Parent Involvement Policy

Rusk I.S.D.

2006-2007

Statement of Purpose

Rusk I.S.D. is dedicated to providing quality education for every student in our district. To accomplish this objective, we will develop and maintain partnerships with parents and community members. Each student will benefit from supportive, active involvement of all members of the population. A positive link between home and school will create the most conducive learning condition for every child. These open communication lines will expand and enhance learning opportunities for everyone involved.

Grade level learning objectives and goals will be distributed to all parents throughout the year. All students will be expected to work toward mastering these objectives. Our district recognizes the fact that some students will need extra assistance to achieve their full potential. The extra assistance is available to all students through the Title I program and various other educational services offered through the district.

Rusk I.S.D. intends to include parents in all aspects of the Title I program. Students will be given every opportunity for success through the development and enhancement of the home-school partnership.

Parent Involvement in Developing the Policy

An advisory committee comprised of parents, members of the community, teachers and the principal will meet to discuss the design and implementation of the Parent Involvement Policy.

Rusk I.S.D. will actively recruit volunteers for the advisory committee through various avenues of publicity. Committee selections will produce a diverse parent population that will include all student groups serviced by the district.

Meetings will be planned at convenient times and locations for all concerned parties.

Annual Meeting for Title I Parents

Rusk I.S.D. will hold two meetings for parents during each school year. Parents will be informed of new Title I guidelines and the variations from the previous year’s program. Copies of the district’s current Parent Involvement Policy will be distributed. Parents will be encouraged to become involved in the revising and updating the Policy as necessary. Volunteers will be recruited for the district-wide and campus advisory committees.

The meeting will be held at a convenient time and location. Written notices, telephone calls and media attention will all be directed at attracting as many parents as possible.

School-Parent Compacts

In accordance with Title I regulations, each school must develop a parent-student compact with the parents of students participating in the program. This compact will enable the school and parents to share responsibility for student performance and success.

The compact must explain how students, parents, and staff will share responsibility for promoting student achievement. Members of the school’s Advisory Committee will be consulted in the design and implementation of the compact.

All parents will be given a copy of the compact detailing the responsibilities that teachers, parents and students have in helping students accomplish their goals. Student’s responsibilities will vary by grade level.

Types of Parent Involvement

The school will support many varied ways of parental involvement as it strives to develop and maintain an optimum learning environment for all students. Parents may contribute through volunteer programs at school as well as creating a supportive home atmosphere. The community may participate through an array of activities that promote student success.

Each school and family will develop and maintain parental involvement activities best suited to meet the individual needs of everyone involved.

Staff/Parent Communication

Communication with parents will include news notes at the bottom of children’s report cards, telephone calls, Skyward Family Access, Ruskisd.net, teacher web pages and meeting notification. There will also be notices and activity packets sent home with children. Parents are encouraged to take the initiative in calling their child’s teacher when they are concerned about a problem. Staff will be receiving training on how to improve home-school communication; some parents will be asked to participate in these training sessions.

Evaluation

There will be an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the Title I parental involvement program, and parents will be asked for their input. The evaluation will include an assessment of how much parental involvement is increasing and what barriers to parental participation still need to be overcome. The school district will revise its Parental Involvement policy on the basis of this annual review.