Bay High School

20-21 Parent and Family Engagement Plan

The Parent and Family Engagement Plan (PFEP) must be jointly developed with parents and must be distributed to parents in an understandable and uniform format, and in the language parents can understand. It must be made available for the community and updated periodically to meet the changing needs of the parents and the school. [Section 1116(b)].

 Instructions: Describe the means by which the school will carry out the ESSA requirements below. 

1. POLICY INVOLVEMENT

 A. By what means will the school conduct a Title I Annual Meeting (convened at a convenient time, to which all parents are invited and encouraged to attend) to inform parents of their school’s participation in Title I, the requirements of Title I, and the right of parents to be involved [Section 1116(c)(1)]? 

The school will conduct a Title I Annual Meeting in conjunction with our School Open House. Parents will be notified of the meeting through the newsletter, IRIS alert, social media, and notifications. The district created a PowerPoint that includes the requirements of Title I will be shown.

 B. By what means will the school involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of the PFEP [Section 1116(c)(3)]? 

All parents are given the opportunity to complete an online and paper based Title I Spring Parent Survey. The results are tallied and shared with the faculty and during a SAC meeting. Based on the surveys and review of parent input forms, changes are made to the PFEP for the next school year. The PFEP is reviewed throughout the year to meet the needs of the parents and school.

 C. By what means will the school involve parents in the joint development of the School Improvement Plan [Section 1116(c) (3)]? 

During a SAC (School Advisory Council) meeting, results from a comprehensive needs assessment are discussed. Strategies from the current year’s SIP (School Improvement Plan) are reviewed. Revisions are made based on parent input.

 D. By what means will the school provide parents opportunities, if requested, for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in making decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible [Section 1116(c)(4)(C)]? 

During parent/teacher conferences, Open House, Parent Workshops, and SAC meetings, parents will learn about the curriculum used, what levels students are expected to achieve, about the FSA and other assessments and how the results of the assessments are used. The parental suggestions listed below, if practical and reasonable, will be implemented in a timely manner.

• Communication can be improved by teachers’ frequent emails and messages sent through the “Remind”program for upcoming tests, quizzes, or projects.
• All teachers will be reminded of posting grades in a timely manner.
• With the use of “PeachJar” we are hoping for an increase of involvement from parents.

 E. If the School Improvement Plan is not satisfactory to the parents, by what means will the school provide parents an opportunity to submit comments with the plan when it is submitted to the district [Section 1116(c)(5)]? 

Parents who are not satisfied with the school improvement plan will complete a form to be submitted with the plan to the district.

2. BUILDING CAPACITY FOR INVOLVEMENT

 In Table A, list the activities that will address topics F - J.                                                                      F. Assist parents in understanding:

• State academic standards;
• State and local academic assessments;
• requirements of Title I;
• monitoring a child’s progress; and
•  working with educators to improve the achievement of their children [Section 1116(e)(1)] 

G. Description and explanation of:

• Curriculum in use at the school [Section 1116(4)(B)]

H. Description and explanation of:

•  Academic assessments used to measure student progress [Section 1116(4)(B)] 

I. Description and explanation of:

•  Achievement levels of the State academic standards that students are expected to obtain [Section 1116(4)(B)] 

J. Provide materials and training to:

•  help parents work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology (including the harms of copyright piracy), to foster parental involvement [Section 1116(e)(2)] 

Table A - 

Parent Training Opportunities

 List all activities for requirements F through J and transition activities that involve parents. 

Table B - Other Events/Activities

 Other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents 

 In more fully participating in the education of their children [Section 1116(e) (4)]. 

 K. By what means will the school educate the faculty, staff, and administrators, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school [Section 1116(e)(3)]? 
Based on parents’ responses on the Spring Survey, 23% suggested that the faculty/staff could benefit from professional development that addresses communicating with parents. During pre-school in-service days, the Title I coordinator will review the results of the Spring Parent Survey with teachers and staff so they are aware of the best days and times for parent conferences and events, the methods of communication parents' prefer, and other input parents offered to improve parent engagement.

Based on parents’ responses on the Spring Survey, 20% of the parents want to be an equal partner in their child’s education and they need the teachers to reach out to them. A training to address why communication is important and suggestions for what needs to be communicated to help engage parents in their child’s education will also be conducted in the fall.

