Index

• District Federal Programs Parental Involvement Policy
• Kistler Elementary PAC
• Shirley Township Elementary PAC
• Mapleton-Union Elementary PAC
• Board Policy No. 908 (Relations with Parents)

Mount Union Area School District
Federal Programs
District Wide Parental Involvement Policy
2006-2007

Part I. General Expectation

The Mount Union Area School District agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

• The school district will put into operation programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). These programs, activities and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.


• Consistent with section 1118, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet the requirements of section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with section 1118(d) of the ESEA.


• The school district will incorporate this district-wide parental involvement policy into its LEA plan developed under section 1112 of the ESEA.


• In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements to the extent practicable, the school district and its schools will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children. This will include 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.


• If the LEA plan for Title I, Part A, developed under section 1112 of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the State Department of Education.


• The school district 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 schools.


• The school district 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—

  1. that parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
  2. that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;
  3. 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;
  4. the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA.
• The school district will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parental Information and Resource Center in the State.

Part II. Implementation of Required District Wide Parental Involvement Policy Components

1. The Mount Union Area School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of the district-wide parental involvement plan under section 1112 of the ESEA:
   
   Title 1 Parent Advisory Council members met in September 2005 with the Federal Programs Coordinator, principals, classroom, and Title 1 teachers to jointly develop this district wide parental involvement policy.
   
   Parent Advisory Council members, parents, teachers, Federal Programs Coordinator, and principals will meet at the Title 1 Annual Performance Review meeting in June of each academic school year. This meeting will provide parents, teachers, and principals the opportunity to review and revise the School-Parent Compact for each elementary building in the district and the LEA District- Wide Parent Involvement Policy.


2. The Mount Union Area School District will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA:
   
   An annual performance report meeting will be held with parents in late May or early June of each academic school year to discuss each building's Title 1 assessment results. District and building specific assessment results from Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, Scholastic Reading Inventory, 4Sight Pennsylvania Benchmark Reading and Mathematics Assessment, Terra Nova, and Pennsylvania System of School Assessment will be shared at this meeting.
   
   A District-Wide Title 1 Parent Advisory Council exists for the purpose of consultation and advising as the consolidated Federal Programs application is reviewed, revised and written for the next program year.


3. The Mount Union Area School District will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:
   
   A Title 1 Parent Advisory Council exists for the purpose of providing parents an opportunity for collaboration between school and home and to help make decisions regarding our Title 1 parent involvement activities.
   
   A Federal Program Needs Assessment is conducted each program year to help in the planning and implementation of effective and requested parental involvement activities.
   
   Title 1 and Reading First parental involvement activities will be coordinated to effectively deliver scientifically-based reading research strategies to parents in the elements of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and text comprehension.


4. The Mount Union Area School District will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following programs:
   
   Title 1 and Reading First parental involvement activities will be coordinated to effectively deliver scientifically-based reading research strategies to parents in the elements of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and text comprehension.
   
   Mount Union Area School District principals, nurse and elementary guidance counselor conduct yearly presentations at Head Start. Incoming kindergarten students and parents are provided information regarding attendance, curriculum, school-related academic and health services and the importance of parental involvement.


5. With the involvement of parents, the Mount Union Area School District will take the following actions to conduct, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy in improving the quality of its Title I, Part A schools:
   
   The evaluation will include identifying barriers that impede parental participation. Particular attention will be given to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background. The school district will use the findings of the evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary (with the involvement of parents) its parental involvement policies.
   
   Title 1 Parent Advisory Council exists for the purpose of providing parents an opportunity for collaboration between school and home and to help make decisions regarding our Title 1 parent involvement activities.
   
   Federal Program Needs Assessment is conducted each program year to help in the planning and implementation of effective and requested parental involvement activities.
   
   Parental involvement activities will be developed based on collaborative discussions and decisions from our Title 1 Parent Advisory Council, Federal Program Needs Assessment, Reading First coach, principals, Federal Programs Coordinator, Mount Union Area School District Professional Development Committee, Title 1, regular education teachers and special education teachers.


6. The Mount Union Area School District will increase 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:
   
   1. The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district, in understanding the following topics:
      
      • Pennsylvania’s academic content standards,
      • Pennsylvania’s student academic achievement standards,
      • Pennsylvania and local academic assessments including alternate assessments,
      • the requirements of Title 1, Part A,
      • effectively communicate with the school,
      • how to monitor their child’s progress, and
      • how to work with educators
      
      Title 1 and Reading First parental involvement activities will be coordinated to effectively deliver scientifically-based reading research strategies to parents in the elements of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and text comprehension.
      
      Title 1 and Reading First parental involvement activities will be coordinated to effectively deliver Pennsylvania’s Academic Reading and Mathematics Standards and Eligible Content workshops to parents as a means to reinforce classroom instruction at home.
      
      Terra Nova assessment data for grades 1 and 2 will be distributed to parents each program year during the month of November at the annual Parent/Teacher Conference.
      
      Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) data for grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 will be reported to parents once released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
      
      Local Title 1 assessment data including Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI), and 4Sight Pennsylvania Benchmark Reading and Mathematics Assessment will be reported to parents in September, January and June of each program year.
   
   
   2. The school district 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:
      
      Title 1 and Reading First parental involvement activities will be coordinated to effectively deliver scientifically-based reading research strategies to parents in the elements of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and text comprehension.
      
      Title 1 and Reading First parental involvement activities will be coordinated to effectively deliver Pennsylvania’s Academic Reading and Mathematics Standards and Eligible Content workshops to parents as a means to reinforce classroom instruction at home.
   
   
   3. The school district with the assistance of parents, will educate 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:
      
      District-Wide Title 1 Parent Advisory Council exists for the purpose of consultation and advising as the consolidated Federal Programs application is reviewed, revised and written for the next program year.
      
      Title 1 Parent Advisory Council exists for the purpose of providing parents an opportunity to provide input and help make decisions regarding our Title 1 parent involvement activities.
      
      The Mount Union Area School District encourages our parents, teachers and principals to attend monthly board meetings and PTO/CTO meetings where there are periodical updates regarding our Federal Programs application and parental involvement activities in the Mount Union Area School District.
      
      Active recruitment to increase participation/membership into our Parent Advisory Council is conducted yearly by offering incentives for attendance at instructional workshops and meetings.
   
   
   4. The school district will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers Program, public preschool and other programs. The district will conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in fully participating in the education of their children by:
      
      Inviting Head Start teachers and parents of Head Start children to Title 1 and Reading First parental involvement activities focusing on the scientifically-based reading research elements of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and text comprehension.
      
      The Mount Union Area School District principals, nurse and elementary guidance counselor conduct yearly presentations at Head Start. Incoming kindergarten students and parents are provided information regarding attendance, curriculum, school-related academic and health services and the importance of parental involvement.
   
   
   5. The school district 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:
      
      District Wide Parent Involvement Policy will be distributed to all Title 1 parents in September of each program year.
      
      School-Parent Compact will be distributed to all Title 1 parents in September of each program year.
      
      District and building specific memos/flyers will be distributed as advance notice for all parental involvement workshops, Parent Advisory Council meetings, Annual Performance Report Review, Open House, and Parent Teacher Conferences.
      
      Alternative formats, including in a language that parents can understand, will be developed and distributed to identified parents upon request as a means of identifying barriers to increase participation by all parents in district and building specific parental involvement activities.

Part III. ADOPTION

This policy was adopted by the Mount Union Area School District on July 31, 2006 and will be in effect for the period of 1 program year. The school district will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children on or before September 30, 2006.

Section: Community
Title: Relations with Parents
Adopted: April 26, 1999