LOWRANCE MIDDLE SCHOOL

School Parent and Family Engagement

Policy Lowrance Middle School

2023-2024

Mission: To provide all students with the resources needed to meet their maximum potential; emotionally, physically, and academically.

Vision: Lowrance Middle School will provide a safe and engaging environment that prepares students through differentiated instruction to reach their fullest potential. In collaboration with parents and the community, we will provide students with a solid foundation of functional skills needed to become independent, productive members of society.

In support of strengthening student academic achievement, Lowrance Middle 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).

Lowrance Middle 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.

● Submit any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the local educational agency if the schoolwide program plan under Section 1114(b) of the ESSA is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children.

● 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

SCHOOL PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS

Lowrance Middle 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/families, 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.

ANNUAL TITLE I MEETING

Lowrance Middle School will take the following actions to conduct an annual meeting, at a convenient time, and encourage and invite all parents/families of participating children to attend to inform them about the school’s Title I program, the nature of the Title I program, the parents’/families’ requirements, the school parent and family engagement policy, the schoolwide plan, and the school-parent/family compact.

● Post School-Parent Compact on school website

● Post Parent Involvement Policy on website

● Host Annual Title 1 Meeting within first quarter of the 2023-2024 school year (face to face if possible/virtually if necessary) offered during the day and in the evening to accommodate parent schedules

COMMUNICATIONS

Lowrance Middle School will take the following actions to provide parents of participating children the following:

● Provide timely information about the Title I programs

● Schedule flexible number of and time for meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening.

● Provide information related to the school and parent/family programs, meetings, and other activities via school website, Peachjar, student planners, and weekly phone calls/emails.

● Post parent compact, involvement policy on website

● Share parent compact, policy at annual Title 1 meeting

● Broadcast parent meetings through Microsoft Teams for parents/families who cannot attend

● Provide opportunities for parent-teacher conferences at least once a year

SCHOOL-PARENT COMPACT

Lowrance Middle School will take the following actions to jointly develop with parents/families of participating children a school-parent/family compact that outlines how parents/families, the school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement.

● Solicit parent and staff input via Title 1 survey

● Solicit input from SIT team members and parent representative regarding needs for student academic achievement

● Parent concerns/suggestions for school-wide program shared at IEP meetings

RESERVATION OF FUNDS

Lowrance Middle School will take the following actions to involve the parents/family of children in decisions about how to spend Title I funds reserved for parent and    family engagement by:

● Solicit parent input via Title 1 survey

● Share expense report with parents/families at each Title 1 meeting

   ● Solicit input from SIT parent representative

COORDINATION OF SERVICES

Lowrance Middle School will coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement programs and activities with other federal, state, and local programs

and conduct other activities that encourage and support parents/families to more fully participating in the education of their children by:

       ● Offer outside resources and support services for parents/families in IEP meetings

          ● Sponsor Students at Work initiative each spring (8^th graders)

          ● Connect with business partners

          ● Coordinate with Augsburg Lutheran Church volunteers

                   BUILDING CAPACITY OF PARENTS/FAMILIES

Lowrance Middle School will build the parents’/families’ capacity for strong parent and family engagement to improve student academic achievement through the                             following:                                

   ● Provide parents/families 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

       ● Provide materials and training to help parents/families to work with their child to improve academic achievement and to foster parent and family engagement

   ● Provide assistance to parents/families of participating children in understanding topics such as the following:

    ● The NC Extended Content Standards/functional curriculum

    ● The Extend 1 end of grade tests

    ● The requirements of Title I, Part A

    ● How to monitor their child’s progress

    ● How to work with educators to improve the achievement of their child

BUILDING CAPACITY OF SCHOOL STAFF

Lowrance Middle School will provide training to educate teachers, instructional support personnel, principals, and other school leaders and staff, with the assistance of parents/families, in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents/families as equal partners by:

           ● Offer professional development in staff meetings, professional learning team meetings, early release days for staff in working with parents/families

           ● Solicit input from parents/families for content of professional development sessions

             ● Provide other reasonable supports for parents/families as requested by stakeholders.