Merritt Brown Middle 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)].

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)]? 

MBMS will convene a virtual meeting at a convenient time, to which all parents of participating children shall be invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their school’s participation in Title I, how the funds are used, that the school is required to have parents involved in planning, reviewing, and improving the Parent and Family Engagement Plan and in the development of the School Improvement Plan, and that all parents have the right to be involved.

 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)]? 

MBMS will involve parents via the SAC, ASPIRE parent meetings, and evaluations of and feedback from activities as outlined in the Building Capacity section of this document.

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

MBMS will present the Plan to the SAC and request input, such as amendments, deletions and/or additions.

 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)]? 

In addition to those opportunities outlined in 1B, parents may request a meeting with their child’s teachers and the school’s data clerk will schedule the meeting. Responses to suggestions are addressed at the conference or by an individual teacher via email. Parents will be encouraged to reach out to their child’s teacher(s) through Parent Portal. Teachers will respond in a timely manner to address any concerns they may have with their child’s education.

 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-wide 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
•  work 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)]  (LEA note: this includes Parent Portal training)

Table A - 

Parent Training Opportunities

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

*Meeting and Event dates are subject to change due to COVID-19*                                                             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, the majority of respondents 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. This will be followed by training to address why communication is important and suggestions for what needs to be communicated to help engage parents in their child’s education. 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.

In addition, teachers will ensure parents are informed of their child’s progress by updating Parent Portal at least weekly. Teachers will communicate with parents when any concerns arise.

 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)]? 

Virtual and telecommunication meetings as set forth throughout this document, especially providing assistance for Bay Link families and students.

 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?) 

Best meeting days were split among each day of the work week and attempts will be made to conduct meetings on varying days throughout the week. According to the Survey results, the best times of day to attend parenting events or conferences were mornings and evenings (5-8 pm). To all extent, meetings will be held to accommodate work schedules.

Parents also indicated that keeping up with their child’s progress was a concern; consequently, parent meetings will include a segment on Parent Portal. Additional ways of communication such as texting, social media, and PeachJar will be explored as well as the traditional means of email and phone.

Parents will be encouraged to visit the campus for school events, breakfast, lunches, award ceremonies, etc. in order to make parents feel like a contributing partner with the success of the school.

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

The Compact will be posted virtually through PeachJar and on Facebook.

 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)]? 

 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)]? 

 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, “Work Schedule” was listed as the top barrier to parent participation. We plan to offer morning and evening virtual events to give every parent an opportunity to participate.

 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)]? 

Most school communications are translated for our ELL families using Google Translate. To the extent possible, all communications will be provided in multiple languages as necessary via the same methods as provided in English.

 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 the Spring Parent Surveys responses, the majority of parents indicated that mornings and evenings are the most convenient times for meetings. This will be taken into consideration when scheduling events. Opportunities will also be made available for parents to call into meetings when unable to attend in person. Parents can request notes and/or minutes of any meetings at any time. Any decisions affecting the whole school will be disseminated (email, PeachJar, phone, social media, etc.) accordingly.

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

A minimum of ten days’ notice will be our school policy. This will give parents an opportunity to save the date. Various methods of communications: school marquis, Facebook, and PeachJar will be used to notify and remind parents about events to ensure the greatest participation.

Title I Expenditures Parent and Family Engagement