Southport Elementary

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)]?

Title I Annual Meeting-3 virtual meetings held by the district

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)]?

The PFEP will be placed on the agenda at the School Advisory Council (SAC) meetings

and other meetings with business and community partners to review and improve. These meetings will be held quarterly during the year.

All parents are given the opportunity to complete a paper or online Title I Survey in the Spring of the year. The results are tallied and shared with the faculty and the SAC on ways to improve our PFEP for the next year. An evaluation of the current year’s PFEP is conducted during each SAC meeting. Based on the evaluation and survey results, additions/deletions/revisions are made to the plan for the following year. In this way, the school supports the changing needs of the parents and the school.

Documentation:

Sign in sheets

Agenda

Meeting Minutes

Copies of distributed materials

Survey Results

Evaluation Results

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

The SAC committee, composed of parents, community members, teachers, administrators, and support staff, met in September to review and provide input on the 19-20 SIP based on current available data (FSA, MAP, attendance, behavior). All members were encouraged and provided the opportunity to give input. The plan will be reviewed by the LEA for their input. Childcare will be provided for SAC meetings.

Documentation:

Sign in sheets

Agenda

Meeting Minutes

Survey Results

Evaluation Results

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)]?

Parents may participate in making decisions for their students' education through Parent Event evaluations, Parent-Teacher conferences, and during specialized meetings like IEP meetings, SAC meetings, and Child Study Team meetings. If possible, any suggestions made by parents will be acted upon immediately.

Documentation:

Minutes of the meeting

Sign in sheet

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)]?

Any parent who is not satisfied with the School Improvement Plan will be able to fill out a form to be submitted with the plan to the Bay District’s Title I coordinator who will in turn share the form with the BDS administrative team.

Documentation:

Copy of Form to be submitted

Copy of the SWP plan

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.

*To be updated throughout the year.

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)].

*To be updated throughout the year

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)]?

The school developed training for the faculty and staff which will be held during scheduled days when the students are not on campus as well as during monthly meetings with the teachers and Leadership Team meetings. These trainings will be based on the parent input we received on the Title I Spring Parent Survey [communicating with parents (31%), reaching out to parents (17%), and conferencing with parents (12%)] as well as research-based best practices. The training may include a specialist that works with families, professional training videos, professional articles, and/or participation in a book study.

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)]?

Our school provides a Pre-Kindergarten program and parents are invited to all the school events and activities that promote participation in the child’s education. We also invite parents to meet with the parent liaison to apply for Access Programs, such as Food Stamps and Medicaid, and discuss how the parent can participate in their child’s education and the importance of attendance.

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?)

In tabulating our Title I Spring 2020 Parent Survey, we found that many parents are wanting to maintain the workshops for Curriculum, Assessments and Achievement; and Parent Portal training. They would like for us to add a workshop on monitoring their child’s progress..

N. Elementary Only - How will the school ensure that teachers conduct a parent-teacher conference for individual students at least annually, during which the compact is discussed [Section 1116 (d)(2)(A)]?

Each year, substitute teachers are provided for our classroom teachers to schedule conferences and discuss the compacts. Even conferences held on the telephone about the child’s achievement with the curriculum, our teachers discuss the compacts and invite the parents to stop by at their convenience to sign and receive a copy of the compact. Our parent liaison keeps a record of the compacts completed and communicates with the teachers throughout the year to ensure that the teachers have discussed the compact with each family.

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

During many of our school events, community-based organizations are included. We have several that provide refreshments, while others provide clothing for our students during our events. In our partnership with the Lynn Haven United Methodist Church, we are able to provide parents with supplies and food as well as volunteers at parent events and in the classrooms. The Celebration of Learning event includes this organization plus businesses/professionals such as Bee-Keepers, Florida Highway Patrol, Bay County Fire and Rescue teams, the Forestry Division, local farmers, and our local high school students that provide activities for the parents and students to experience learning together.

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 training [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)]?

Child care is provided during our SAC meetings and many of the Parent-Teacher conferences.

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

Elevate Bay is our district volunteer organization that provides training to parents that want to volunteer at the school. We also utilize our PTO that organizes an event to train parents to volunteer during school and classroom events. Note: COVID-19 has impacted these activities.

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)]?

Through our teachers’ effort in our character development program, we utilize the ‘Power of 3’ concept monthly to recognize that the family, the school and the student work closely to ensure the student is successful.

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.)

According to the Spring 2020 Title I Parent Survey, parents state that their work schedule deters participation as well as transportation and childcare in many of the events and/or meetings held here at school. We are offering morning and evening opportunities so that parents are able to participate in our school events and/or meetings. Childcare is provided as needed for events and meetings. Interpreters provided by the district are invited to assist families with English as their second language during conferences and teachers are using Google Translate if the interpreter is not available at the time. Invitations are sent via flyers (with translated versions),

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)]?

Parents will be invited via newsletters, posted on the school website, as well as teacher websites (such as DoJo), shared via social media (Facebook) and paper flyers/brochures will be sent home. We will work closely with our district provided interpreter and utilize Google Translate to ensure that invitations and meetings are in a language that parents can understand.

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)]?

Because of the results of the 2020 Spring Title I Parent Survey that states their work schedule interferes with their participation, we will have opportunities for parents to be involved with their children at school scheduled for the mornings, afternoons, and evenings.

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

Parents will be invited via newsletters, posted on the school website, as well as teacher websites (such as DoJo), shared via social media (Facebook) and paper flyers/brochures will be sent home. These invitations will be provided one to two weeks in advance so the parents are able make plans to attend.

Title I Expenditures Parent and Family Engagement (Adjust to reflect the planned expenditures)