Revised/Reviewed 5/2018
PART I. General Expectations
The Charter High School for Architecture + Design agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:
• The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of Title I, Part A parents, consistent with section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Those programs, activities and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.
• In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the Charter High School for Architecture + Design will 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 required under section 1111 of the ESEA in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
• The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parental involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the school.
• Consistent with section 1118, the school district will work with the Charter High School for Architecture + Design to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet the requirements of section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1118(b) of the ESEA.
• The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and expects that its Title I schools will carry out programs, activities and procedures in accordance with this definition:
Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring:
(A) that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
(B) that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;
(C) that parents are full partners in their child’s education and are included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child;
• The school will inform Title I parents and the Parent’s Association of the purpose and existence of the Title I Parental Information and Resource Center in the School.
Building Capacity of Parents and Family Members
CHAD will build the parents’ capacity for strong parent and family engagement to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership between the school, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement through the following:
• Providing parents and family members with a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessments used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet.
• Providing parents and family members materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy), as appropriate, to foster parental involvement
• Providing assistance to parents of participating children, as appropriate, in understanding such topics as the following:
o The challenging State academic standards.
o The State and local academic assessments.
o The requirements of Title I, Part A – Schoolwide Programs.
o How to monitor a child’s progress.
o How work with educators to improve the achievement of their children.
Building Capacity of School Staff
CHAD will, with the assistance of its parents, educate its teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, other school leaders, and other staff on how to reach out to, communicate, and work with parents as equal partners, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools.
PART II. Description of How the Charter High School for Architecture + Design Will Implement Parental Involvement Policy Components
The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its parental involvement plan under section 1112 of the ESEA:
• A Title I parent workshop will be held each spring. At this time the Title I staff and parents will work collaboratively to review and revise the Parent Involvement Policy and the School Parent Compact. Informational flyers will be distributed to parents to attend the workshop and to be a member of the revision team.
The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA:
• At the annual fall Title I parent meeting, Title I requirements will be explained by the Title I Federal Programs Coordinator. The reading and math programs will be fully explained. Opportunities for parents to formulate suggestions for school improvement will be provided.
The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will do the following in order to plan and implement effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:
• Conduct a needs assessment in the spring of school year.
• Arrange a parent meeting each fall to address results of needs assessment and plan accordingly.
• Implement “Back–to-School Nights” to provide strategies and techniques to help parents work with their child in all subject areas as well as provide an experience for parents to actively engage in their child’s education.
• Plan a Spring Parent Workshop to provide strategies and techniques to help parents work with their children throughout the summer months. At this time the Parent Involvement Policy and School Parent Compact will be reviewed and revised.
• Provide on-going information in via letters, OneCall and informational flyers.
• Provide and make available to parents information about conferences/workshops that may be held at CHAD, PATTAN or other locations
4. The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs:
• CHAD Parent’s Association
• Parent Representatives on the Board of Trustees
5. The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title I, Part A school. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parental involvement activities (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background). The school will use the findings of the evaluation about its parental involvement policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary (and with the involvement of parents) its parental involvement policies.
• A parent evaluation form will be conducted in the spring by the Title I Coordinator
• Results will be tabulated by the Title I Coordinator
• Results will be reviewed by the Title I Coordinator, school administration, and the Parent’s Association.
• Parent suggestions will then be shared at the Annual Fall Meeting and be considered for programming revisions.
6. The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will build the schools’ and parent’s capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities specifically described below:
A. The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will provide assistance to parents of children served by the Title I program in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph —
• the State’s academic content standards,
• the State’s student academic achievement standards,
• the State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments, the requirements of Part A, how to monitor their child’s progress, and how to work with educators:
1. At the Annual Fall Meeting, questions concerning curriculum, proficiency levels, PSSA testing, Keystone Exams, PA Standards, and Study Island Benchmark Tests will all be reviewed
2. Title I, Part A requirements are reviewed at the Annual Fall Meeting
3. Title I Newsletters will provide information concerning the tests and curriculum changes
4. New Student Orientation is held during the day in early September and provides information concerning curriculum, standardized testing, and progress reports
5. Teachers provide information about State and Study Island benchmark assessments and how to monitor a child’s progress during Back-to-School Night held in September
6. Meetings are scheduled at a variety of times to accommodate parent schedules and/or requests – during school hours, before or after school, evening. Phone conferences are held with those parents who are unable to attend.
7. Free materials provided by the US Department of Education on various education topics available in lobby
8. On-line grades, homework completion, information from classroom teacher
9. Individual classroom teacher newsletters
10. A Parent Resource Library is located in the Title I Coordinator’s room with a check out system for parents to have access to materials that would assist them in helping their child be successful in school.
B. The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement, such as literacy training, and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement, by:
o “Back-to-School Nights” to provide strategies and techniques to help parents work with their child in both reading and math as well as provide an experience for parents to actively engage in their child’s education.
o Information Packets which include lists of appropriate educational websites
o Educational videos on reading, math, literacy, homework, etc. for loan
o State Parent Advisory Council Conference information made available
o Provide an order form in the fall and spring for free resource materials from the Title I Parent Resource Center
C. The school administration will, with the assistance of its parents, educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals 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:
o Discussing parent-involvement activities at faculty meetings
o Exploring parent-involvement in-service programs for teachers, staff members, and parents
o Participate in local parent involvement trainings when available
o Discussing parent-involvement activities at Title I meetings.
D. The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent-programs, meetings, and other activities, is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand:
o The Title I Federal Programs Coordinator will relate all information about Title I program, meetings, and other information to the parents in an understandable and uniform format. Meetings and/or notices will be sent out at least ten days prior to the event.
E. The Charter High School for Architecture + Design will take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent- programs, meetings, and other activities, is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand:
Information is available to the parents via:
o School Calendar
o Quarterly Mailings (9-12)
o Parent’s Association Meetings
o CHAD website
o OneCall Automated System
PART III. Adoption
This school wide Parental Involvement Policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs. This policy was adopted by the Charter High School for Architecture + Design on June, 2017 and reviewed May, 2018.