Hawkins Elementary School

School Level Family Engagement Plan

Hawkins Elementary School

Each Title I school is required to establish a Family and Community Engagement Committee.  To the extent possible, the Family and Community Engagement Committee will be a demographic representation of the school.  The school-level Family and Community Engagement Committee will be responsible for:

• Developing, implementing, and assessing the school-level Family Engagement Policy.
• Determining what action needs to be taken, if any, to plan and increase participation in family engagement activities.
• Identifying barriers to participation in family engagement activities.
• When applicable, integrating parent involvement activities with existing community agencies such as Tennessee Early Intervention Services, HeadStart, preschools (public and private), etc.

·         Committee will meet at least 3 times during the school year do decide what action, if any, needs to be taken. The committee chairperson will be responsible for seeing that all committee members are aware in advance of the meeting date and time.

Additionally, each school will:

• Annually distribute the Home-School Compact to families at the beginning of each school year.  Discuss the Home-School Compact with parents and students at parent-teacher conferences.  The compact will also be posted online on the county and school-level websites.
• Convene an annual parent meeting following State and Federal Guidelines
• Address the importance of communication between teachers and parents
  • provide at least two parent-teacher conference dates to address student progress
  • provide frequent child progress reports for parents
  • provide parents with reasonable access to staff through phone numbers, emails and scheduled meetings
  • opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class
  • opportunities to observe classroom activities following school procedures
• Provide parents with materials to help parents work with their children to improve academic achievement
  • make the Parent Lending Library easily accessible to parents
  • promote the use of the Lending Library through newsletters, websites, and classroom communication.
• Provide at least two parent training and activities designed to increase parents’ capacity to help with learning at home.
  • Focus on strategies to improve homework, attendance, and discipline.
  • Convene at varying times to accommodate family schedules.
  • Invite all families to attend activities through written and verbal notice.
  • To the extent practicable, the school will provide full opportunities for participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities and parents of migratory child.
    • Back to School Open House was held on Wednesday August 3, 2011. Parents and students were introduced to the school and informed of Hawkins Elementary being a Title I school that receives Title I funding for the 2011-2012 school year. Teachers were on-site to introduce themselves to the parents and students.
    • On October 25, 2011 HES will have Parent-Teacher Conferences. Parents will be able to discuss their child’s progress as well as receive a list of educational websites and how to use the Question-Answer Relationship at home to help their child succeed. Family Resources and the Adult Literacy Program will also have a booth set up for parents to visit and take information.
    • In October, 5^th grade will host a Fall Frenzy for students and parents. There will be a cook-out during the school day where parents may attend and receive training on current school standards, different types of assessments used with their child, and how they can monitor their child’s progress.
    • Book Fair will be held from October 21^st-28th. Parents will receive a teacher wish list if they are interested in purchasing a book for their child’s classroom. Tips on how to be a better reader will be available in the library the night of Parent Teacher Conferences.
    • In November, 3^rd grade will host an AR night. Teachers will discuss with parents the importance of attendance and the effects of excessive absences. They will also discuss how the rigor of the new standards may affect their child.
    • In December, 4^th grade will host Bingo for Books using math. They will discuss how the rigor of the new standards may affect their child. They will also be given tips on how to monitor their child’s progress throughout the school year.
    • In March, HES will host another Parent Teacher Conference. Parents and teachers will discuss student performance and identify strategies to improve performance to prepare for the TCAPS.
    • In the spring, HES will host a Parent Breakfast. School Coordinated Health Services will be available to answer any concerns pertaining to child health and nutrition. Parents will also receive information about the TCAPS testing and activities to help their child prepare.
    • At the end of the school year, incoming third grade students and parents will be invited to meet the teachers, principal, and tour the school. They will each receive a “Summer Packet” with a book and an outline on how to use it over the summer, how to make flashcards and games to play with them and other items specific to 3^rd grade.
• Provide parents with a student handbook at the beginning of each year to provide information on
  • procedures to learn about the course of study for their child and have access to all learning materials.
  • the right to access their child’s official records.
• Utilize the Family Engagement Coordinator for technical assistance on policy development
• Provide parents with written procedures on how to access the Parent Involvement Policy, the Hawkins County Schools Family Engagement Plan, and curriculum.
• Increase parents’ capacity to become involved in the educational process by presenting information in a timely manner and through various means to include information such as
  • a written 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.
  • State’s academic content standards.
  • State student academic achievement standards.
  • State and local academic assessments, the requirements of parent involvement.
  • how to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their child.
    • Parents will receive 2 mid-nine week reports, one after three weeks and one after six weeks, and grade cards for every nine weeks recording period.  
    • Parents will also receive a standards skill sheet. This is a list of skills that will be covered during the current nine weeks with their child.
    • Every child will be tested twice a year in reading using the DIBELS testing program, with the children earmarked as intensive receiving one on one intervention. DIBELS reports will be sent home periodically to show student progress in this area.
    • 4^th and 5^th grade students will receive a TCAP summary and booklet. The summary will indicate to the parents the student’s performance on the TCAP test the previous school year. The booklet will be used to explain to the parents how to read the test scores.
    • HES students will be assessed periodically throughout the school year using Think Link. This benchmark testing program is used to assess student proficiency based on the state standards in the areas of math and reading. A summary of each student’s performance will be sent home to parents.
• Set up meetings requested by parents to give suggestions and be part of the decision making about their child relating to the education of their child, and respond to the suggestions as soon as possible.
• Coordinate 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.
  • Newsletters from the Family Resource Center will be sent home monthly. Children throughout the school have been targeted to receive a food bag on a weekly basis.
• All information about school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents in an understandable language.
• Provide other reasonable support for parental involvement activities as parents may request.
• Provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports in a language such parents understand.