Farrell Upper Middle School

Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy

August 20, 2024

Statement of Purpose

At the Farrell Upper Middle School, we believe that ALL STUDENTS WILL ACHIEVE AT HIGH LEVELS. It is our goal that every child should have the opportunity to attain his/her full potential.

The Instructional Focus will include the following:
● We will teach the core academic standards to all students, in every classroom, every day, and in ways that meet each student’s learning style.
● We will set high expectations for everyone – students, educators, parents, community – and support them in meeting high standards of behavior and outcomes.
● We will build strong relationships with families and communities because our schools can’t do it alone.
● We will base all decisions on data.

Therefore, the Upper Middle School will maximize its resources to enable each child to become a successful learner. Key resources include administrators, teachers, school staff, parents, and community members. We will work together to establish effective partnerships. School and home must work together to realize higher student achievement. Ongoing, two-way meaningful communication will occur to facilitate mutual understanding and to stimulate student success.

The Farrell Upper Middle School will make every effort to include parents in the development, evaluation, and revision of the Title I Program and the Parent Involvement Policy. The
school-parent-student compact will describe the responsibilities of key stakeholders. The goal of our parent involvement program is student success!

The faculty of our school is committed to the success of each student and recognizes the essential role of parents and the value of their input. We believe a partnership must exist and strive to promote communication and participation of parents in the education of children.

Declaration of Beliefs:

▪	All children can learn at high levels.
▪	Teachers have a profound impact on student achievement and should have ample professional development, support and resources.
▪	Education begins with a safe and healthy learning environment. ▪	Families are an essential part of the learning process.
▪	A commitment from the entire community is necessary to build a culture that encourages student achievement.
▪	Improvement in education is guided by consistent and effective leadership.
▪	We will provide materials that can successfully be used at home to reinforce the academic success of children.
▪	It is our goal to provide an atmosphere where parents are able to express their views and to assist in problem solving.
▪	We want parents to understand that we view them as joint policy and decision makers and plan to emphasize their roles as advocates for their children.

The following list of services and activities to promote parental involvement and provide additional support for student learning:

1.	 School staff will use a variety of communication strategies to provide additional information to parents and to increase parental involvement in supporting classroom instruction.

● The school will provide parents Interim Reports/Report Cards every nine weeks with information regarding their child’s academic progress.
● The school will send brochures home with students, post notices in school, and provide information about parent workshops and meetings. The school will distribute monthly information to parents that will give tips to parents about reading and mathematics.
● The school will use the yearly PSSA informational letter, parent orientation meetings, notices sent home by students, Parent Square, and the school website to share information about the Schoolwide Title I Plan. The first Title I meeting will be held during the first marking period.
● All parents are invited to provide feedback about the parent involvement process, update documents, and disseminate information, as required by law.

2.	 The school will hold parent meetings, conferences, and activities regularly throughout the year to increase parental involvement and build staff and parent capacity to engage in these types of efforts. These meetings will include:
● Parent-training sessions to help parents understand how to enhance their child’s education.
● Family reading nights provide an opportunity for parents and their child to experience the school situation in a positive and helpful manner while school staff may provide any needed assistance or encouragement.

● Teacher conferences individually with parents of children in their classrooms. Parents will be given a summary of the student’s test scores and an explanation of the interventions teachers are using to assist the child in reaching achievement goals. Parents will be asked to engage in discussion of how they can support these efforts. Parents will also be given suggestions for coordinating school-parent efforts and explanations of homework and grading procedures.
● School will engage parents in the following types of roles and activities to increase their involvement and support for student learning:
1. Welcome Back to School Letters 2. 7th grade Orientation
3. Open House/Meet the Teachers Night 4. Parent Conferences
5. Title I Family Nights
6. Parent Education Programs and Workshops 7. Orientation presentations
8. Parent Support Network (PSN) 9. Chorus/Band Concerts
10. School newsletters 11. Student Handbook
12. Parent, Student, and School Compacts 13. School Website
14. Parent Square

3. The school will provide information to parents about volunteer opportunities.

● The Upper Middle School will work with the Elementary School to help provide a smooth transition from one school to the next by raising parent awareness of procedures and related activities.

