TITLE I PARENT INVOLVEMENT POLICY

Requirement
Federal regulations require local school districts and schools receiving Title I funding to develop written policies to ensure that parents of the children being served by Title I have an adequate opportunity to participate in design, implementation, review, evaluation, and revision of the program.

Purpose
In acknowledgement of much reliable research proving that parental involvement raises the academic achievement of students, Ipswich Public School District 22-6 encourages involvement of parents in the Title programs. In order to comply with the mandates of current federal Title I regulations and improve the quality of instructional services provided by Title I, school district activities will include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Regularly published newsletters will be used to inform parents of students receiving Title I services about program activities, as well as their rights to consult in the design, implementation, review, evaluation and revision of the Title I project.  The newsletter will include parenting tips and suggestions.
  
   
• The Ipswich Title I website will contain information for parents, educational sites, and activities for students, and policies pertaining to Title programs.
  
   
• School-Parent Compacts will be available to families when their children enter the Title program. Parents will be involved in the design, review and revision of the school compact that outlines how parents, school staff, and students share the responsibility for improving learning. Each parent, student, staff member and/or administrator will be encouraged to sign the compact.
  
   
• A Title I Open Houses will be scheduled in the fall at each school site, to provide parents the opportunity to receive information about the Title I program and to communicate with the Title I staff.
  
   
• Title I teachers will have scheduled conferences to meet with parents of program participants on parent/teacher conference days.  The student’s progress as well as the expectations for the grade level, school curriculum, test information, and any other concerns that the teacher or parent may have will be discussed.
  
   
• Progress reports will be provided for each parent at the end of each 9 week period.
  
   
• Materials and activities will be provided for parents to promote the education of their children at home. A Parent Center will provide brochures that are grounded in relevant research and best practices.
  
   
• Title I teachers and parents will be encouraged to participate in the Ipswich Parent Teacher Partnership organization.
  
   
• An annual parent meeting for parents of all children eligible to receive Title I services will be held in the spring to discuss programs and activities provided with Title I funds and to review the Title programs.
  
   
• A parent survey of the Title I program will be given to parents for each child participating in the program.  Also parents' suggestions will be solicited at the annual parent meeting for the planning, development, operation, review, evaluation, and revision of the program.
  
   
• To ensure parents the opportunity for involvement, timely notification on programs, meetings, conferences, and workshops will be provided.  To accommodate the needs of parents a varied schedule for meetings and conferences will be considered.
  
   
• To assist non-English speaking parent, district, and school-related communications will be translated and translators will be available at parent/teacher conferences and/or other times needed, to facilitate communication between the home and school upon request and timely notification of need.
   
• To assist a disabled parent, accommodations will be made upon request and timely notification of need.
  
   
• Every effort will be made for communication with parents in a language free of educational jargon.