The Watervliet City School District believes that positive parental involvement is essential to student achievement and this encourages such involvement in school educational planning and operations. Parental involvement may take place in the classroom, on committees or during extra-curricular activities. We also encourage parental involvement at home since parents can be a vital influence in determining a child’s perspective of learning, school and homework e.g. planned home reading time, informed learning activities, and/or homework “contracts” between parents and children.

Each year the Title I committee, which includes parents, meets to discuss the Title I plan from the previous year and for the year to come. It is imperative to have input from the parents to get their views on what needs to be done so that all students can feel success in the classroom. We also review our parental involvement strategies and what needs to be done to break down any barriers that there may be.

Money is put aside each year in Title I for coordination, technical assistance and support for participating schools to encourage parental involvement. These participating schools send out information to parents regarding workshops and committees that parents can take part in so that they can see where the students need assistance. Parents with children who attend participating schools are involved in Watervliet School District’s Title I Committee. Our school calendar goes out to all students’ families in our district with information regarding upcoming workshops. Parents are involved in our policy committee where they are able to voice their opinions. Information regarding other parental involvement activities can be found on our city’s television channel and newsletters that are sent home.

The Watervliet City School District has begun a universal pre-kindergarten class and works very closely with Head Start. The district also has in place Reading First in grades K-3. Presentations are done at Board of Education meetings and information is placed on the city’s television channel and website to encourage parental involvement in our programs.

Each spring the Title I Committee, with the involvement of parents, meets to evaluate the content and effectiveness of the parental involvement policy in improving the academic quality of our Title I schools. We identify barriers to greater participation by parents in activities authorized by Title I and use these findings to design strategies for more effective parental involvement and, to revise, if necessary, the parental involvement policies at the LEA and school level.

Under Building Capacity for Involvement – To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parent and the community to improve student academic achievement, each school and Watervliet City School District

(1) Provide assistance to parents of children served by the school or LEA, understanding such topics as the State’s academic content standards and State student academic achievement standard, State and local academic assessments, the requirements of this part, and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children;

(2) Provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement.

(3) Educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contribution 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;

(4) Coordinate and integrate to the extent feasible and appropriate, parent involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, the Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the parent as Teacher Programs, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children;

(5) Ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.