Mason Crest Elementary School

2019-2020

Purpose of this Policy and Compact

Efforts will be made to clearly articulate the school’s intentions to engage with and involve parents/caregivers in the educational process.

Mason Crest Elementary is a Title I school within Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) and utilizes the Title I grant to improve student achievement and help all students meet the objectives of the FCPS Program of Studies and the Virginia Standards of Learning. A partnership with families is essential to meeting this goal.

Under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, schools that receive Title I funds are expected to collaborate with families to develop and maintain a parent and family engagement policy that describes the school’s approach to involve families in students’ learning and includes a compact expressing the partnerships among staff, caregivers, and students to reach high academic goals for every student.

Mason Crest Elementary jointly developed this policy and compact with members of the school community and adopted it for the 2019-2020 school year. A number of the provisions specifically address state or federal expectations for the policy and compact.

This policy and compact is distributed to all caregivers in a language that families can understand. Caregivers have opportunities to provide comments and feedback on the policy and compact through parent meetings. Comments are submitted with the school’s policy and compact to FCPS central offices and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). This policy and compact are made available to the broader school community through the school website.

Important Dates       

Parent-Teacher Conferences                                                  

• End of first quarter
• additional dates, as needed

Progress Report Distribution

• November 12^th
• February 11^th
• April 21^st
• June 12^th

School Events

• Family Welcome Night/Open House August 22^nd  
• Math and  Literacy Night November 7^th
• Fall BINGO Night October 18^th
• Multi-Cultural Night February 6^th
• Art and Poetry Showcase April 23^rd
• Spaghetti Dinner and Health Fair TBD

Building Capacity for Involvement

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers are actively involved in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the school’s Title I program, including the following:

• Provide family members a voice in decision-making on committees, such as Mason Crest's PTO.
• Engage caregiver input when developing the School Improvement Plan (SIP), Title I Schoolwide Plan, the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy and Compact, and plans for use of Title I family engagement funding.
• Encourage all caregivers to attend the annual meeting, to share information about Title I services, explain Title I grant requirements, and inform families of their right to be involved in the school.
• Seek feedback from families on programs within the Title I Schoolwide Plan, offer multiple methods for caregivers to submit comments about programs they may not find satisfactory, and submit any such comments with the Title I Schoolwide Plan to FCPS central offices.
• Invite family members to help in organizing and executing a variety of school events to build collective ownership, such as after school clubs and activities, family field trips, school-wide assemblies and PTO events.
• Provide opportunities for caregivers to volunteer within the school in various ways, such as mentoring students, supporting in the cafeteria and on the playground, after school clubs, family field trips, and PTO events.
•  Encourage families to take part in annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the division-level Title I parent and family engagement policy in order to identify:
  • barriers to greater family participation,
  • ways to help family members be better able to assist in student learning, and
  • strategies to support successful school and family interactions.

Effective Communication with Parents

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers receive meaningful communication in a timely manner, including the following:

• Use multiple methods of communication to families such as Tuesday Folders, our Website, PTO texts, monthly newsletters from the principals, and grade level bi-weekly newsletters.
• Share school and student performance data with families in ways that seek their ideas about how to improve performance toward Virginia's challenging academic standards, such as inclusion of parents on our School-wide planning team.
• Provide opportunities throughout the year for families to better understand the school's goals for students and find ways to improve student learning by invitations to Parent Professional Development and Curriculum Nights.
• Maintain resources for caregivers to review student assignments and ongoing communication about student work, such as Tuesday folders and parent-teacher conferences.
• Provide ongoing feedback on student progress through quarterly progress reports that show specific areas of proficiency and areas for continued growth.
• Hold parent-teacher conferences for all students at least once annually in the fall and more often, as needed.