4. The school will work with parents to create a School-Parent-Student Compact.
● School Staff, parents and students will develop a school-parent-student compact. This compact will outline how parents, school staff, and students 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 academic standards.

5. The school will provide an opportunity for parents to engage in decision-making processes regarding the school’s Title I program.
● The school will involve parents on school advisory committees.
● The school will engage parents in decisions about parental involvement strategies and programs.

6. The school will design an area as a resource center for parents.
● Parents will be encouraged to submit ideas for the Resource Center.

● Develop a list of websites with programs, resources, events, and training to increase parent involvement in the educational process of their children.

7. The Farrell Upper Middle School and parents will develop a parent support group.

Conclusion

The Farrell Upper Middle School is committed to the success of our students. We will work together with parents to monitor the effectiveness of our Parental Involvement and Title I programs and to provide excellence in education. This policy will be promoted by the administrators, teachers, and other school staff as we seek active participation by our parents.

PART I-SCHOOL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS

A. The Farrell Upper Middle School will jointly develop/revise with parents the parent and family engagement policy/procedures and distribute it to the parents and make available the parent involvement policy/procedures to the local community.

B. Convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which parents shall be invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their school’s participation under this part and to explain the requirements of this part, and the right of the parents to be involved.

Parents will be invited to attend an annual meeting to go over the Farrell Upper Middle School Parent and Family Engagement Policy and Procedures.

C. Offer flexible meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening, and provide, make available with funds provided under this part, transportation, childcare, or home visits, as such services related to parental involvement.

D. Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of the school plan under Section 1112, school wide under Section 1114, and the process of the school review and improvement under Section 1116.

E. Provide parents—
a. Timely information about programs under this part.
b. A description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet. The Farrell Upper Middle School will provide curricular parent workshops in the required subject areas. The Farrell Upper Middle School will share with parents the assessment tool(s) used in each curricular area along with benchmarks and rubrics.
c. 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 practically possible.

The Farrell Upper Middle School and a group of involved parents are committed to organizing and developing a Parent Support Network (PSN) in order to assist and be more involved in the education of their children. We feel PSNs are a largely untapped resource for schools attempting to provide state-of-the -art instruction with diminishing funds and resources.

The vision for the Farrell Upper Middle School PSN is that it will aspire to find a way to instill pride and interest in schooling, increase student achievement, support teachers and their children, and enhance a sense of community and commitment at Farrell Upper Middle School.

d. If the schoolwide program plan is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, submit any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the district.

e. Farrell Upper Middle School will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parental Information and Resources Center (PIRC) in Washington.
i. Parent Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs) are community-based centers that offer information to parents on state educational standards, supplemental services and school choice along with a wide variety of activities and services for families. By providing information, education and support, as well as links to other available community resources, the Centers seek to promote the self-sufficiency and well-being of families. http://www.chswpirc.org/

PART II- SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HIGH STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

As a component of the school-level Parent and Family Involvement Policy, each school 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.
-Conduct a parent/teacher conference in the middle school, annually (at a minimum), during which the compact shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual child’s achievement.
-Provide frequent reports to parents on their child’s progress.
-Provide parents with reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class and observation of classroom activities, as outlined in the Student Handbook.

BUILDING CAPACITY REQUIREMENTS 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 district under this part –

a.	 Assistance will be provided to the parents of children served by the school or district, as appropriate, in understanding such topics as the state’s academic content standards and state student academic achievement standards. State and district assessments, the requirements of this part, and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children.

The Farrell Upper Middle School will provide parents information on the PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) annually at a parent information meeting.

Farrell Upper Middle School students are regularly tested by the state to find out if they’re on track learning the important skills they need to be successful while in our schools and after graduation. Students are tested on basic academic skills as well as more advanced skills. Common statewide tests are important because they help make sure all students are getting a quality education regardless of where they live. OSPI develops or selects and administers all state assessments and reports achievement data for individual students, schools, districts and the overall state. This information helps districts and schools refine instructional practices and focus curriculum. It also gives parents information about how well their child is doing and where additional help may be needed.

