Title 1: Right To Know

SCHOOL-PARENT COMPACT

The Harmony Township School, and the parents of the students participating in activities, services, and programs funded by Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (participating children), agree that this compact outlines how the parents, the entire school staff, and the students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership that will help children achieve the State’s high standards.

This school-parent compact is in effect during the school year:   2024 - 2025.

REQUIRED SCHOOL-PARENT COMPACT PROVISIONS
(provisions bolded in this section are required to be in the Title I, Part A school-parent compact)

School Responsibilities
The Harmony Township School will:

1. Provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the participating children to meet the State’s student academic achievement standards as follows:

This will be accomplished through the use of differentiated instruction.  We will use all appropriate assessments to determine the specific needs of the students and will implement programs appropriate to those needs. 

2. Hold parent-teacher conferences (at least annually in elementary schools) during which this compact will be discussed as it relates to the individual child’s achievement.  Specifically those conferences will be held:

Annually during November Conference times.

3. Provide parents with frequent reports on their children’s progress.  Specifically, the school will provide reports as follows:

Reports will be given with the trimester report cards/additionally parents will receive NJSLA results and Link IT score.

4.  Provide parents reasonable access to staff.  Specifically, staff will be available for consultation with parents as follows:

Parents have daily access to staff through email and the phone system.  All reasonable conference requests will be honored and all attempts will be made to accommodate parent schedules.

5.  Provide parents opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and to observe classroom activities, as follows:

Daily opportunities are available for parents to volunteer in the classrooms and school with prior notice and administration approval.This requirement is in place in order to ensure the confidentiality of student information.

Parent Responsibilities

We, as parents, will support our children’s learning in the following ways:

• Monitoring attendance.

• Making sure that homework is completed.

• Monitoring the amount of television their children watch.

• Volunteering in my child’s classroom.

• Participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to my children’s education.

• Promoting positive use of my child’s extracurricular time.

• Staying informed about my child’s education and communicating with the school by promptly reading all notices from the school or the school district either received by my child or by mail and responding, as appropriate.

• Serving, to the extent possible, on policy advisory groups, such as being the Title I, Part A parent representative on the school’s School Improvement Team, the Title I Policy Advisory Committee, the District wide Policy Advisory Council, the State’s Committee of Practitioners, the school Support Team or other school advisory or policy groups.

 

Dear Parents/Guardians:

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law on December 10, 2015.  The ESSA replaces the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and is the latest reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Although NCLB was designed to make changes in teaching and learning in order to increase students’ academic achievement, the Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) provision under NCLB was eliminated from the ESSA.  Despite this fact, all educators in New Jersey still are required to hold the appropriate state certificate/license for their given position.

Under the ESSA, all schools receiving Title I funds must inform parents of their right to ask schools about the professional qualifications of their child’s teachers and paraprofessionals.  Our school receives Title I funding and we are happy to share this information with you upon your request.

New Jersey has some of the most qualified teachers in the country, and we are extremely proud of the quality of the teaching staff in the Harmony Township school District.  All our regular teachers have college degrees and many have advanced degrees.  In addition, every teacher continues learning through professional development activities and our teachers are evaluated each year to make sure their teaching skills remain at the highest possible level.

I encourage you to support your child’s education and communicate with your child’s teacher(s) on a regular basis.  For more information on ESSA, and the role of parents, please visit the United States Department of Education’s (USDE) website at http://www.ed.gov/essa.

By partnering, families and educators can provide your child with the best education possible.

Sincerely,
Daryle Weiss
Principal

HARMONY TOWNSHIP BOARD OF EDUCATION
District Policy
2415.04 - TITLE I – DISTRICT-WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT (M)

Section: Program
Date Created: May 2011
Date Edited: May 2011
M

GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

The school district will put into operation programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents in its school with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with Section 1118 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  Those programs, activities, and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.

Consistent with Section 1118, the school district will work with its school to ensure that the required school-level parental involvement policies meet the requirements of Section 1118(b) of the ESEA, and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with Section 1118(d) of the ESEA.

The school district will incorporate this District-Wide Parental Involvement Policy into its school district’s plan developed under Section 1112 of the ESEA.

In carrying out the Title I, Part A parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the school district and its school will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under Section 1111 of the ESEA in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.

