North Allegheny School District
District Parent Involvement Policy
Title I Program
2009-2010

North Allegheny School District is committed to providing a quality education for every child in the district.  When schools and parents form strong partnerships, all children’s potential for academic success improves significantly.  

 The North Allegheny School District will involve parents in the development of the district’s Title I parent involvement policy and our application:

• A district-wide meeting is held in October. Parents see a Title I PowerPoint presentation that outlines our program.  Parents are invited to ask questions or voice concerns about any information they see or hear.
• Facilitate individual building meetings at which time parents provide input that is used to develop both the school and district parent policies along with building compacts.
• Require all Title I teachers to provide parents with conferences scheduled throughout the year.  Part of each conference involves seeking parent input about our program.
• Invite parents to provide written input by completing an annual questionnaire and a survey about the program – done at the end of the year and used in preparation for the upcoming year.

 The North Allegheny School District will provide technical assistance and support to its Title I schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities:

• Provide scheduled Curriculum Nights in September – parents learn about their child’s curriculum and classroom expectations as well as ways to help their children successfully navigate the curriculum for grades 1 & 2. 
• Offer free computer courses (through our IT department) to all classroom and Title I teachers – these courses help teachers learn how to develop parent-friendly websites, newsletters and PowerPoint presentations.
• Offer full-day training (through our Staff Development department) for teachers to learn about developing and using websites to keep parents informed and involved in their child’s education.
• Provide Title I parents with information regarding technology including educational websites and how to access & use them with their children.
• Provide numerous publications that keep parents informed: Horizons (Elementary newsletter), Your Schools (district newsletter) and the district formal calendar.  Also, each Title I building has its own publication.
• Provide Title I schools with best practices, ideas, materials, new approaches, research and other program information in order to help schools improve their parent involvement programs. The district has funded intense training for the Title I and classroom teachers as participants in the AIU’s Reading Achievement Center – parents are receiving training based on the RBI (Research Based Instruction) information.   

North Allegheny will build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for parent involvement:

• Made a long-term commitment to parent involvement when purchasing the current Houghton Mifflin Reading program for grades K-5.  All parent involvement components designed to accompany the HM program were purchased. This included thematic newsletters (highlight skills being presented along with ideas for reinforcing these skills at home), a variety of take-home stories (offering both leveled and decodable texts for practice at home) and practice cards for high frequency words.   Houghton Mifflin representatives, scheduled by the district, shared ways for teachers to successfully use these components and HM’s website with parents.

• Provide parent training modules in Title I conferences and/or workshops.

• Ensure that Title I parents with limited English proficiency, literacy difficulties, or other disabilities are given the same opportunities as other parents for active involvement.
• Provide transportation and childcare, if requested, to enable a parent to attend Title I meetings and conferences.
• Provide extensive explanation and scoring information to all schools and parents for any standardized testing such as the ITBS.
• Covers expenses for Title I parents who wish to attend the annual AIU’s Title I parent training workshop.

The North Allegheny School District will conduct with parents an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parent involvement policy:

• Conduct an annual survey each spring for Title I parents to evaluate the content and effectiveness of the Title I parent involvement program and materials.
• Invite parents throughout the year to share feedback on any changes they would like to see made with our parent involvement policy/ compact.
• Ask parents at all conferences if there is anything more that the Title I program could provide for them or their child.
• Use the annual survey and feedback throughout the year to identify the effectiveness of the program.  Information should be used the following year to make improvements to the Title I program.
• Invite parents to attend an annual meeting each October to review the existing policy and make any recommended changes.

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