 *Then teachers will be trained on the use of the technology the school uses to communicate with parents and other means of communication for parents without access to technology. 

 L. To the extent feasible, by what means will the school coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with other Federal, State, and local programs, including public preschool programs that encourage and support parents in participating in the education of their children [Section 1116(e)(4)]? 
N/A 

 M. By what means will the school provide other reasonable support for parental involvement activities as parents may request [Section 1116(e)(13)]? (Based on the Title I Spring Parent Survey results, what activities did the parents request that are included in this plan?) 

Based on the results of our Spring Survey, 92% of our parents would like communication via email or texts. Based on the results of our Spring Survey, over 58% of the parents completing the survey stated that they used Parent Portal 7 or more times during the year. During our freshman and New Student Orientation and during our Open House, we will have computers set up for parents to sign up for Parent Portal and Remind 101 and explain how to access individual teachers.

 N. Middle and High Schools - How will the school distribute the school-parent-student compact? [Section 1116 (d) (2) (A)]? 

Compacts will be distributed on the first day of school packets and throughout the school year to new students. A copy of the compact will be posted on the school website in the parent resources section.

 O. Optional – How will the school develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities [Section 1116(e) (13)]? 

 P. Optional – By what means will the school involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of the trainings [Section 1116(e)(6)]? 

 Q. Optional – By what means will the school provide literacy training for parents if the LEA has exhausted all other sources of funding [Section 1116(e)(7)]? 

 R. Optional – By what means will the school pay reasonable and necessary expenses, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions [Section 1116(e)(8)]? 

During our evening meetings, refreshments will be provided to encourage parents to participate.

 S. Optional – By what means will the school train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents [Section 1116(e) (9)]? 

 T. Optional – By what means will the school conduct in-home conferences for parents who are unable to attend at school [Section 1116(e) (10)]? 

While in-home conferences are not available, our Parent Liaison and Mediator will make in-home visits for students with poor attendance and behavior problems.

 U. Optional – By what means will the school adopt and implement model approaches to improve parent involvement [Section 1116(e) (11)]? 

3. ACCESSIBILITY

 V. By what means will the school provide opportunities for informed participation of parents and family members (including parents and family members with limited English proficiency, with disabilities, and parents of migratory children). [Section 1116(f)]? (List the barriers identified by parents in the Title I Spring Survey and the methods by which the school will assist to overcome the barriers.) 

Based on the Spring Parent Survey results, lack of communication was the greatest barrier to participation. Parents stated that they want more parent/teacher communication. We plan to encourage teachers to participate by utilizing Parent Portal and other means of communication. Additionally, our Parent Liaison will be contacting all incoming Freshmen Parents this summer to let them know about Parent Portal. Based on the Spring Parent Survey results, 46% of our parents work schedules are a direct conflict with participating in school events. We will use our phone system to send out earlier notices to parents about upcoming activities, so they might be able to rearrange their work schedule.

*We have planned to train teachers on utilizing Parent Portal as a means of communication to parents.

 W. By what means will the school ensure that information related to school and parent programs, school reports, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents in a format and in a language the parents can understand [Section 1116(e)(5) and (f)]? 

All school communications are translated for our ELL families. Google Translate and staff members (ELL paras) assist with this. Bilingual staff members assist with conferences and phone calls. We now have the “Peach Jar” program that alerts parents to information and upcoming events. Our active school media page on Facebook also includes information to parents and students of upcoming events and opportunities.

 X. By what means will the school offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening to accommodate parents’ schedules [Section 1116(c)(2)]? 

Based on our Spring Survey, our current evening meetings are fine. Parents preferred mode of communication for school events, programs, and activities is email or text messaging.

 Y. By what means will the school provide parents with timely information about meetings, activities, and events [Section 1116(c) (4)(A)]. 

At least one week prior to the event will be our school policy. This will give parents an opportunity to save the date. Various methods of communication such as Newsletters, IRIS alerts, social media, and notifications will be used to notify and remind parents to ensure the greatest participation.

Title I Expenditures Parent and Family Engagement