Joseph Rogers Primary Family Engagement Plan

General Expectations for Family and Community Engagement

Joseph Rogers Primary supports the concept of family engagement in the education of students as essential to improving the quality of education for all students through the coordination and integration of parent involvement strategies and programs. The mission of Joseph Rogers Primary is to provide a healthy and safe environment and prepare every student to become a proficient learner and productive, responsible citizen, in partnership with all stakeholders. Joseph Rogers Primary has involved parents in the joint development of the District Parent Involvement Plan by establishing a School-wide Parent Advisory Council. Joseph Rogers Primary will provide technical assistance and other support necessary to assist schools in planning and implementing effective family involvement activities by eliminating identified barriers. In addition, annually the Joseph Rogers Primary will provide parents information related to the school-wide parent involvement plan and the school performance. Annually, the school-wide Parent Advisory Council will evaluate by surveys (personnel, parents, and students) the effectiveness of the program and revise, if necessary. Joseph Rogers Primary will incorporate activities and procedures for the involvement of parents. In the consolidated plan for Hawkins County 2005-2006, one of the three goals is to develop an improvement plan for involving the family in the education of the child. This plan will involve techniques through communication to increase parent involvement by building the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parent involvement. Guidelines are listed below to accomplish stronger parent engagement.

All schools in the district are required to establish a Family and Community Engagement Council. To the extent possible, the Family and Community Engagement Council will be a demographic representation of the district and the school. This Family and Community Engagement Council will be responsible for:

 Developing, implementing, evaluating, and assessing annually the district and Joseph Rogers Primary’s  Family Engagement Plan and its effectiveness to improve the academic quality of the school

 Determining what action needs to be taken, if any, to plan and increase participation in family engagement activities and strategies

 Designing strategies for more effective parent involvement by using the findings from the evaluations

 Identifying barriers that prevent participation in family engagement activities and concentrate on eliminating any barriers for all subgroups (Low SES, disabled, ELL and LEP, ethnicity, etc.)

 Integrating and coordinating parent involvement activities with existing community agencies such as: Family Resource Center, Reading First, Adult Education, Tennessee Early Intervention Services, HeadStart, preschools (public and private), etc.

 Reviewing district and school academic progress and/or improvement

 Coordinating and providing technical assistance to the district, schools, grades, and individual families to improve parent involvement activities

 Focusing on family participation to improve student academic achievement, school performance, and district performance.

 Evaluating family/community surveys, identified barriers, and participation to design activities and strategies for more effective parent involvement

 Designing improvement strategies for assisting students with homework, attendance, and discipline

 Informing parents of procedures to learn about the course of study for their children and to have access to all learning materials

 Determining the programs and activities of interest at the district and school level. School level recommendations are listed below.

Additionally, Joseph Rogers Primary will:

 Design a family engagement plan with consultation with family and community members

 Annually distribute the Home-School Compact to families

 Plan and participate in an annual parent meeting

 Provide at least two parent training and activities to promote Family Engagement

 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

 Provide parents with procedures to learn about the course of study for their child and have access to all learning materials

 Inform parents of the right to access their child’s official records

 Integrate Family engagement activities with the Hawkins County Family Resource Center

 Utilize the Family Resource Center for technical assistance on policy development

 Provide parents with written procedures on how to access the Parent Involvement Policy, the Hawkins County Schools Parent Involvement Plan, and curriculum

 Provide parents 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

 Survey parents of programs, activities, and procedures that have been planned at the school level and revise, if necessary