Parent Involvement

SCHOOL PARENT INVOLVEMENT POLICY 2009-10

Toledo Preparatory Academy values parent involvement in the education of children. To ensure effective parental involvement, the school staff will fulfill the following responsibilities. Toledo Preparatory Academy will involve parents in the joint development of the Title I plan, Parent Involvement Policy, School-Parent Compact, and the process of school review and improvement through the following activities:

  • Review the purposes and major strategies of the Title I program and parent involvement;
  • Assist parents in understanding topics such as the State's academic content and achievement standards, State and local assessment, annual yearly progress, and effective monitoring of their child's academic work and achievement;
  • Review results of parent surveys, program evaluations, and achievement data for the annual school review and use these data as needed to modify Parent Involvement Policy.

TPA will coordinate services and assistance to plan and implement effective parent involvement activities to improve student achievement and school performance through the following:

  • Provide materials and training to enable parents to work with children to support their academic achievement, such as through literacy training and instructional technology;
  • Provide training to school staff and principal to strengthen parent involvement efforts, including collaborative community outreach activities;
  • Provide parents information about Title I programs, services, parent involvement opportunities, parental rights, plan review processes, and school improvement levels;
  • Provide appropriate support services for students to assist with the home-school connection and with students' academic achievement.

TPA will build the schools' and parents' capacity for strong parental involvement through the following:

  • Collaborate with PTAs, SICs, community agencies, and business to provide trainings and activities that build capacity for parents to assist learning and participation in school processes, such as classroom volunteering, academic content assistance, career explorations, or parenting activities;
  • Distribute to schools the comments and recommendations from all school Parent Advisory Board meetings;
  • Collaborate with school and community resources to provide parents flexible schedules for a variety of parenting skills classes, academic development activities, literacy programs, and homework assistance.

TPA will coordinate parent involvement activities with those of other programs in the following areas:

  • State-run programs to support academic transition and success;
  • Parent resources among coordinated programs to promote literacy, parenting skills, students' academic achievement, and parents' participation in the education of children
  • Parental assistance among school, family, and support services for students' entry into school and their continued academic success.

TPA will conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the Parent Involvement Policy that will include identifying barriers to greater parent participation in volunteering in the classroom and in other school activities. Special attention will be addressed to the following:

  • Soliciting input from parents through a variety of means;
  • Involving parents who are economically disadvantaged, disabled, or have limited English proficiency;
  • Involving parents of all races and ethnic backgrounds and of all educational levels;
  • Using evaluation results to revise, if needed, the Parent Involvement Policy.

TPA will involve parents in the activities of Title I schools and forward all information to parents related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents can understand in the following ways:

  • Host an annual meeting of parents, school staff members, and appropriate support staff members to share effective activities for increasing parent involvement;
  • Maintain participation records for all school-wide parent involvement activities;
  • Solicit parent input on the effectiveness of involvement opportunities as they relate to the support of education;
  • Publicize annually the results of evaluations and parent involvement programs.

TPA will make accommodations to support parent involvement at the school level through the following:

  • Arrange school and parent meetings at a variety of times and locations or conduct in-home conferences between parents and teachers or other educators who work directly with participating children;
  • Encourage parent involvement by providing reasonable and necessary transportation and childcare to enable participation in school-related meetings and training sessions;
  • Provide training of parents, if needed, to train other parents to enhance the involvement;
  • Establish a school-wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in programs supported by the law.
  • Provide other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this section as parents may request;
  • Provide full opportunity for the participation of parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under Title I law in an easy to read format and, to the extent practicable, in a language that parents understand.