a Title I school and will explain the requirements and rights of parent involvement in the parent and family engagement policy The policy states that the school will convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time.

How will the school meet with parents and family members annually?

The Willow Dale administration will meet with the parents during a regularly scheduled Home & School Association meeting and as needed.

What meetings will be held at the school?

The Centennial School District Teaching & Learning - Elementary web page provides information on the curricular resources, assessments, and state standards. This will be shared with parents and family members during Home & School and other meetings as needed.

How will the school inform parents and family members about the Title I program?

In all Home & School meetings, especially during the “Principal Update”, the administration provides parents with information about the curriculum, scheduled assessments, and upcoming programs. This gives an opportunity to learn, provide feedback, and participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children.

How will the school explain the curriculum, state standards, and assessments?

Willow Dale holds an annual Back to School Night at the beginning of the year to describe the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment and the ways in which each parent can support their children’s learning.
In various correspondence (newsletter, assessment information, etc.) communication describes the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the children served under this part to meet the challenging state academic standards, and the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children’s learning
Parent Teacher Conferences present more opportunities to maintain open lines of communication, the school district has scheduled two dates for parent-teacher conferences throughout the year.
The district shares and presents the results of local assessments (benchmark assessments and other curriculum-based measures) at the School Board Committee of the Whole meetings with an opportunity for public comment from any stakeholders.
An Open House is scheduled in the spring regularly to highlight the curricular works of the students.. Ensure regular two-way, meaningful communication between family members and the school.
The administration maintains an open-door policy to meet with any parents who would like further information.

How will the school accommodate meeting requests?

The Superintendent has scheduled various meetings via a Parent Advisory Council and other meetings to obtain feedback and suggestions from the parents.
Monthly Home & School meetings provide a forum for two-way communication and input into the Schoolwide plan.
Parents and community members are invited to participate on the Schoolwide planning team to collaboratively work on the yearly plan.

If applicable, how will the school meet with parents and family members to develop and discuss the Schoolwide Plan?

Willow Dale holds an annual Back to School Night at the beginning of the year to describe the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment and the ways in which each parent can support their children’s learning.
In various correspondence (newsletter, assessment information, etc.) communication describes the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the children served under this part to meet the challenging state academic standards, and the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children’s learning
Parent Teacher Conferences present more opportunities to maintain open lines of communication, the school district has scheduled two dates for parent-teacher conferences throughout the year.
The district shares and presents the results of local assessments (benchmark assessments and other curriculum-based measures) at the School Board Committee of the Whole meetings with an opportunity for public comment from any stakeholders.
An Open House is scheduled in the spring regularly to highlight the curricular works of the students.. Ensure regular two-way, meaningful communication between family members and the school.
The administration maintains an open-door policy to meet with any parents who would like further information.

How will the school involve parents and family members in the development of the school-parent compact?

The Willow Dale El administration will meet with the parents during a regularly scheduled Home & School Association meeting and as needed.
Parents and community members will be invited to attend the Schoolwide planning meetings and follow-up meetings to provide input and feedback.

How will the school provide training materials to parents and family members?

Teachers provide parents with materials to assist parents at home to support learning in the classroom.
The Office of Teaching and Learning has provided tutorial videos to assist parents in understanding curriculum and technology
When warranted, the MTSS team meets with parents, reviews baseline data, and shares the goals and plans for student learning.
Willow Dale hosted a virtual Meet the Counselor and Social Worker event to provide information to parents and make them aware of how to access school resources.
Assessment data is shared with parents, along with information explaining the assessment details, and students set goals between assessments. These goals are shared with the parents with resources to help forge

How will the school use parents to train staff on how to work with parents as equal partners?

Each year, incoming kindergarten students and parents are invited to the school to participate in screening. At this time, the parents are provided with information about their child, and the screening process, and a folder with curricular items is presented. At this time a survey is completed that allows the parents to share information with the school about the strengths and needs of their child.

How will the school coordinate with other federal, state, and local programs to include public preschool programs?

When possible, Willow Dale will coordinate with local preschool programs to encourage and support parents and family members to participate in the education of their children.
The Special Education Supervisor and Psychologist have opportunities to meet with program providers and parents of students in Early Intervention, through the Head Start and BCIU PreK programs.

How will the school ensure information is in a language parents can understand? This should include how documents are translated.

Willow Dale utilizes the S’more newsletter platform which translates the contents of the newsletter into 99 different languages.
The School Messenger system used for important correspondence translates all communications in 17 different languages.
The Districtwide utilized Google Suite allows families to translate and correspond in a variety of languages.
A Community/Parent Liaison employed by the district assists in the support and translation of documents and meetings for our largest EL subgroup
Language Services is available to all schools to provide translation services.

How will the school include parents and family members of English Learners?

Willow Dale Elementary is fortunate to have a bi-lingual ELD teacher who communicates with the EL families to provide information and answer any questions. Both EL teachers are in regular communication with the families.
We utilize the District translator and a translation service when needed to communicate important information to families.
The biweekly S’more newsletter can be translated into a variety of languages.
Correspondence that is sent home is translated so that parents are able to access the information.
The school also has a bilingual front office staff member who is able to provide pertinent information and answer questions.

Revised June 2023