Shared Responsibilities for High Academic Achievement

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers receive materials, training, and benefits from school partnerships with social and academic services, community-based organizations, and businesses, including the following:

• Hold workshops connecting caregivers to tools and resources, such as Curriculum Nights, Parent Professional   Development Sessions, Advanced Academics Information Sessions and access to our Parent Center/Liaison.
• Offer regular opportunities for families to learn directly from school staff about the school's academic, behavioral, and social programming through Parent Professional Development Sessions, and Curriculum Nights.
• Encourage participation in family learning events where caregivers learn strategies to support their child's learning at home and have a chance to practice those strategies with their child, such as Curriculum Nights and workshops held in our Parent Center.
• Provide ongoing access to resources in the school, such as the Parent Center, our Parent Liaison, and Special Education Lead teacher.
• Provide mentors for students through our collaborative team decision making process and identifying student needs.
• Provide opportunities to donate and access supplies donated by others, such our PTO providing all school supplies, weekend power packs, and holiday meals and gifts. Families may contact our school counselors, social worker and parent liaison for needs such as clothing and food.
• Leverage partnerships with local businesses and organizations to enhance school programs and events, such as the Parliaments Apartment complex, faith groups, Food for Others, and Thomas Jefferson High School.
• Support parents in accessing county and community resources, such as FCPS Blackboard, health care, tutoring and social services.
• Offer outreach and training for targeted families, such as parent sessions.

Welcoming All Families

Efforts will be made to ensure that all parents/caregivers are welcomed and provided opportunities to actively engage within the school, including the following:

• Create a welcoming atmosphere at the school with friendly, welcoming staff, interpreters, and opportunities to visit, observe, and volunteer.
• Provide interpretation services for parent-teacher conferences, workshops, and meetings.
• Translate or provide interpretation of all school documents and communication to make them accessible in the caregiver's preferred correspondence language and for those with vision or hearing impairments.
• Support two-way communication between families and staff through assistance of a parent liaison for translating key communication, phone calls, and parent conferences.
• Expand access for family participation in informational meetings and learning sessions through interpretive services at conferences, workshops, and meetings.

Compact Provisions

School staff, parents/caregivers, and students must work together to ensure a student success.

The staff will:

Provide a high-quality curriculum and instruction that enables students to meet challenging academic standard through the following actions:

• • Teach all students according to the state’s challenging standards, using approved curriculum resources.
  • Provide ongoing professional development and support to all teachers to ensure effective instructional practices are used in all classrooms.
  • Record students' absences and tardies and communicate with parents about any concerns.
  • Continue to collaborate with my colleagues to deepen my own learning and become a better educator.

 Provide a supportive and effective learning environment for students through the following actions:

• • Provide clear expectations for student behavior and academic learning.
  • Offer a variety of resources to help students with their learning.
  • Provide students with appropriate books to practice their reading at home.
  • Acknowledge students' efforts and encourage a positive attitude toward learning

 

     Provide assistance to caregivers in understanding the school’s program through the following actions:

• • Hold an annual meeting to present information on the school’s Title I programs, state and division curriculum and assessments, and the school’s state and federal accountability status.
  • Provide multiple opportunities for caregivers to ask questions and give input into the Title I programs.
  • Engage in communication with families, providing families with ongoing information about their children, and offer specific ideas and materials to help families become full partners in the ongoing education of their children

Build caregivers’ involvement in the school’s Title I program through the following actions:

• • Include caregivers as members of the School Improvement Planning (SIP) Committee and as collaborators in developing the Title I Schoolwide Plan and plans for the use of Title I family engagement funds.

 

The parents/caregivers will:

Demonstrate understanding that participation in my child’s education will help his or her achievement through the following actions:

• • Participate in decisions related to school programs and my child’s education, and share my questions or comments about the programs in my child’s school.
  • Volunteer in my child’s classroom or in school activities, as my schedule allows.
  • Encourage and support my child’s learning at home and at school. 
  • Make sure children attend school regularly and on time.
  • Acknowledge in children's efforts and encourage a positive attitude toward learning

 

The student will:

Share the responsibility to improve my academic learning to achieve the state’s challenging standards through the following actions:

• • Get enough sleep every night.
  • Come to school on time unless I am sick.
  • Try my hardest and work with my classmates to complete learning tasks.
  • Give my parents all notes and papers from my teacher.
  • Ask my family to read to or with me every day
  • Talk to my family about what I learned in math and other subjects.