Paradise Elementary School

Paradise Elementary Parent Involvement Policy

Parent Involvement Mission Statement

Our primary mission at Paradise ISD is to find ways of enhancing each child's learning opportunities. We strive to help students nurture a love for learning and to become lifelong learners. We believe that each child should be given opportunities to achieve and be successful and understand active participation by parents and family will help promote this success.

Statement of Purpose

Paradise Elementary believes every child should have the opportunity to attain his/her full potential. Therefore, Paradise Elementary 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 also work together to help ensure our students will achieve and succeed. We are committed to ongoing, two-way, meaningful communication to help facilitate mutual understanding and to stimulate student success. Grade level goals for the students of Paradise Elementary will be distributed to all parents in the district, with the expectations that all students will work toward these goals. Paradise Elementary will publish the STAAR testing schedule and assessment goals. Students who need extra assistance will have access to the Title I program, as well as other programs, to help reach these goals. Paradise Elementary 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 compact will describe the responsibilities of key stakeholders and useful channels of communication. The goal of our parent involvement program is student success.

Developing the Policy

Paradise Elementary will:

  • Involve parents in the planning, review, and improvement of the school's parental involvement policy, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way. Parents and campus personnel will meet to develop the campus Parental Involvement Policy. Special attention will be given to recruiting parents of children participating in the Title I program.
  • Paradise ISD will provide support and training to principals, counselors, and teachers to promote parent involvement activities.
  • Provide information to parents of participating students in an understandable and uniform format and to the extent practicable, in a language that parents can understand.
  • Provide to parents of participating children information in a timely manner about Title I, Part A programs that includes a description and explanation of the school's curriculum, the forms of academic assessment used to measure children's progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet.
  • On the request of parents, provide opportunities for regular meetings for parents to formulate suggestions, and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions about the education of their children. The school will respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible.
  • Provide to each parent an individual student report about the performance of their child on the State assessment in Math and Reading.
  • Provide each parent timely notice when their child has been assigned or has been taught for four (4) or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified within the meaning of the term in section 200.56 of the Title I Final Regulations (67 Fed. Reg. 71710, December 2, 2002).

    Involve Parents in Schoolwide Plan

    Parent Participation in Decision-Making--Schoolwide Planning (Design, Implementation, & Evaluation)

    1. Advisory Committee/Site-Base Decision Making Team: Paradise Elementary conducts site base decision making meetings at least two times a year. The advisory committee consists of parents, community members, business members, teachers, staff, and administrators to develop and revise the Parent Involvement Policy. The parent volunteers will represent the diversity of the student population, and one or more parents on the advisory committee will have children participating in a Title I program. The advisory committee will convene at a time and place convenient to all its members. Additionally, Paradise Elementary understands that the parental involvement policy is a part of the larger district and campus improvement plans. The advisory committee will also provide input regarding the development and revision of the district improvement plan.

    2. Review of the Campus Improvement Plan: Paradise Elementary Campus Improvement Plan, which clearly defines our efforts to improve our educational program, is available upon written request. Or, if parents wish, they may contact the principal for a time to come to the school to review a copy of the plan. We encourage parents make an appointment to discuss any of this. We also encourage parent suggestions and encourage parents to put their suggestions in written form.

    3. Special Program Night Each year, Paradise Elementary staff members will host a meeting to discuss the school's participation as a Title I, Part A Schoolwide Program. Translators will be available, as needed, and the schools will accommodate the needs of disabled parents, as well. We will address the following topics:

  • An explanation of the curriculum in use and local assessments, including the levels of proficiency students are expected to meet
  • An explanation of the Title I services offered at Paradise Elementary
  • A review of the Parent Involvement Policy and the school parent compact
  • Evaluation of Parent Involvement through a parent survey
  • Opportunity to address questions or concerns

    Building Capacity

    Paradise Elementary values the partnership of the parents in their children's education. There are many ways parents can make significant contributions to student success both at home and by volunteering and being active at the school. Student achievement is the result of effective home-school-community partnerships. Paradise Elementary will develop a partnership with public preschool programs. Parental involvement strategies will be coordinated to assist the transition from pre-school to elementary school. Annually Paradise Elementary will assess the needs of the parents and children in the community using a variety of tools including a survey or questionnaire. The findings will be used to revise the Title I program to meet the current needs. Workshops or other training will be made available to educators and parents to address these needs. Parents will be notified about training opportunities.

    Conduct an Annual Meeting

    Paradise Elementary will hold a meeting during the first six weeks of the new school year for all parents. At that meeting the Title I program will be described, the Parental Involvement Policy will be distributed and reviewed, and opportunities for parental participation will be explained. Parent volunteers will be recruited to serve on the district or campus Advisory Committee.

    The annual meeting will be held for the convenience of parents and translators will be present. Parents will be informed about the meeting by various media modalities and notes home.

    Since the goal of Paradise Elementary is student success, the expectations for school performance, individual student assessments, and grade level curriculum, will be provided in a format parents can understand.

    Parents will be advised that the effectiveness of the Parental Involvement Program will be evaluated annually and the policy will be revised to meet the needs of the students, school, parents, and community.

    School-Parent Compact

    Paradise Elementary will consult with the advisory committee/site-base decision making team to annually develop, review, and revise the school-parent compact. The compact will identify the responsibilities of the staff to provide high-level curriculum and instruction, and the expectations of the parents to provide support in their children's learning. The compact will address the best ways to maintain positive, timely communication between school and home. The compacts will be available to all parents and families in the student handbook, on the school website, and it may be discussed at parent-teacher conferences in the elementary schools.

    Evaluation

    Paradise Elementary will work with its Title I Advisory Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the Parental Involvement Program. Surveys, classroom observation, assessment data, and other resources will be used to determine the needs and develop revised strategies for student success. Parental input will be sought. Revisions to the Title I Program and the Parental Involvement Policy will be developed and agreed upon with parent input and will be communicated to the parents in the district or school.

    Title I Communication
  • Welcome letters in the school handbooks
  • Parent, Student, and School compacts
  • Weekly newsletters
  • School Reach phone alerts
  • Progress reports
  • Report Cards
  • Title I/ESL/Migrant Special Programs Night
  • Parent Conferences
  • Rise and Shine Assemblies
  • Recognition Rallies each six weeks
  • Family Reading Nights
  • Teacher and Campus Websites

    • Conclusion

    Paradise Elementary is committed to the success of 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, principals, and other school staff as we seek active participation by our parents.

    A printable copy of this form in pdf format can be found here...