FAMILY/COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Marion County Family/Community Engagement Plan

1. The Marion County School System will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its district wide family engagement plan under section 1112 of the ESEA:

• Parent representatives from the elementary, middle and high schools, along with the school-based Family Engagement Coordinators, school board members, and Central office personnel, will be appointed to serve on the District-Wide Family/Community Engagement Advisory Council.

• Data from current family/community surveys will be analyzed and used to determine what actions or activities are necessary.

2. The Marion County School System will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA:

• Each school is required to include parents on the committees for TSIPP

• Each school is required to include parents on the Family/Community Engagement Advisory Council.

• Parents are encouraged to give suggestions for improvements.

3. The Marion County School System 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:

• The system will provide a Teacher Resource position to help coordinate and train each school-based Family Engagement Coordinator on ways to involve parents and communities.

• The system will provide funds for a school-based Family Engagement Coordinator.

• Each school will receive a budget specifically designated for parental involvement.

• Each school will be required to set up a Family/Community Advisory Council with the assistance of the school-based Family Engagement Coordinator to develop a Family/Community Plan and a Home/School Compact.

• Materials and funds will be provided to carry out the family/community activities at each school.

• School data will be analyzed to help determine parental involvement activities that will contribute to student achievement.

4. The Marion County School System will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs: Head Start, State-operated preschool programs, by:

• Classes on parenting issues will be presented to the parents of preschool children by each school’s Family Engagement Coordinator.

• Head Start parents will receive a packet of materials pertaining to Title I and other school issues in the spring before time for Kindergarten registration.

5. The Marion County School System 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 schools. 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 district 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 District-wide Family Engagement Advisory Council will evaluate the program in the spring of each school year. The plan will be revised as necessary for improvement.

• Each school will conduct an annual evaluation of the Family/Community Engagement plan at the Spring Family Engagement Advisory meeting.

• The Family Engagement Coordinator will be responsible for conducting the survey at the school level.

• Barriers to parent involvement participation will be addressed at each meeting.

6. The Marion County School System along with parents and teachers have designed improvement strategies for the following areas:

• Homework

o Homework Hotline

o Weekly Folders

o Tutoring help

• Attendance

o Rewards (quarterly, yearly)

o Attendance Coordinators at each school

o Parent Messenger Program

o Truancy Board w/flexible settings

• Discipline

o Student handbooks

o Phone contacts

o Bullying Prevention Program

o Positive Behavior Support Program

o Gray Notes (high school) for positive and negative communication

o Character Education

1. The Marion County School System will build the school’s and parent’s capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities specifically described below:

A. The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph—

• The State’s academic content standards,

• The State’s student academic achievement standards,

• The State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments,

• The requirements of Part A,

• How to monitor their child’s progress, and

• How to work with educators:

o Workshops conducted by the school-based Family Engagement Coordinator will be offered at each school.

o Workshops will be based on the analysis of student data and the activities survey completed by parents at the beginning of school.

o State standards for each grade level will be available for viewing on the Marion County website.

o A description of each school’s curriculum will be posted on the website.

o Each school will inform parents about the curriculum being taught.

o Each school’s handbook will contain a grading scale.

o Progress reports will be sent home every nine week period.

o The Homework Hotline will be used to communicate to parents about attendance and homework.

o The Home/School Compact will state how parents, students, and teachers will work to improve attendance, homework and discipline.

o Each school will have written procedures to inform parents about the course of study for their children and have access to all learning materials through the school handbook and the school website.

B. The School district will, with the assistance of its schools, 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:

• A Parent Lending Library will be provided at each of the elementary Title I School-Wide schools.

• At least four workshops will be conducted for parents at each school.

• Materials will be provided for the workshops through each school’s budget for parent involvement.

• Parents will have input as to what issues will be presented through the survey sent at the beginning of each school year.

C. The school district will, with the assistance of its schools and parents, 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:

• The District-wide Teacher Resource Coordinator will present parental involvement education to all school-based Family Engagement Coordinators.

• Each school-based Family Engagement Coordinator will present parent involvement issues to the faculty of the school on parental involvement.

• Each principal, school-based Family Engagement Coordinator and District-wide Teacher Resource Coordinator will meet to discuss strategies on how to have a Family-Friendly school and complete the "Schools That Say Welcome" checklist.

D. The school district 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:

• Provide coordination with Head Start and other preschool programs through the school-based Family Engagement Coordinators.

• Provide packets with information to help parents of preschoolers in the transition to kindergarten.

E. The school district 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:

• The Marion County School system will provide an ESL Coordinator to help each school with translators when needed.

• The Title I Parent Program will provide a Spanish translation of the Firm, Fair and Consistent newsletter going home to parents of Hispanic students