Parents will be given information on Acadience, Edmentum, and benchmark assessments.

b. Materials and training will be provided to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement.

c. Shall educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, will be educated 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.

The term "parent and family engagement" is used broadly. It includes several different forms of participation in education and with the schools. Parents can support their children's schooling by attending school functions and responding to school obligations (parent-teacher conferences, for example). They can become more involved in helping their children
improve their schoolwork--providing encouragement, arranging for appropriate study time and space, modeling desired behavior (such as reading for pleasure), monitoring homework, and actively tutoring their children at home.

Outside the home, parents can serve as advocates for the school. They can volunteer to help out with school activities or work in the classroom. They can take an active role in the governance and decision making necessary for planning, developing, and providing an education for the community's children.

Research has established that the most successful parent participation efforts are those which offer parents a variety of roles in the context of a well-organized and long-lasting program. Parents will need to be able to choose from a range of activities, which accommodate different schedules, preferences, and capabilities. As part of the planning process, teachers and administrators will need to assess their own readiness for involving parents and determine how they wish to engage and utilize them.

Other guidelines include:

• Communicating to parents that their involvement and support makes a great deal of difference in their children's school performance, and that they need not be highly educated or have large amounts of free time for their involvement to be beneficial. The Farrell Area Elementary School will make this point repeatedly.
• Encouraging parent involvement from the time children first enter school in kindergarten (or preschool, if they attend).
• Teach parents that activities such as modeling reading behavior and reading to their children increase children's interest in learning.
• Developing parent involvement programs that include a focus on parent involvement in instruction--conducting learning activities with children in the home, assisting with homework, and monitoring and encouraging the learning activities of older students.

• Providing orientation and training for parents, but remember that intensive, long-lasting training is neither necessary nor feasible.
• Making a special effort to engage the involvement of parents of disadvantaged students, who stand to benefit greatly.
• Continuing to emphasize that parents are partners of the school and that their involvement is needed and valued.
d. Shall to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, the 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.
e. Shall ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents can understand.
f. Shall provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this part as parents may request.
g. May involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training.
h. May provide necessary literacy training from funds received under this part if the district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for such training.
i. May pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with local parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions.
j. May train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents. The Farrell Area School District will have a core group of grade level parents who will be trained on policies, school wide discipline programs, and procedures. This group of grade level parents will in turn train a larger group of
classroom parents.
k. May arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school, in order to maximize parental involvement and participation.
l. May adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement.
m. May establish a district parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in programs supported under this section.
n. May develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities.

PART III-ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

In carrying out the parental involvement requirements districts and schools, to the extent practicable, shall provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with children with limited English proficiency, parents with children with disabilities, and parents of migratory

children, including providing information and school reports in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language such parents can understand.

PART IV-ADOPTION

This Farrell Upper Middle School Involvement Policy/Procedures have been developed/revised jointly with, and agreed upon with, parents of children participating in Title I program, as evidenced by meeting minutes.

Farrell Upper Middle School teachers and staff are committed to providing a quality educational program that will challenge all children to reach their potential. We believe when school and parents work together children succeed in school and throughout life. Neither home nor school can do the job alone. Parents play an extremely important role as the 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.

To ensure that basic skills and knowledge are taught, we will hold educators accountable for effective teaching, hold students accountable for learning, and encourage parental involvement in their children’s education. We will continually assess student growth in order to provide timely interventions and evaluate our instruction. Additionally, Farrell Upper Middle School teachers and staff will work collaboratively with parents and our community in the development, evaluation, and refinement of our Title I program.

The Farrell Area Upper Middle School is committed to the belief that all children can learn and acknowledges that parents share the school’s commitment to the educational success of their children.

The Farrell Upper Middle School recognizes that a child’s education is a responsibility shared by the school and family and agrees that to effectively educate all students, the school and parents must work together as partners. It is the practice of the Farrell Area Elementary School to welcome all parents to partner with us in bringing the best educational experience to the children.

