Washington Irving Middle School agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

• Consistent with section 1116, the school will ensure that the required school level parent and family engagement policy meets the requirements of section 1116 of the ESEA, and includes, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1116(d) of the ESEA.

• Schools will notify parents of the policy in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand. The policy will be made available to the local community and updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school.

• In carrying out the Title I, Part A, parent and family engagement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school will provide full opportunities for the informed participation of parents and family members (including parents and family members with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children) including providing information and school reports required under section 1111 of the ESEA in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, in language parents understand.

• If the school-wide program plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1114(b) of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school submits the plan to the local educational agency (school district).

• The school will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how funds reserved under this part are spent for parent and family engagement activities. The school will build its own and the parent’s capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement.

• The school will provide parental involvement activities under section 1116 of the ESEA in the areas of improving student achievement, child development, child rearing and additional topics parents may request.

NOTE: The School Parent and Family Engagement Policy shall include a description of how the school will implement or accomplish each of the following components. [Section 1116, ESEA.]

1. Washington Irving Middle School shall take the following actions to involve parents and family in the joint development and review of its school parent and family engagement policy and Parent Compact under section 1116 of the ESEA:

   • Share a draft with our Local School Improvement Council and the WIMS Boosters prior to final policy approval.

2. Washington Irving Middle School shall take the following actions to involve parents and family members in the process of planning, joint development of the program, review, and improvement of programs under Title I Part A of the ESEA :

   • Invite parents to share in the planning, development, review, and improvement of this plan with our Leadership Team at various meetings throughout the school year.

3. The Washington Irving Middle School shall hold an annual meeting to inform parents of the school's participation in Title I, Part A programs, and to explain the Title I, Part A requirements and the right of parents to be involved in Title I, Part A programs. The school will invite all parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs to this meeting.

   • This meeting will occur at the beginning of the school year at our Open House. We will also be a part of the agenda for the WIMS Boosters at the September meeting. We will also maintain this information on the school’s website. During the meeting, we will describe how the school will assist parents in understanding the content standards, student achievement standards, local academic assessments, our school’s curriculum, and how to monitor their child’s progress and work with teachers to improve the achievement of their children. We will also warn parents about the harms of copyright piracy.

4. Washington Irving Middle School shall provide 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 student progress, and the achievement levels of the challenging State academic standards.

   • This information will be sent home with parents at the beginning of the year during the Annual Meeting. It will also be displayed on our website.

5. Washington Irving Middle School shall, at the request of parents, provide opportunities for regular meetings, held at flexible times, 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 by:

   • Washington Irving Middle will bring any parent suggestions to the attention of our Leadership Team for advisement at the next scheduled meeting. Parents will have a chance to bring up suggestions to the Parent-Teacher Conferences that are offered twice each year. They may also set up meetings during teacher planning times or hold phone conferences.

6. Washington Irving Middle School shall provide each parent an individual student report about the level of academic achievement and academic growth performance of their child on the State academic assessment by:

   • Washington Irving Middle will send assessment scores home with a letter explaining the results and providing parents the opportunity to have a meeting with teachers if they so choose.

7. Washington Irving Middle School shall take the following actions to 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 does not meet applicable State certification or licensure requirements at the grade level and subject area in which the teacher has been assigned by:

   • We will provide written notice to inform parents of their Right to Know by distributing letters to each teacher who does not meeting applicable State Certification or Licensure requirements. Teachers will distribute the letters to each class period and provide written documentation to Title I staff when all letters are distributed.

8. Washington Irving Middle School shall provide assistance to parents of children served by the school, as appropriate, in understanding topics by undertaking the actions described below --

   • the challenging State academic standards,

   • the State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments

   • the requirements of Title I Part A,

   • how to monitor their child’s progress, and

   • how to work with educators:
     

     We will have information available at our Parent-Teacher Conference Nights to talk about State Content Standards, academic achievement standards, academic assessments, and how to monitor their child’s progress. At the Open House, we will discuss the requirements of Title I Part A and how to work with our educators.
     

9. The Washington Irving Middle School shall provide materials and training to help parents work with their children in the areas of improving student achievement, such as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy), as appropriate, to foster the achievement of their children, by:

   • Family Tech Night will be held to provide technology instruction, including harms of copyright piracy, how to access online accounts such as Schoology and ClassLink, and digital communication methods between parents, students, and teachers. We will also have a Parent Resource Center outside of the office with materials that provide tips and strategies to parents on a variety of issues that affect them and their children.

10. The Washington Irving Middle School shall, with the assistance of its parents, educate its teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, and other school leaders, and other staff in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools, by:

    • WIMS will provide staff with professional development on working with parents. Throughout the year, WIMS will offer training to assist parents in improving student achievement.

11. The Washington Irving Middle School shall, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with other Federal, State, and local programs. The school will also conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children, by:

    • WIMS will provide information in written form, through voice messages, our school newsletter, HCS App, and WIMS Facebook Page. We will maintain a copy of all correspondence on our school website.

12. Washington Irving Middle School shall take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent-programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand:

    • WIMS will work with our Booster organization to have parent input in the development of our School-Parent Compact. We will also present this at our first LSIC meeting prior to its release.

NOTE: The School Parent and Family Engagement Policy may include additional information and describe other discretionary activities that the school, in consultation with its parents, chooses to undertake to build parents’ capacity for involvement in the school to support their children’s academic achievement, such as the following discretionary activities listed under section 1116(e) of the ESEA:

• involving parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of that training;

• providing necessary literacy training for parents from Title I, Part A funds, if the school district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for that training;

• paying reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions;

• training parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;

• arranging school meetings at a variety of times, or conducting in-home conferences between teachers or other educators who work directly with participating children, arrange meetings with parents who are unable to attend conferences at school in order to maximize parental involvement and participation in their children’s education;

• adopting and implementing model approaches to improving parental involvement;

• establishing a school parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in Title I, Part A programs;

• developing appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities; and

• providing such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under section 1116 as parents may request.

This School Parent and Family Engagement Involvement has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents and family members of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by email correspondence with parent volunteer and LSIC meeting agenda.

This policy was adopted by the Washington Irving Middle School on June 1, 2022 and will be in effect for the period of 2024-2025. The school will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children on or before September 15, 2024.