Duncan Elementary School of the Arts

2024/2025

TITLE I PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT  POLICY

English Version

Approved 4/20/2024

It is the policy of the administration, faculty and staff of your child’s school to:

 1. Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of Parent Involvement Policy/Title I Schoolwide Plan and Program. This will be accomplished through meetings, newsletters, surveys, and periodic updates.
2. Hold an Annual Title I Meeting to inform parents of their school’s participation in Title I and to explain its requirements and a parent’s right to be involved.
3. Provide information about the Title I Program to parents in a timely manner through meetings, newsletters, parent conferences, as well as social media.
4. Provide parents with an explanation of the school’s curriculum (based upon State’s academic standards), forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and proficiency levels students are expected to meet. Individual student’s progress will be shared through parent conferences, and the school’s overall achievement will be shared through the Annual Report to the Community, school report card and through school newsletters.
5. Offer regular and flexibly scheduled meetings/variety of platforms (F2F/Virtual/Phone) for parents to make suggestions, share experiences, and participate in decisions relating to the education of their child.
6. Provide timely (within 48 hrs if a school day) responses to parents’ suggestions.
7. Jointly develop a School-Parent (Home) Compact with parents outlining the shared responsibility for improved student achievement and distribute this compact.
8. Provide parent and family engagement programs that provide materials and training to help parents work with educators as partners to monitor and improve their child’s achievement as follows:
A. Parent Educator
B. Parent / Teacher Conferences
C. Parent Workshops
D. Family Nights

9. Provide practical support for parental involvement activities as parents may request and as follows:

A. Parent meetings
B. Volunteer Opportunities (in person and completing volunteer work at home.)
C. Parent training Opportunities
D. Family Nights

10. Make sure that information related to school and parent programs is sent to the parents in a format and language that parents can understand.

Duncan Elementary School of the Arts

Title I School—Parent Compact 2024-25

English Version

Under No Child Left Behind, each Title I school jointly develops with parents a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the way in which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the state’s high standards.

This compact was approved by the Title One Leadership Team, made up of staff and parents, on April 20, 2023.

As a school and faculty/staff, we will:

●       Provide a high-quality effective learning environment that is safe and enables the student to meet the State’s student academic achievement standards

●       Provide ongoing two-way communication between teachers and parents through parent-teacher-student conferences and frequent reports to parents

●       Provide reasonable access to staff through an “open-door” policy

●       Provide opportunities for parents to volunteer and participate in their child’s class and observe activities

●       Provide a mutually respectful relationship between all parties (students, parents, teachers and volunteers)

As a parent, I will:

●       Support my child’s learning by ensuring that he/she has proper rest and nutrition and attends school on time and on a regular basis

●       Support my child’s learning by reading to him/her

●       Help set a positive tone for learning with my child

●       Participate in decisions relating to the education of my child through a mutually respectful relationship with school staff

●       Provide a mutually respectful relationship between all parties (students, parents, teachers and volunteers)

●       Support my child’s class/school (i.e. communicating with my child’s teachers, helping in class/school, attending school events when possible, etc.)

As a student, I will:

●       Proudly follow the behavioral expectations of SPARK (Stay focused, Promote Safety, Act Responsibly, Respect Others, Keep a Positive Attitude) which is taught at DESA

●       Ask questions when I am not sure about a lesson or an assignment

●       Make good choices like doing my best and working hard at my schoolwork

●       Be the very best “Duncan Wildcat” I can be each and every day

Parent Name:_________________________________  Date:___________________________

Child’s Name:_________________________________  Date:__________________________

Teacher’s Name:_______________________________

School/Parent Compact

Parents/Staff, please review the District Title I Parent and Family Involvement Policy and let us know if you  think it meets our needs as we work together in educating our children.

Send your comments/suggestions to Spartanburg District Five Schools 

Attn: Karen McMakin

P.O. Box 307, Duncan, SC 29334

Or email 

karen.mcmakin@spart5.net

 Parent and Family Engagement - LEA Written Policy for 2024-2025 (English Version)                                      

In order to meet the requirements regarding parent and family engagement, Spartanburg District Five Schools will:

1. Involve parents in the joint development of the LEA plans and the process of school  review and improvement by:

a. Including parents on the School Improvement Councils to review the policy.         

b. Convening annual meetings to inform parents of the schools’  participation under the Title I, requirements, programs, and their right to be involved.

c. Recording observations and comments in the minutes of annual school meetings.   

d. Providing opportunity for parents to review the federal regulations by making them  available at the annual meetings and at the schools.

2. Provide coordination, technical assistance, and support to schools for effective parent  involvement by:

a. Providing parent educators and employees who will provide coordination,  technical assistance, and support to schools for effective parental involvement.           b. Providing a parent/family literacy program which strongly supports the Title I  program through collaboration with district office staff, PTO’s, school improvement  councils, and ACT 135 committees.

c. Providing ongoing in-service for all school parent educators on  programs and means of effectively involving parents.

d. Ensuring that parent/family educators have been trained in a program like Parents as Teachers and Born to Learn from the PAT Foundation or Triple P  (Principles for Positive Parenting).

3. Build the schools’ parents’ capacity for strong parent/family involvement by:

a. Working directly with families, teachers, administrators, and support staff in  helping students reach the goals established by the district.

b. Encouraging volunteering, PTO attendance, workshop attendance, and  participation in surveys.

c. Providing opportunities for program planning for teachers and principals through  meetings and/or questionnaires.

d. Using findings from needs assessments to assist schools in planning for parent/family engagement.

e. Conducting needs assessments to determine services needed by parents to  facilitate engagement.

4. Coordinate and integrate parent/family engagement under this program with parent involvement under other programs as determined by the schools.

a. Using parent educators in helping families in need of services provided by the  district and/or other county and state agencies.

5. Conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content  effectiveness of the parent and family engagement policy to determine:

a. The effectiveness as to increasing parent participation; and

b. Barriers to participation as noted in section 1118 of the law:

Use parent surveys and parental attendance at meetings and workshops as a  means to determine effectiveness and barriers to parent participation. Use parent  survey and SIC review of parental involvement policy to determine how to 

increase the involvement.

Involve parents in the activities of the school served under this part by:

♦ Conducting annual Title I meetings.

♦ Conducting Family Nights.

♦ Conducting Parent/Teacher conferences that address test results, the district  annual report and the school report card.

♦ Providing parenting classes.

♦ Keeping records, such as minutes of SIC Meetings and responses from parents  on surveys.

♦ Providing feedback to parents on findings at the annual meeting and/or by  newsletter.

6. Use such finding to design strategies for school improvement and revise, if necessary,  the LEA and school parent and family engagement policies by:

a. Meeting with schools to share information and making revisions as necessary.       b. Providing feedback to parents on findings at the annual meeting and/or newsletter. c. Analyzing information, suggestions, etc. from parents to determine if revisions are  necessary.