School/Parent Involvement Policy

Mermentau Elementary School agrees to implement the following statutory requirements: 

1. Mermentau Elementary School will jointly develop with parents and distribute to parents of participating children, a Parental Involvement Policy that the school and parents of participating children agree on.
2. Mermentau Elementary School will notify parents about the Parental Involvement Policy in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, will distribute this policy to parents in a language the parents can understand.
3. Mermentau Elementary School will make the Parental Involvement Policy available to the local community.
4. Mermentau Elementary School will periodically update the Parental Involvement Policy to meet the changing needs of parents and the school. 
5. Mermentau Elementary School will adopt the school-parent compact as a component of its Parental Involvement Policy.
6. Mermentau Elementary School agrees to be governed by the following statutory definition of parental involvement, and 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 student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring—

   (A)  parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;
   (B)  parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;
   (C)  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;
   (D)  the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in section 1118 of the ESEA. 

Mermentau Elementary School will implement required school parental involvement policy components as follows:

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

Gather and disseminate to parents for review the following materials: District wide Parental Involvement Policy, the School’s Parental Involvement Policy, the school-parent compact, and Parent Notices from the Table on page 45 of the Title I, Part A Non-Regulatory Guidance.  These materials will be disseminated to parents at regular Title I parent meetings, and parent/teacher conferences.  Input from parents will be solicited through Title I parent meetings,  parent/teacher conferences, school newsletters, school web site, and other regular written communications with parents.

2. Mermentau Elementary School will take the following actions to distribute to parents of participating children and the local community the Parental Involvement Policy:

A.  The School Parental Involvement Policy will be distributed to parents at Title I parent meetings.
B.  The policy will be posted on the school web site.
C.  Parents of new participating students will receive the policy upon registration. 

3. Mermentau Elementary School will periodically update its Parental Involvement Policy to meet the changing needs of parents and the school through: 

A.  Title I meetings
B.  Parent/Student Handbook
C.  Newsletters 

4. Mermentau Elementary School will convene an annual meeting to inform parents of the following: 

A.  That Mermentau Elementary School participates in Title I,
B.  The requirements of Title I
C.  Of their rights to be involved as outlined in Table B of Title I, Part A Parental Involvement Non-Regulatory Guidance (page 45), Section 1118; the school-parent compact, Appendix C, page 51 of the Title I, Part A Parental Involvement Non-Regulatory Guidance, the district wide parental involvement policy, and the school’s parental involvement policy.

5. Mermentau Elementary School will provide information about Title I programs to parents of participating children in a timely manner through memos, newsletters, and the web page.
6. Mermentau Elementary School will provide parents of participating children with a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the roficiency levels students are expected to meet through:

A.  the annual Title I parent meeting
B.  regular parent/teacher conferences
C.  weekly classroom newsletters

1. Mermentau Elementary 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 between the school, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement through the following activities described below:

A.  Parental access to resources such as web sites, parent organizations, etc.

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

A.  The school-parent compact will be a part of the School Parental Involvement Policy on the school’s web page.
B.  During regular parent/teacher/student conferences, the school-parent compact will be completed and signed by the teacher, the parent(s), and the student.
C.  As needed, the school-parent compact will be included in school newsletters along with the School Parental Involvement Policy.

3. The school will, with the assistance of the district, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school in understanding topics such as the following:

·    Louisiana academic content standards,
·    Louisiana student academic achievement standards,
·    Louisiana 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: 

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

A.  Annual Title I meetings and encouraging parental participation in school functions.
B.  Louisiana Promise: www.lpirc.org
C.  District Parent Resource Center and Workshops

5. The school will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, 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.  Upon identification of parental need for information in another language or in another format, the school will take steps to ensure that the parent request is fulfilled.
B.  School personnel will request the district translator to translate parent communication in their language.
 

This School Parental Involvement Policy has been developed jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I, Part A programs. This policy was adopted by Mermentau Elementary School on October 1, 2009 and will be in effect for one year. The school will post this policy on the Mermentau Elementary’s web site on or before October 30, 2009.

Signature of Principal _________________________________________________      Date___________

Signature of Parent Representative_____________________________________       Date___________

Signature of Faculty Representative_____________________________________     Date___________