Sebeka School District #820
Elementary Title 1 Parental Involvement Policy & Procedures
2023-2024
1. Statement of Purpose
School District #820 is committed to the goal of providing quality education for every child in this district. To this end, we want to establish partnerships with parents and the community. Everyone gains if school and home work together to promote high achievement by our children. Neither home nor school can do the job alone. Parents play an extremely important role as children’s first teachers. Their support for their children and for the school is critical to their children’s success at every step along the way. Grade level goals for the children of School District #820 will be distributed to all parents in the district, with the expectation that all students will work toward these goals. We recognize that some students may need the extra assistance available through the Title 1 program to reach those goals. School District #820 intends to include parents in all aspects of the district’s Title 1 program. The goal is a school-home partnership that will help all students in the district to succeed.
2. Parental Involvement in Developing the Policy
An Advisory Committee consisting of two parents, two teachers, and one principal will meet to develop our school district’s Parental Involvement Policy. Our Advisory Committee will be chosen from volunteers (after appropriate publicity about the need for volunteers). Special attention will be given to recruiting parents of children in the Title 1 program. The goal is to have at least two parents whose children are participating in the Title 1 program (or have participated in the past few years) on the committee.
3. Annual Meeting for Title 1 Parents
At the Annual meeting for parents, which will be held in October, parents will be given information about the new Title 1 guidelines. They will be given copies of the district’s current Parental Involvement Policy, and will be offered a chance to become involved in revising that policy as needed. Parents will be sent written notices about the meeting times, and will be contacted by phone by the school receptionist.
4. School-Parent Compact
According to the Title 1 regulations, each school must share responsibility with parents for high student performance by using the school-parent-student compact that was developed jointly with the parents of children participating in the program. The Sebeka School compact outlines how parents, staff, and students will share responsibility for promoting high student achievement. Parents on the school’s Advisory Committee will be involved in reviewing these compacts. Student responsibilities may vary by grade level. Parents will receive the compact from their child’s school with a checklist of responsibilities that administrators, teachers, parents, and students will each have for helping students achieve their goals. Parents are urged to discuss the compact with their children. This compact is included in the beginning of the year packet, since we are a school-wide Title 1 program.
Parents will be given a letter containing their parent rights to know in the beginning of the year packet.
5. Types of Parental Involvement
There are many ways in which parents can become involved with their children’s education. The Sebeka School District values both the at-home contributions and those which take place at school and in the community. Reading to children at home and talking with them at a family meal are as important as volunteering at school or serving on advisory committees. Many types of parental involvement are needed in a school-home-community partnership that will help all our children to succeed. We also encourage our parents to attend fall open house activities and parent-teacher conferences in the fall and spring which we have averaged over 95% the past three years.
6. Matching Programs to the Needs of Our Community
Each year, the Sebeka School District will assess the needs of parents and children in this community, through a variety of measures – including questionnaires sent home to parents – so that the Title 1 program will be tailored to meeting those needs. Workshops and other programs will be available (some for parents, some for parents and children) to match the expressed needs. Parents will be notified about these opportunities through the school. Parents may call the District Office or school office at any time to express an interest in a particular sort of workshop or to make suggestions.
7. Staff-Parent Communication
Communication with parents will include a Title 1 newsletter distributed two times a year. There will also be activity packets sent home with children, telephone calls, and conferences as needed. We also encourage our parents to attend fall open house activities and parent-teacher conferences in the fall and spring. Parents in grades K-5 receive information about their child’s benchmark testing results three times a year in fall, winter, and spring. Parents are encouraged to take the initiative in calling their child’s teacher when they are concerned about a problem. The school assistant principal and superintendent send home quarterly newsletters with each child’s report card. As well as, many staff members send home weekly newsletters communicating news that is pertinent to all parents and community members.
Parents can easily access information on the Sebeka school website, sebeka.k12.mn.us, including school and activities calendars, community events, daily announcements, report (school report card), literacy plan, curriculum maps, grades, and individual faculty webpages.
8. Evaluation
A district-wide Title 1 Advisory Committee will be involved in the process of school review and improvement. Parents of children in the Title 1 program will be part of this group. The aim will be to evaluate the Sebeka School collecting information in a variety of ways, including visits to the school and observation of classes. There will be an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the Title 1 parental involvement program, and parents will be asked for their input. The evaluation will include an assessment of how much parental involvement is increasing, and what barriers to parental participation still need to be overcome. The school district will revise its Parental Involvement Policy on the basis of this annual review. The School Board of District #820 has approved the commitment to family involvement. The policy will be coordinated by Title supervisory staff and teachers throughout the district and promoted by the building superintendent, principal and other school staff. If parents are not satisfied with the parent involvement, their comments will be submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education when the plan is submitted.