At the Farrell Upper Middle School we define parental involvement as an ongoing process that promotes clear two-way communication between home and school. We achieve home school communication through the following:

● Phone Calls ● Emails
● Parent-Student-Teacher Compact ● Surveys
● Homework

● Evening workshops/events to share strategies and resources

● Interim Reports and Report Cards ● Meet the Teachers Night
● Open House

● Parent Support Network

● Parent Teacher Conferences ● Web Site
● PowerSchool ● Parent Square

To promote parental leadership, we encourage parents to join the Parent Support Network. The Parent Support Network meets with the Title I staff to plan, review, and help improve Title I services as well as update the compact, policies, and assist in planning evening workshops or events. At the annual Title I Meeting, parents learn of the school’s participation in Title I and the rights o f parents to be involved in Title I programs. At the various events, the Title I staff provides strategies for parents to help their children. The Parent Support Network members also have opportunities to attend parent workshops and conferences as a representative of the school.

Title I teachers monitor students’ progress utilizing MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. Additional assessments are conducted on an as needed basis. Title I teachers assist children in a combination of in-class and pull-out instruction.

Parent involvement is an integral part of the Title I Program in the Farrell Upper Middle School.

The Title I Parent Involvement section of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires each Title I school to develop a written parental involvement policy that describes the means for carrying out the requirement of section 118. The Farrell Upper Middle School does this by the following:

The parents of the Farrell Upper Middle School’s Title I students may

▪	review the Parent and Family Engagement Policy in an understandable format and language provided to them by the fall of each year.
▪	be involved in the planning review, and improvement of the school’s Parent Involvement Policy ▪	receive the School-Parent Compact in the fall of each year.
▪	be invited to annual meetings held to inform them of the school’s participation in the Title I Program and to explain the requirements of the program and their right to be involved by the yearly Open House and Parent Conferences held at their convenience.
▪	Be reimbursed for reasonable expenses associated with parent involvement activities to enable them to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions by Title I funds.
▪	be involved in the planning, review and improvement of the program and by the timely informational report about the program offered at the middle and the end of the school year.
▪	review the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student’s progress and the proficiency levels that the students are expected to meet.

▪	receive assistance in understanding the state’s academic content standards and student achievement standards, local academic assessments and how to monitor a student’s progress and work with teachers to improve the achievement of their children.
▪	receive, when requested, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and to respond to any such suggestions as soon as possible.
▪	be invited to jointly develop a school-parent compact that outlines the responsibilities of the parents, entire school staff and students to improve student achievement.
▪	receive material and training to help in working with their children to improve their child’s achievement, as appropriate, to foster parent involvement.
▪	be ensured that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities will be sent to the parents of participating children in a format and in a language the parents can understand.

The Title I Parent Involvement section of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires each Title I school to develop a written parental involvement policy that describes the means for carrying out the requirement of section 118. The Farrell Area High School does this by the following:

▪	Title I parents may review the program policy by the fall of each year. ▪	A copy of the policy is given or made available to parents.
▪	The policy is written in a format and language that is understandable for parents.

▪	The policy states how parents will be involved in the planning, review, and improvement of the school’s Parent Involvement Policy.
▪	The policy states that an annual meeting will be held to inform parents of the school’s participating in the Title I program, the requirements of the program, and their right to be involved
▪	The policy states that meetings with administration, teachers, parents and students will be available during school hours.
▪	The policy states that Title I funds may be used to pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parent involvement activities.
▪	The policy describes responsibilities in parental involvement, planning, review and associated with parent involvement activities.
▪	The policy describes responsibilities in parental involvement, planning, review and improvement of the School’s Title I program.
▪	Parents will be notified of student progress with various reports sent home throughout the school year.
▪	The school will provide parents with the information/explanation of the curriculum and forms of assessment used to monitor student progress.
▪	Parents will be provided opportunities to participate in various workshops, meetings, and conferences to help improve academic achievement of their children.
▪	Parents will have the opportunity to discuss, suggest and participate in meetings concerning the education of their children.

▪	In order to improve student achievement, a school compact exists which lists the school, parent and student responsibilities.
▪     The policy describes how the school provides materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s achievement and foster positive parent involvement.
▪	Notification of school information, programs, meetings, and other activities will be sent home in a format and language that the parents can understand.