SGASD TITLE I PARENT & FAMILY ENGAGEMENT POLICY

The Spring Grove Area School District agrees to implement the following statutory requirements: 

1. Involve parents and family members in jointly developing the district’s overall Title I, Part A plan and the process of school review and improvement. The district will collect parent and family members input through parent meetings, survey information, and feedback through written and verbal communication.
2. Provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist and build the capacity of all participating schools within the district in planning and implementing effective parent and family involvement activities. These activities must improve student academic achievement and school performance, which may include Title I teacher meetings; trainings from the State Parent Advisory Council website, and coordination with local resources. (Glatfelter Library)
3. Coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement strategies to the extent feasible and appropriate, with other relevant Federal, State, and local laws and programs; such as York Revolution Rookie Revs reading program and the York County Summer Reading Program.
4. Conduct, with the meaningful involvement of parents and family members, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parent and family engagement policy in improving the academic quality of all schools served under the Title I program.
   • Barriers to greater participation by parents/families in activities who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority.
   • The needs of parents and family members to assist with the learning of their children, including engaging with school personnel and teachers; and
   • Strategies to support successful school and family interactions;
5. Use the findings of such evaluation to design evidence-based strategies for more effective parental and family engagement, and to revise, if necessary, the parent and family engagement policies at the district and building levels.
6. Involve parents in the activities of the schools, which may include establishing a parent advisory council comprised of parents or family members from each of the Title I schools to adequately represent the needs of the population. This advisory board will help develop, revise, and review the parent and family engagement policy.

Annual Parent Meeting- Dive into Reading

An annual meeting of parents of participating Title I students will be held once a year.  All parents and family members of participating students will be invited and encouraged to attend.  The meeting will inform parents of their schools’ participation as a Title I school.  The requirements of the program and the rights for parents to be involved with be discussed.

Parent and Family Engagement Opportunities

Additional parent and family meetings will occur throughout the year at each of the individual Title I schools.  If the District receives $500,000 or more, a set aside of 1% of the funds will be designated to parent and family engagement activities.  The schools will offer a flexible number of meetings at various time of the day and evening.  These meetings will:

• Describe the high-quality curriculum being used
• Further explain the challenging State Academic standards
• Discuss ways for parents to support a child’s learning
• Explain ways to get involved in a child’s classroom
• Review positive use of extracurricular time

Parents will have an ongoing opportunity to participate in the design, development, operation, and evaluation of the Title I program to improve the Title I program and the school’s parent and family engagement program. 

Parents will receive timely information about the Title I program.  Meeting topics will discuss the curriculum being used, the assessments, and the achievement benchmarks that are used to measure student growth in relation to the challenging State academic standards.

Opportunities for collaboration relating to the education of individual children will be provided on an ongoing basis through:

• Newsletters
• Frequent reports to parents on their child’s progress
• Email communications
• Parent/teacher conferences at least annually

A school-parent compact will be developed jointly with parents and family members to outline how parents, the school staff and the students share responsibility for academic achievement

Schools will

• Educate teachers and staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value of and utility of contributions of parents and family members as equal partners.
• Implements and coordinate parent programs
• Build ties between parents and family members and the school.
• Work with local programs, including preschool providers, to support parent participation in the education of their children.
• Provide information related to school and parent programs in a language that parents and family members can understand.