Title I Policy
2.0 Barron Park Elementary Parent and Family Engagement Policy
With approval from the local governing board, Palo Alto Unified School District and Barron Park Elementary have developed a written Title I parent and family engagement policy with input from parents and family members of participating children. The principal and site council work on creating an equitable and accessible environment with input from all stakeholders through community meetings, annual surveys, and feedback from staff. The school will distribute the policy to parents and family members of children served under Title I, Part A. The policy will be sent home digitally through parent portals, and with student Friday folders. The policy will also be included on the school website and in the parent handbook. (EC § 11503; 20 United States Code [U.S.C.] § 6318[b][1-4])
2.1 Involvement of Parents in the Title I Program
The policy describes the means for carrying out Title I parent and family engagement requirements. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[b][1])
To involve parents and family members in the Title I program at Barron Park Elementary, the following practices have been established:
- The school convenes an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents of participating children shall be invited to attend and encouraged to attend, to inform parents and family members of their school's participation in the Title I program and to explain the requirements, and the right of the parents to be involved. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[c][1])
- The school offers a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening, and may provide, with Title I funds, transportation, child care, or home visits, as such services relate to parent involvement. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[c][2])
- The school involves parents in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of the school's Title I program, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school parent and family engagement policy and the joint development of the school-wide program plan. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[c][3])
- The school provides parents of participating children with the following:
- Timely information about the Title I program. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[c][4][A])
- A description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of the challenging State academic standards. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[c][4][B])
- If requested by parents, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[c][4][C])
- If the school-wide program plan is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school submits any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the local educational agency. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[c][5])
Activities to support the above referenced practices include:
- Principal coffees in the morning
- Family evening meetings
- DELAC meetings
- Family Engagement Specialist at site for translation and one on one parent meetings Title I information sent home with students in multiple languages
- Site Council meetings
2.2 Building Capacity for Involvement
To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, each school and local educational agency assisted with Title I, Part A funds establishes the practices listed below (20 U.S.C. § 6318[e]):
- The school provides parents with assistance in understanding such topics as the challenging State academic standards, State and local assessments, the requirements of Title I, Part A, and how to monitor a child's progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[e][1])
- The school provides parents with materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children's achievement. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[e][2])
- The school educates teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, and other school leaders, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[e][3])
- The school, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinates and integrates parent involvement programs and activities with other Federal, State, and local programs, including public preschool programs, and conducts other activities, such as parent resource centers, to encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[e][4])
- The school ensures that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to parents in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[e][5])
- The school provides such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this section as parents may request. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[e][14])
Activities to support the above referenced practices include:
- Principal coffees in the morning
- Family evening meetings
- DELAC meetings
- Family Engagement Specialist at site for translation and one on one parent meetings
- Title I information sent home with students in multiple languages
- Site Council meetings
2.3 Accessibility
Barron Park Elementary, to the extent practicable, provides opportunities for the informed participation of parents and family members (including parents and family members who have limited English proficiency, parents and family members with disabilities, and parents and family members of migratory children) including providing information and school reports required under section 1111 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. § 6311), as amended by ESSA, in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language such parents understand. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[f])
Activities to support the above referenced practices include:
- Principal and site meetings provide translation
- Family Engagement Specialist at site for translation and one on one parent meetings
2.4 School-Parent Compact
As a component of the school-level parent and family engagement policy, each school served under this part shall jointly develop with parents for all children served under this part a school- parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and 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 to help children achieve the state's high standards. The school-parent compact shall carry out the requirements listed below. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[d])
- Describe 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; volunteering in their child's classroom; and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and positive use of extracurricular time. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[d][1])
- Address the importance of communication between teachers and parents on an ongoing basis through, at a minimum, the requirements listed below (20 U.S.C. § 6318[d][2]):
- Parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the compact shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual child's achievement. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[d][2][A])
- Frequent reports to parents on their children's progress. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[d][2][B])
- Reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child's class, and observation of classroom activities. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[d][2][C])
- Ensuring regular two-way, meaningful communication between family members and school staff, and, to the extent practicable, in a language that family members can understand. (20 U.S.C. § 6318[d][2][D])
Activities to support the above referenced practices include:
- Family Engagement Specialist at site for translation and one on one parent
- Title I school parent compact sent home with students in multiple languages and discussed at Back to School night and explained in Principal newsletter (which is translated)
*The policy must be updated periodically to meet changing needs of parents and family members and the school. If the school has a process in place for involving parents and family members in planning and designing the school's programs, the school may use that process if it includes adequate representation of parents and family members of children receiving Title I, Part A services.