Family Engagement means the participation of parents and family members in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring:

(A) That parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning.

(B) That parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education.

(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 1116 of the ESSA.

In support of strengthening student academic achievement, the Dalton Public Schools (DPS) has developed this parent and family engagement policy that establishes the district’s expectations and objectives for meaningful family engagement and guides the strategies and resources that strengthen school and parent partnerships in the district’s Title I schools. This plan will describe DPS’s commitment to engage families in the education of their children and to build the capacity in its Title I schools to implement family engagement strategies and activities designed to achieve the district and student academic achievement goals.   

When schools, families, and communities work together to support learning, children tend to do 

better in school, stay in school longer and enjoy school more. Title I, Part A provides for substantive family engagement at every level of the program, such as in the development and implementation of the district and school plan, and in carrying out the district and school improvement provisions. Section 1116 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) contains the primary Title I, Part A requirements for schools and school systems to involve parents and family members in their children’s education. Consistent with Section 1116,  DPS will work with Title I schools to ensure that the required school-level parent and family engagement policies meet the requirements of Section 1116(b) and each include, as a component, a school-parent compact consistent with Section 1116(d) of the ESSA.

The Dalton Public Schools will take the following actions to involve parents and family members in jointly developing its LEA plan under Section 1112, and the development of support and improvement plans under paragraphs (1) and (2) of Section 1111(d) of the ESEA: 

Dalton Public Schools parents will be involved in the joint development and distribution of the Title I Plan and Parent Involvement Policy through the use of parent surveys, committee memberships, school wide planning teams, school councils, and participation on Federal Programs Parent Involvement Advisory Group, and PTA/PTO committees.

The Dalton Public Schools will provide the following coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist and build capacity of all Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parent and family involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance, which may include meaningful consultation with employers, business leaders, and philanthropic organizations, or individuals with expertise in effectively engaging parents and family members in education:  

Title I schools will be provided with the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist in planning and implementing effective parent involvement.  Title I funds will be set aside to provide monetary support to all Title I schools for effective parent involvement activities, workshops, and support.  Title I works in collaboration with other parenting programs that exist in the school district to provide information and resources to assist parents in ways to help their children achieve at a higher level in school.

The Dalton Public Schools will involve the parents and family members of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parent and family engagement is spent and will ensure that not less than 90 percent of the 1 percent reserved goes directly to Title I schools.

Parental input concerning parenting activities and school improvements will be welcomed.  Parents will serve on the school council of each Title I school and on the district Federal Programs Parent Involvement Advisory Committee (FPPAC).  Schools will be allocated funds for parent involvement.  Schools will keep minutes with all parent comments included.

The Dalton Public Schools will coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement strategies with parent and family engagement strategies, to the extent feasible and appropriate, with other relevant Federal, State, and local laws and programs:  Head Start, Georgia PreK, Kid City (21CCLC), Little Cats, PTA/PTO that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children by:

Title I schools offer a wide variety of programs designed to improve parent involvement.  Parent committees, PTA/PTO and school committees work toward increasing parent involvement.  Parent involvement strategies are included in individual school Title I plans, AdvancED, and FLP plans.

All Dalton Public Schools PK-5 schools offer state funded Georgia Pre-Kindergarten Programs.  Some offer Head Start.  All provide parenting workshops which are organized collaboratively with Title I, Title IV-B, EIP, Migrant and ELL when feasible. 

Little Cats is a district initiative to assist parents in working with their preschool age (3 and 4 year olds) on basic literacy and math skills to be ready to transition into PreK and Kindergarten programs.  Children and their parents attend Little Cats classes together to build both child and parent capacity to successfully transition to the school setting and increase the probability of school success in the very earliest grades.  

The Dalton Public Schools will build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong family engagement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and family members and to support a partnership among the Title I schools, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement through the following districtwide activities and programs.

Of Parents - DPS will, with the assistance of its Title I schools, build parents’ capacity for strong parental involvement by providing materials and training on such topics as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy) to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement.  Assistance will also be provided to parents in understanding the following topics: The challenging State academic standards, the State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments, the requirements of Title I, Part A, how to monitor their child’s progress, how to work with educators using the following opportunities:

·       Parent Resource Center Individual schools provide parents with resources through informational centers and resource rooms

·       Parental informational training (introduction to school system, parent/ teacher conferences, grading system, standardized testing, student learning objectives, opening parent portal accounts, academic resources in school and online, school programs, school involvement, support of students at home, health and hygiene, discipline, children safety, gang and social issues, college, nutrition)

·       After school homework help for at risk students- (based on recommendations of teachers)

·       Little Cats initiative to assist parents in working with their preschool age (3 and 4 year olds) on basic literacy and math skills to be ready to transition into PreK and Kindergarten programs

·       Electronic devices, books and tapes in English and other languages of students represented in the system for students to use there and take home.