If the school district’s plan for Title I, Part A, developed under Section 1112 of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the New Jersey Department of Education.

In the event the school district is required to reserve and spend at least one percent of the district’s Title I, Part A allocation, the school district will involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how these funds will be spent and will ensure that not less than ninety-five percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the school.

The school district will be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and expects a Title I school in the district will carry out programs, activities, and procedures in accordance with this definition:

Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving pupil 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; and

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

In the event the State of New Jersey or the New Jersey Department of Education has a Parental Information and Resource Center, the school district will inform parents and parental organizations of its purpose and existence.

DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE SCHOOL DISTRICT WILL IMPLEMENT REQUIRED DISTRICT-WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY COMPONENTS

Below is a description of how the district will implement or accomplish each of the following components outlined below (Section 1118(a)(2), ESEA):

1. The district will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its district-wide parental involvement plan under Section 1112 of the ESEA:

a. Form a Parent Advisory Committee;

b. Solicit membership on district website and personal contact; and

c. Convene as necessary.

2. The district will take the following actions to involve parents in the process of school review and improvement under Section 1116 of the ESEA: 

a. Form a Parent Advisory Committee;

b. Solicit membership on district website and personal contact; and

c. Convene as necessary.

3. The district will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve pupil academic achievement and school performance:

a. Use of district website;

b. Involvement of administrative and support staff; and

c. Use of district facilities and equipment.

4. The school district will coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies in Part A with parental involvement strategies under the following other programs:  (Insert programs, such as: Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Parents As Teachers, Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters, and State-operated preschool programs), by: 

a. District advisory committee;

b. Preschool program advisory committee.

5. The school district will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this Parental Involvement Policy in improving the quality of its Title I, Part A school.  The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parental involvement activities (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background).  The school district will use the findings of the evaluation about its Parental Involvement Policy and activities to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary (and with the involvement of parents) its parental involvement policies.

(List actions, such as describing how the evaluation will be conducted, identifying who will be responsible for conducting it, and explaining what role parents will play):

a. Feedback survey – Title I coordinator – Suggestion and evaluation opportunities;

b. Tracking minutes of meetings to assess follow up action – Title I coordinator – evaluation summary.

The school district will build the school’s and parent’s capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership within the school involved, parents, and the community to improve pupil academic achievement, through the following activities specifically described below: 

1. The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I, Part A school, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described below:

•   New Jersey’s academic content standards;

•   New Jersey’s pupil academic achievement standards;

•   The New Jersey and local academic assessments including alternate assessments;

•   The requirements of Part A;

•   How to monitor their child’s progress; and

•   How to work with educators.

(List activities, such as workshops, conferences, classes, both in-State and out-of-State, including any equipment or other materials that may be necessary to ensure success.)

a. Provide formal and informal parent effectiveness workshops;

b. Provide take-home activities that will engage parents with their children.

2. The school district will, with the assistance of its school, 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:

a. Provide formal and informal parent effectiveness workshop;

b. Provide take-home activities that will engage parents with their children.

3. The school district will, with the assistance of its school and parents, educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, Principal 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 school, by:

a. Encouraging parental participation;

b. Providing materials that assist parents.

4. The school district 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 fully participating in the education of their children, by:

a. Making materials readily available;

b. Providing a resource closet/room for parent material, and equipment.

5. The school district will take the following actions to ensure that information related to the school and parent programs, meetings, 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:

a. District website;

b. Parental outreach.

DISCRETIONARY DISTRICT-WIDE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY ACTIVITIES

The additional information outlined below lists and describes discretionary activities the school district, in consultation with its parents, may undertake to build parents’ capacity for involvement in the school system to support their children’s academic achievement:

1. Involving parents in the development of training for teachers, the Principal, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of that training;

2. 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;

3. 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;

4. Training parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;

5. 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;

6. Adopting and implementing model approaches to improving parental involvement;

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

8. Providing other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under Section 1118 as parents may request.

ADOPTION

This District-Wide Parental Involvement Policy has been developed jointly, and agreed on with parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs.  This Policy will be distributed to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents understand, at the beginning of each school year or when the child is determined eligible and begins participating in Title I, Part A programs.

United States Department of Education Non-Regulatory Guidance – Appendix D - District-Wide Parental Involvement Policy

Adopted:  23 May 2011