GARDENA HIGH SCHOOL

Parent Involvement Policy

Note: In support of strengthening student achievement, each school that receives Title I, Part A (Title I ) funds must develop jointly with agreed on with, and distribute to parents of participating children a School Parental Involvement Policy that contains information required by section 1118(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA). The policy establishes the school’s expectation for parental involvement and describes how the school will implement a number of specific parental involvement activities. The school’s school-parent compact is incorporated into the School Parental Involvement Policy.

PART I. GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

The Gardena High School agrees to implement the following statutory requirements:

• The school will jointly develop with parents, distribute to parents of participating children, a School Parental Involvement Policy that the school and parents of a participating children agree on.

• The school will notify parents about the school Parental Involvement Policy in an understandable and uniform format and to the extent practical, will distribute this policy to parents in a language the parents can understand.

• The school will make the School Parental Involvement Policy available to the local community.

• The school will periodically update the School Parent Involvement Policy to meet the changing needs of the parents and the school.

• The school will adopt the schools’ School Parent Compact as a component of the School Parent Involvement Policy.

• The school agrees to be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and will carry out programs and activities and procedures in accordance to with this 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—

1. That parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning

2. That parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;

3. 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;

4. The carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA.

PART II. DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE SCHOOL WILL IMPLEMENT REQUIRED SCHOOL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS.

1. The Gardena High School will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development and joint agreement of its School Parent Involvement Policy and its school wide plan, if applicable in an organized ongoing, and timely way under section 1118(b) of the ESEA:

   
   

   • Gardena High School holds monthly CEAC meetings to plan for the improvement of the Title 1 program. CEAC annually meets specifically to receive input from parents on how to increase parent participation.

   The Principal initiates input from parents orally and in writing on how to improve student achievement and the environment of the school.

   
   

2. The Gardena High School will take the following actions to distribute to parents of participating children and the local community, the School Parental Involvement Policy:




• The Parent Involvement Policy is disseminated through the Gardena High School website

• The Parent Involvement policy is disseminated at enrollment of all new students to reduce the number of parents/guardians not receiving it.




3. The Gardena High School will update periodically its School Parental Involvement Policy to meet the changing needs of parents and the school:




• January of every school year given changes in school culture and Program improvement status, the Parent Involvement Policy will be reviewed and updated.




4. The Gardena High School will convene an annual meeting to inform parents of the following:




• That their child’s school participates in Title I,

• About the requirements of Title I,

• Of their rights to be involved,

• About their school’s participation in Title I:

• Use of phone master, letters home, and announcement in local newspaper to reach parents to attend the annual Title 1 meeting.




5. The Gardena High School will hold a flexible number of meetings at varying times, and provide transportation, child care, and/or home visits, paid for with Title I funding as long as these services relate to parental involvement:




• Hold the Parent advisory meetings on the first Monday of every month. After annual elections are done for CEAC and SSC, a review of the monthly meeting times and dates are then reevaluated.




6. The Gardena High School will provide timely information about Title I programs to parents of participating children in a timely manner:




• Title 1 participation letter is sent home at the beginning g of the school year along with the services that the Title 1 program provides.

• Annual Title 1 meeting is held at the beginning of the year to discuss the services available to the students and parents through Title 1.

• Monthly CEAC Meetings are held each month to discuss updates to the program.




7. The Gardena High School will provide to parents of participating children a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet:




• Formalized parent conferences are held twice a year.

• Literacy and math coach conduct monthly parent meetings with the principals to give parents suggestions on how to assist their student at home in Language Arts and Math.

• Parent education workshops, as part of CEAC are held to teach parents about the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and proficiency levels students are expected to meet ..ie.. CST Scores, CAHSEE, Carnegie Math




8. The Gardena High School will provide parents of participating children if requested by parents, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible:




• Gardena High School will provide opportunities for parents to make suggestions and to participate in decisions relating to their child’s education. ie…School Site Council membership, CEAC membership, Parent surveys

• Monthly principal meetings provide a forum for the parents to inquire about the instructional program and to offer suggestions and input to improve student achievement a Gardena High School.







