Our Title I Parent Involvement Policy is designed to inform and involve the families of our students. This policy will be documented in our Title I Parent Handbook which will be inserted in our Student Planner and Handbook, in our Title I Plan, on the school’s web page, and a copy will be available in the South End Parent Resource Area (Office Lobby). In order to strengthen the partnerships between school, home, and the community, we pledge to do the following:

Provide timely information to parents using:

• School Newsletters

• Student Planner and Handbook

• School/Home Folders

• Conferences, telephone calls, letters home, and newspaper articles

• Progress Reports/Report Cards

• Alert Now telephone messaging system

• Teacher Web pages

• School Marquee

• NC School Report Card

Involve parents in the planning, review, and improvement of the school’s Title I program:

• Include parent representation on the School Leadership and Improvement Team

• Post the minutes from meetings of the School Leadership and Improvement Team and the Parent-Teacher Organization on the school’s web page

• Encourage all parents to provide feedback on Title I Parent surveys

• Share the School Improvement Plan and the Title I Plan on the school’s web page

• Expect every parent to attend at least one parent/teacher conference during the fall semester and offer flexible meeting times to encourage parent attendance. 

• Host students and their families at an Open House and Title I Annual Meeting at the beginning of each school year and at periodic Parent Teacher Organization and Title I meetings throughout each school year. 

• Offer teacher and parent workshops to meet the educational needs of our school community and provide resources to help our students be successful.

• Arrange family events at flexible times to encourage social interaction within our school community with activities designed to engage children and allow greater parent participation. 

• Hold grade level meetings to increase parent understanding of the NC Standard Course of Study, the NC Testing program, and grade level expectations.

• Serve as a liaison between theRCSParentResourceCenterand families to expand their access to resources and services beneficial to the academic success of students. 

• Utilize the services of the RCS Migrant Education division, ESL and EC teachers, school support personnel, and community resources to better serve students with disabilities and limited English proficiency. 

• Sponsor Teacher/Student/Parent Compacts to foster partnerships between school and home and establish shared responsibility for the learning and success of students. 

• Create opportunities for parents to volunteer at school, visit their children’s classes, attend school events, and participate in the educational experience of our students. 

Things to Know About Title I Schools

Title I provides federal money to our school system for extra educational services for students who are struggling in school. Rockingham County Schools allocates this money to all K-5 schools that have a high percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunches.

Annual Meeting         

Each school receiving Title I funds is required to hold an Annual Meeting to inform parents of their right to participate in the planning of the Title I program; to review the program and to suggest changes.

Compacts                         

In Title I Schools, parents, teachers, and students are asked to participate in shared responsibility for academic success.

To promise to do their part, each person signs a “compact” with goals stating what they will do to help the student have a successful year in school. This is done each year.

Parental Involvement      

Parents are welcomed and encouraged to visit the school and take an active part in their child’s education.Each school has a Parent Involvement Policy that outlines how they will work with parents to increase student success.You will find a copy of your school’s policy and the RCS Parent Involvement Policy in this handbook. 

School Improvement  Team     

Parents are encouraged to participate on the School Improvement Team. Part of this team’s work is to make sure that the Title I Plan of service delivery is working to help at-risk student make progress in school and to review the school level parent policy each year.

Yearly Review              

Each year, staff, teachers, and parents check to see if there has been enough progress toward achievement goals set by the state of North Carolina. If there is not enough progress, or a particular group continues to struggle, needed changes in the instructional programs are considered.

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No Child Left Behind (NCLB)   

NCLBis a federal law that sets forth a goal for 100% of the students enrolled in public schools to be on grade level by 2013-1

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) 

AYP is measured by benchmark goals set for student achievement in reading and math. In reading, 71.6 % of the students in grades 3-8 must be on grade level in reading. In math, 88.6% of these students must be on grade level. These percentages are based on the NC End-of-Grade test scores and are set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. 

Additional Challenges   

NCLB sets additional challenges for school achievement.All student groups within a school must meet the state’s target goal for achievement. Forty or more students in any of the following categories make a student group: White; Black; Hispanic; Native American; Asian; Multi-racial; Economically Disadvantaged; Limited English Proficiency; and Students with Disabilities. If just one group within a school does not meet the goal in reading or math, then the school does not make adequate yearly progress (AYP).

For questions or more information contact your school principal or the Rockingham County Schools Federal Programs Office at 627-2680.