Victory Charter School

Parent Involvement Policy

District #451 - Victory Charter School

Parent Involvement Policy & Plan

Updated: November 2011

Recognizing that parental involvement is important to academic achievement, Victory Charter School (VCS) seeks to involve parents in an effective home-school partnership that provides the best possible education for our students. VCS provides coordination, technical assistance and other supports necessary to aid in the planning and implementation of parent involvement activities. VCS encourages parent involvement and supports this partnership by providing information about standards and assessments; training and materials for parents to help their children; education to school personnel about involving parents and the value of parent contributions; and developing roles for community organizations and businesses to work with parents and our school.

For the purposes of this policy and plan, Victory recognizes the following definition of parental involvement, and will, to the best of its ability, carry out programs, activities and procedures in accordance thereto:

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;

(D)         the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA.

Victory Charter School will take the following actions to fulfill this definition:

1. This jointly developed and agreed upon written policy between the school and its parents, is distributed to VCS parents  through school website distribution, at the Back-to-School Night event, and annually as an attachment to the weekly Attendance Note News.

2.  An annual meeting is held for all VCS parents at the Back-to-School Night.  Notifications of the meeting is sent to Victory family homes in advance of the meeting.

3. VCS Parents are given assistance in understanding the Title I requirements, standards, and assessments through the annual meeting,  at parent-teacher conferences, at one-on-one parent-teacher meetings as scheduled, and at parent workshops as provided.

4. VCS Parents receive an explanation of the school’s performance profile, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the expected proficiency levels in the annual progress report distributed to all parents through individual reports given to parents at conference times, and through report cards,

Victory Charter School

Parent Involvement Policy – Updated Nov. 2011

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5. and either a) on the website, or b) as an annual attachment to the weekly Attendance Note News.

6.  At the annual meeting (Back-to-School Night), on the school’s website, and at parent-teacher conferences, VCS parents are informed of and involved in their child’s participation in the Title I program. They are also informed about the school’s curricula, instructional objectives, and methods used in carrying out the Title IA program. This information is delivered parent-teacher conferences, and at the annual meeting.

7. Parent recommendations are encouraged and responded to in a timely manner. Verbal or written responses will be given for all recommendations. Parent recommendations are sought through the parent advisory committee, broadly at the annual meeting, and individually at the parent-teacher conferences.

8. A parent/school compact will be jointly developed and reviewed with input from parents and school personnel and will outline how parents, the entire school staff, and students all share in the responsibility for improved student achievement. The parent/school compact also describes the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve our school’s high academic and behavior standards. The parent/school compact will be distributed either in the Annual Enrollment Packets,  as an attachment to the weekly Attendance Note News, or at parent-teacher conferences.
   
    
9.  The Title I program provides opportunities for parents to become partners with the school in promoting the education of their children both at home and at school. With the Title IA teacher and a child’s classroom teacher, parents are given help monitoring their student’s progress and provided assistance on how to participate in decisions related to their student’s education. The school also provides other reasonable support for parental involvement activities as requested by parents. Parents are encouraged to participate as volunteers in the school setting. Individual conferences will also be held upon request. The Title I teacher coordinator will maintain parent support materials for checkout to assist their children participating in Title I activities.

10. VCS will continue to coordinate and integrate, to the extent feasible and appropriate, the parent involvement policy and other programs and activities within the district. If VCS is ever required to reserve at least 1% of its Title IA allocation for parental involvement activities, parents will be involved in determining how best to allocate those funds to achieve this purpose.

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11.   To address the requirement to coordinate and integrate the school’s parent involvement programs with early childhood programs in the community and in the school, VCS’ Title I teacher and Special Ed teacher will work with local preschool programs, such as Head Start, as necessary to encourage and support parents of

children coming into Victory’s kindergarten class so they can more fully participate in their child’s education. At a minimum, parents in these programs with incoming kindergarteners will be invited to participate in a welcome to Victory transition event before the start of school.

12.   To the extent practicable, VCS will provide opportunities for participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing required information and school reports  in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.

13. An annual evaluation of this parental involvement policy shall be conducted by the Title IA coordinator with the parent advisory committee, Title IA teacher, and designated school personnel to determine its effectiveness. Findings will be used to consider and design strategies for school improvement and/or revision of policies.

Providing all Victory Charter School children with equal access to quality education is of primary purpose. It is crucial that all partners (students, parents, educators, and communities) have the opportunity to provide input and offer resources to meet this purpose. As these partnerships are mutually beneficial, developing cooperative efforts will ensure improved academic achievement for all students.