P1230
ST. LOUIS BOARD
OF EDUCATION POLICY
COMMUNITY RELATIONS
FEDERAL PROGRAMS
PARTICIPATION BY THE PUBLIC
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
The Special Administrative Board of the Transitional School District of the City of St. Louis (The “Board”) believes the education of students is a shared responsibility. The school, parent/family, and the community share this responsibility. We are committed to making the parent/family and the community a part of the educational process of our students. Our mission is to cultivate activities that will encourage the home and the community to take an active role in the education of their children and our students.
To this end, the Board recognizes and adopts the following (6) goals:
1. Promote regular, two-way, meaningful communication between home and school.
2. Promote and support responsible parenting.
3. Recognize the fact that parents/families play an integral role in assisting their children to learn.
4. Promote a safe and open atmosphere for parents/families to visit the school that their children attend and actively solicit parent/family support and assistance for school programs.
5. Include parents as full partners in the decisions affecting their children and families.
6. Use available community resources to strengthen and promote school programs, family practices and the achievement of students.
The Plan to implement these goals is as follows:
1. Promote regular, two-way, meaningful communication between home and school.
o School staff, at the direction of the principal, will make reasonable efforts to contact the home of every student assigned to their school prior to the start of the school year.
o Schools will use the automatic dialing system to inform parents of school activities.
o Teachers will make reasonable efforts to contact the home of every student assigned to their class within the first two weeks of the school year.
o Principals, teachers, school social worker, family parent support specialists, or other school staff will attempt to visit the home of every student they are unable to contact by phone; and.
o The Principal will ensure effective two-way, meaningful communication between home and school and shall include, but is not limited to, newsletters, flyers,
e-mail, active updated website and calendars.
o Principals will monitor communication between home and school done by staff.
2. Promote and support responsible parenting.
o To the extent possible, each school will have at least one workshop per semester that deals directly with parenting skills, and at least one workshop that will explain and help parents understand the district's curriculum, Adequate Yearly Progress, and the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP).
o Each school will have a parent resource area, which will have parenting materials as well as instructional materials for each grade level in the school readily available for distribution to parents.
o Each school in the district is encouraged to support the formation and sustain the activities of an active Parent Teacher Organization (P.T.O.).
o The Parent Assembly of the Saint Louis Public Schools shall serve as an independent, non profit organization providing in collaborative parental involvement decision making input to the Office of Federal Programs, the Superintendent of Schools and the Special Administrative Board or any other governing body charged with the oversight of the St. Louis Public Schools.
o Each school building will coordinate and integrate its parent involvement strategies, programs and activities with Community Education, Parents as Teachers (PAT), Reading First, Head Start, and community partners.
3. Recognize the fact that parents/families play an integral role in assisting their children to learn.
o Schools and the district shall involve parents/families in the planning of school-wide programs, including school improvement planning and the development and implementation of any new school policies or procedures.
o In developing school calendars, schools will include parents in the planning deliberations to include night and weekend events to help bring parents/families into the school. (For example, curriculum night, reading night, family health care night, bingo night, parenting skills night, etc.) Collaborative effort will be used to create calendars that will serve the needs of each individual school.
o Parents, families, and community partners will be included in the school and district planning and evaluation of parent involvement strategies, programs, and activities.
o The district and schools will involve parents in the joint development of the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) and in the process of implementing school improvement strategies, programs, and activities for improving student achievement.
o The CSIP, where necessary, will include school-wide improvement goals for parent & community involvement that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, and Relevant & Timely (SMART) and connected directly to school data.
o The district will provide coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist schools in planning, implementing, and sustaining meaningful two-way communication to parents about effective research-based parental involvement activities to improve student achievement;
4. Promote a safe and open atmosphere for parents/families to visit the school that their children attend and actively solicit parent/family support and assistance for school programs.
o Schools will provide parents/families with a copy of the district's policy on student discipline and attendance, as well as any school specific policies (uniform policy, school code of conduct, etc.).
o Schools will be encouraged to provide parents/families opportunities to communicate with teachers through phone calls and or conferences.
5. Include parents as full partners in the decisions affecting their children and families.
o The district will inform parents/families and the community of any changes in the district’s curriculum or discipline policy and give parents an opportunity to provide feedback.
o
Build the schools' and parents' capacity for strong parental involvement by assisting parents in understanding such topics as the State's academic content and achievement standards, academic assessments, how to monitor a child's progress, and how to work with educators, by providing materials and training to help parents work with their children. One training session per semester will be devoted to educating teachers, student support services, principals, and other staff in the value and utility of the contributions of parents and how to work with parents.
6. Use available community resources to strengthen and promote school programs, family practices, and the achievement of students.
o School staff and other district staff will actively recruit members of the community and businesses in the community to take an active role in the education of all students in the district.
o
Schools may provide parents/families and the community with a list of volunteer opportunities in the school.
Coordinate parental involvement strategies with those under other programs, such as Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Parents as Teachers, Home Instruction for Preschool Youngsters, Office of Volunteer Services and State-run preschool programs (providing support for parental involvement activities as parents request it) and Title III English Languages Learners (ELL) programs;
o
Conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parent involvement policy, including the identification of barriers to greater participation, especially by parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background; use the findings of the evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement; revise, if necessary, parent involvement policies;
o Each school will evaluate overall parental involvement at the end of school year. The building staff will use the school's evaluation to make improvements in an effort to enhance the district's parental involvement policy.
o To further implement this policy, the schools will provide information in a format accessible to all members of the public, including individuals with disabilities. Further, all school and district information shall be provided for the parent in a timely manner and in a language parents can understand.
References:
Legal: Section 167.700 RSMo.
Policy adopted: April 2, 2009