Parent and Family Engagement

General Information

Parent and Family Engagement is an ongoing process that increases active participation, communication and collaboration between parents, schools and communities with the goal of increasing student academic achievement and success. The Muscogee County School District (MCSD) works diligently to ensure that our Title I parents and students receive extraordinary services and opportunities as we meet Title I regulations with meaningful and strategic actions. Building parent capacity as mandated by the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 (ESEA) is the essential component to our system's Parenting Program. Our Title I schools and MCSD strive to build capacity to involve parents and stakeholders in an effective partnership as well as share in and support high student academic achievement.

The term parental involvement means the participation of parents in ongoing, two-way, meaningful communication involving student learning and other school activities ensuring that:

• Parents play an integral role in assisting their child's learning.
• Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child's education at school.
• Parents are full partners in their child's education and are included, when appropriate, in decision-making to assist in the education of their child.

School District's Role in Supporting Student Success
Local educational agencies (LEAs) are defined as school districts, county offices of education and direct-funded charter schools that are responsible for the following actions:

• Developing a Parental Involvement Policy with the participation of parents
• Planning and implementing educational programs, activities and procedures involving parents as required under Title I
• Reserving 1% of Title I funds for parental involvement activities
• Conducting annual parent surveys and implementing changes based upon the results of those surveys
• Building capacity by providing early literacy and technology training to help parents work with their children to improve academic achievement
• Providing full opportunities for participation of parents with limited English proficiency and parents of migratory children in a language and format they can understand

School's Role in Supporting Student Success
Currently, all MCSD Title I schools are school-wide programs. This means that school staff work to improve the school's educational program in an effort to increase the achievement of all students, particularly those who are low achieving and thus could benefit from extra supports or services.

Each school will:

• Hold an annual meeting, at a convenient time for parents, to discuss the school's Parent and Family Engagement Policy/School-Parent Compact, how funding may be spent, and the rights of parents.
• Develop jointly, with the school's parents, the school's Parent and Family Engagement Policy/School-Parent Compact.
• Provide full opportunities for participation of parents with limited English proficiency and parents of migratory children in a language and format they can understand.
• Provide information and training to parents about the Georgia Standards of Excellence, Georgia Milestones Assessment System, the school district's curriculum, technology, and how parents can monitor their child's progress.