·       Liaisons between schools and parents- Parent Involvement Coordinators for Title I, Title III, Title IV-B, Migrant, Pre-K, Special Education, Parent Mentor, Transition Coach (HS), and School Social Workers

·       Community fair- partner with community agencies

·       District partnerships:  Federal Programs (Title I, Migrant, Homeless, Title IV-B, Title III, ESS), Bright from the Start, School Counselors, School Social Workers, School Committees 

·       Community partnership: Dalton State College, North GA Healthcare Partnership, CLILA, Latin American Association, Family Support Council, Faith-based organizations/churches and other organizations

·       Parent/Teacher conferences are offered, either scheduled or as requested, to share information with parents about their child’s academic progress, progress reports and report cards, standardized test results and interpretation and curriculum/resources.  Other information such as behavior records may be shared as necessary.

Of School Staff - The Dalton Public Schools will, with the assistance of its schools and parents, educate its teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, and other school leaders, and other staff 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 schools by:  

The district employs a Title I, Title III, Title IV-B, and a Migrant family engagement coordinator.  Additionally, there are 3 other coordinators at school sites and a PreK family engagement coordinator.  All of these build capacity for staff to understand the value of and utility of contributions of parents, how to reach out and communicate with parents, and how to partner with parents, implement and coordinate parent programs and build parental ties with schools.  Presentations on cultural awareness, working with students of poverty, and parent conference training are part of the new teacher induction process.  The district regularly sends a team of people to the GaDOE sponsored Parent Engagement Conference.  The team (approx. 20 people in FY18) consists of district and school administrators, coordinators, counselors, social workers, and teachers).  The team then redelivers information within the district and online through the district’s online learning management system, Canvas.  Some other ways capacity is built including information shared at staff meetings and assistance with parent conferences.

An online Parent Engagement Course has been set up in the district’s online learning management system, Canvas.  Resources for supporting parent involvement are posted there including: DOE webinars, DOE templates, guidance documents, shared resources, and links to resources.

The Dalton Public Schools will take the following actions to conduct, with the meaningful involvement of parents and family members, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parent and family engagement policy in improving the academic quality of its Title I, Part A schools.  The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in activities (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background).  The evaluation will also include identifying the needs of parents and family members to assist with the learning of their children, including engaging with school personnel and teachers and strategies to support successful school and family interactions. The school district will use the findings of the evaluation about its parent and family engagement policy to design evidence-based strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary, its parent and family engagement policies.

Schools will annually survey parents to ascertain the effectiveness and appropriateness of the Parent Involvement Policy.  Areas to be evaluated will include identifying barriers to parent participation such as low income, disabilities, limited literacy, LEP or other racial or ethnic considerations.  The findings of this evaluation will be used for school improvement and reviewing and revising the parent involvement policy each year

In carrying out the parent and family engagement requirements established by Section 1116 of the ESSA, the district family engagement coordinator will communicate and collaborate with the Office for Student Support Services to ensure full opportunities for participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, neglected and delinquent residential facilities in its school attendance area, and parents of migratory children including providing information and school reports in a language parents can understand.

Mark Your Calendar:

Parents

Parent Advisory Team with the Superintendent - Fall and Winter 2022. All will start at 6 p.m. 3rd Floor City Hall, 300 W Waugh Street Dalton, GA. Please consult DPS Calendar for specific dates.

For Schools

Welcoming Schools Training - July 27-29 New Teacher Induction Hammond Creek Middle

Title I Annual School Meetings - Fall 2022 Please consult DPS School Calendar for specific school meeting dates https://www.daltonpublicschools.com/our-schools

This LEA parent and family engagement policy has been developed jointly and agreed on with parents and family members of children participating in Title I, Part A programs, as evidenced by Laura Orr, Federal Programs Director. 

This policy was adopted by the Dalton Public Schools on 07/10/2022 and will be in effect for the period of the 2022-2023 school year. The school district will distribute this policy to all parents of participating Title I, Part A children on or before September 1, 2022.