9. The Gardena High School will submit to the district any parent comments if the schoolwide plan under section(1114)(b)(2) is not satisfactory to parents of participating children:




• Parent complaint letters will be sent to the local district coordinator of categorical programs.

• SSC will review such comments and consider ways to resolve the disputed sections of the school plan.

PART III. SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HIGH STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.

1. The Gardena High School will build the schools’ and parent’s capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities specifically described below:




• Parent Project classes are conducted through Healthy Start to provide parents with opportunities to gain skills needed to deal with troubled teens.

• LACOE provides opportunities for parents to attend workshops on how to communicate with their child

• Harbor Medical clinic provides direct services to the community and the student and their parents which promotes healthy living and preventative medicine.




2. The school will incorporate the school-parent compact as a component of its School Parental Involvement Policy:




• Parent compact disseminated in the Back to School Packet issued in Sept. Given at the beginning of the school year to each student currently enrolled at Gardena High School
  Signed compacts are collected and filed annually




3. The school will, with the assistance of its district, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph—




• The state’s academic content standards

• The state’s student academic achievement standards,

• The state and local academic assessments including alternate assessments,

• The requirements of Title I,

• How to monitor their child’s progress, and

• How to work with educators:

  • Formal teacher conferences held twice a year. At these meetings parents are provided with information regarding standardized test.

  • Teachers provide information on student progress and mastery of the state.

  • Conferences are held on an as need basis for student behavior and academic progress.

  • Parents are invited to attend district sponsored workshops to help students and parents support the instructional programs at home.

  • Informational flyers and pamphlets on parenting skills that help support the instructional program at home are available in the parent center and the Title 1 Office.




4. The school will, with the assistance of its district, provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement, such as literacy training, and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement, by:




• Inviting parents to attend parent workshops to help parents support the instructional program at home. They include District 8 sponsored parent workshops which include communication techniques, parenting skills, literacy and math training.




5. The school will, with the assistance of its district and parents, educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools, by:




• Making sure that there is a balance of staff, parents and students at Gardena High School and ensuring that each member has a voice in the decision making progress.




6. The school will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers Program, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children, by:




• N/A ….School does not currently have any of these programs.




7. The school will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent-programs, meeting, and other activities, is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand:




• All school information is translated and sent home either through the students or standard mail

• Phone calls home with translation in Spanish is provided through the school phone master system.

ACCESSIBILITY

Gardena High School will to the extend feasible and practicable, provide opportunities for parents to participation by parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, Title 1 parents, parents of traveling and migratory students. This includes providing information and school reports in a format and, when possible, in a language such parents understand.

PART IV. DISCRETIONARY SCHOOL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS.

NOTE: The School Parental Involvement Policy may include additional paragraphs listing and describing other discretionary activities that the school, in consultation with its parents, chooses to undertake to build parents’ capacity for involvement in the school to support their children’s academic achievement, such as the following discretionary activities listed under section 1118 (e) of the ESEA:

• Involving parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of that training;

• Providing necessary literacy training for parents from Title I, Part A funds, if the school district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for that training;

• Paying reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions;

• Training parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;

• In order to maximize parental involvement and participation in their children’s education, arranging school meetings at a variety of times, or conducting in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend those conferences at school;

• Adopting and implementing model approaches to improving parental involvement;

• Establishing a district-wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in Title I, Part A programs;

• Developing appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parental involvement activities; and

• Providing other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under section 1118 as parents may request.

PART IV. ADOPTION

This School Parental Involvement Policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by ________________________.

This policy was adopted by the Gardena High School on June 5, 2006 and will be in effect for the period of two years. The school will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children on or before September 2006. It will be made available to the local community on or before September 2006. The Gardena High School ‘s notification to parents of this policy will be in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provide a copy of this policy to parents in a language the parents can understand.