| Grant County School |
| Bylaws & Policies |
2111 - PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE SCHOOL PROGRAM
The Grant County Board of Education believes that parent involvement at early childhood, middle and adolescent levels is absolutely fundamental to a healthy system of public education. Strong partnerships between homes and schools are needed if quality education is to be provided to all children. Parents and teachers, by fostering a sense of cooperative responsibility, can reinforce each other’s efforts. Parents, as their children’s first and most enduring teachers, can complement their children’s school learning and behavior by serving as collaborators in the educational process. The resulting home-school partnerships can have positive effects on parent, teacher and student attitudes, classroom instruction, and on student achievement.
The County Board shall adopt a policy that provides for parent involvement in the schools. The County policy shall include but not be limited to, the following components:
| A. | develop a mission statement which philosophically defines the County Board’s beliefs regarding parent involvement in the schools | |
| B. | determine goals of a parent involvement program that may include: |
| 1. | increased awareness and understanding of school/County goals | ||
| 2. | increased support for schools | ||
| 3. | increased ownership in the importance of educating children | ||
| 4. | improved student achievement | ||
| 5. | improved staff morale | ||
| 6. | improved school-home-community relations and | ||
| 7. | improved sense of cooperative responsibility for the success of the educational program |
|
In establishing goals, each County should recognize its responsibility to form partnerships with all families including parents who work outside the home, divorced parents with or without custody, and families of minority race and language. Also, each County should utilize the information from a needs assessment to establish appropriate goals. |
| C. | provide training for teachers, parents and administrators - - in cooperation with State and local agencies - - that would help realize the goals set forth in the County policy | |
| D. | provide an ongoing, two-way communication system that includes feedback mechanisms for parents and school staff | |
| E. | develop a plan to implement home-school partnerships in each school | |
| Parents can be communicators, learners, teachers, advocates/advisors/decision-makers, and supporters. Therefore, the plan could include: |
| 1. | training for parents and school personnel to develop skills in becoming partners in education | ||
| 2. | school activities to involve parents | ||
| 3. | activities for parents to assist their children at home and | ||
| 4. | ideas for parents to become active decision-makers in the educational process |
| F. | conduct yearly an evaluation process to identify/assess the County’s strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement, revising the County policy, if necessary |
Each County policy regarding parent involvement shall be drafted by a committee consisting of, but not limited to, classroom teachers, parents of school-age children, principals and other school personnel. The committee shall be a representative of a variety of schools and shall include representation from early, middle and adolescent levels.
The Parental Involvement Policy drafted by the committee and approved by the Board follows:
Title I Advisory Council
Parents of eligible Title I students will be invited to attend a fall meeting at their child's school. During this meeting, parent(s) will be selected to serve on the county Title I Advisory Council. These parents will provide coordination, technical assistance, as well as assistance in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance. This council will also assist the Title I director and staff with the planning and implementation of the next fiscal year Title I program. In addition to this council, an annual public meeting, to which all parents of eligible Title I students will be invited, will be convened to request input in the planning, development, and operation of the title I program. These parents will conduct an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parental involvement policy in improving the academic quality of the Title I schools. Furthermore, the findings of such evaluation will be used to design strategies for more effective parental involvement and to revise, if necessary, the parental involvement policy.
Each fall, the LEA will meet jointly with parents of Head Start program to give ideas on how the title I program can coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies.
WV Board of Education Policy 2200