Going Home Message Policy
At best, please call the office before 2:00pm (1:00pm on Wednesdays) with changes to your child's way of "going home".  We also ask that parents do not come early to pick up their child on a  on a regular basis.  The last 10-15 minutes of the day are important as teachers are reminding students of homework, deadlines and classroom clean-up.

The Heights Parent Engagement Policy and Procedure 2019-20
Heights Elementary is committed to the goal of providing quality education for every child in this district. To this end, we want to establish partnerships with parents and with the community. Everyone gains if home and Heights Elementary School work together to promote high achievement by our children - neither can do the job alone.  Parents play an extremely important role as children’s first teachers. Support for their children, and for the school, is critical to every child’s success at every step along the way.

The goal is a school-home partnership that will help all students to succeed. This is why Heights Elementary includes parents in the school’s Title I program. Heights Elementary recognizes that some students may need the extra assistance available through the Title I program to reach the state’s high academic standards.

PART I-SCHOOL PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT POLICY

1. Heights jointly develops and revises, with parents, the school Parent Engagement Policy and Procedures and makes it available to parents of participating children and the local community.

2. Heights will hold an annual meeting by the end of October of each year, at a convenient time, to which all parents of participating children shall be invited and encouraged to attend through our bi-monthly newsletter.  At the annual meeting, we will inform parents of their school’s participation under the Title 1, Part A and explain the requirements of Title 1, Part A and the rights of the parents to be involved.  While meeting agendas may vary, input regarding the Schoolwide and School Improvement Plans, the Parent/Student/School Compact, and other parent ideas are gathered at this meeting.

3. Other flexible meetings may be scheduled upon request.

4. Parents participate in the planning, review, and School Improvement Plan under Section 1112, Schoolwide Plan under Section 1114, and the process of the school review and improvement under Section 1116. A parent representative will serve as liaison members to our Leadership Core Team.  These members shall be invited to participate in the process for planning, reviewing, and implementing our Schoolwide Plan.

5. Provide parents of participating children the following information:

   1. Heights Elementary Title 1 dollars are used to provide part of the staffing for five para-educators who support classroom instruction under the direction of certified teachers during the literacy and or math block time.  Heights Elementary uses “Balanced Literacy” during a 90-minute reading block.  The components of Balanced Literacy include whole group/core instruction, small group differentiated instruction, and independent instruction with conferring. Certified staff uses a variety of materials to support this work in reading, such as CIA (Collect, Interpret and Analyze) Strategies, The Comprehensive Toolkit, Leveled Readers, Read Alouds, Shared Reads, as well as author and genre studies.  Title 1 funds also partially staff a Reading Specialist Teacher who provides intensive reading intervention to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students in need of reading support.

   2. Throughout their school career, a child will take part in several assessments required at the state or federal level.  Every effort will be made to release the test results to students and their families in a timely manner.  When release dates make it possible, test results will be distributed at conferences or with the trimester report card.  When test results are sent home by mail or with students, a notice will be placed in the bi-monthly newsletter and an Auto Dialer announcement will be sent so that parents will know to look for their child’s individual test results.  Testing schedules are also listed on the Heights on-line calendar.  The Prosser School district webpage located at http://www.prosserschools.org contains information helpful to parents, including staff rosters, schedules, et cetera.  Specific information regarding Prosser Heights Elementary School’s annual assessment progress status and results of state testing are available at http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/.

   3. If requested by parents, opportunities for additional meetings may be held to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practically possible.

6. If the Schoolwide Program Plan is not satisfactory, the parents of Heights’ participating children can submit comments on the plan after it becomes available to the district.

7. Heights Elementary School will inform parents and parental organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parental Information and Resources Center (PIRC) in Washington.  PIRC exists to provide support and information about other community resources for parents. The nearest PIRC Resource Center is located in Pasco.

 PART II-REQUIRED SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HIGH STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

As a component of the school-level Parent Engagement Policy, Heights jointly developed with parents for all children served under this part, a Parent/Teacher/Student Compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement.

Heights conducts two parent/teacher conferences during which the compact shall be discussed, as well as how it relates to the individual child’s achievement.

Heights staff provides frequent reports to parents regarding their child’s progress through the use of communications tools, such as daily agendas, progress reports, missing work reports, bi-monthly newsletter, district and/or state level assessment reports (SBA, ELPA21 reports, survey results, and report cards).

Setting Up Additional Appointments or Communications:  Strong communication between home and school is important to student success. Therefore, the principal and/or staff members are available to meet with parents throughout the school year.  Parents wishing to contact or set up an appointment with a teacher, the principal, or other staff members may do so by contacting the main office at (509) 786-2633.  Staff will carefully consider all parent requests and suggestions, and will respond to parents in a timely manner.  Alternate forms of communication, including phone contacts and emails are also encouraged.  Please see the Heights Elementary School webpage (accessed via the district webpage at www.prosserschools.org) for a listing of email addresses and phone numbers.  

Parent Volunteer Program:  The students and staff of Heights Elementary are very thankful for the efforts of our volunteers.  Individuals interested in volunteering should contact Heights Elementary (786-2633).  To ensure a safe and secure environment for students, volunteers need to follow these guidelines:

1.   All volunteers need to complete a background disclosure form.  Applications must be processed and cleared prior to the first visit.  The form must be resubmitted every two years.

2.   Volunteers are asked to sign in/out of the volunteer logbook (located in the office) for each and every visit.

3.   Volunteers are asked to wear a volunteer identification badge during every visit (these are available in the office).

Parents who are cleared can volunteer in a variety of ways, including providing support for special programs, helping in the classrooms, or being involved in special activities (such as Jump Rope for Heart, Play Day), and field trips (such as the 5th Grade Seattle Trip).  Parents also have the opportunity to be selected to serve as representatives on district decision making and hiring committees. 

Visitors:  We encourage close communication between home and school.  We also stress student safety and the importance of minimizing the disruption to learning.  For these reasons, we must insist that all visitors check into the office before stopping in the classroom.  Visitors will be given a special nametag to wear while on campus.  We also ask that parents prearrange visits with the classroom teachers to help avoid scheduling conflicts.

BUILDING CAPACITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ENGAGEMENT

To ensure effective engagement of parents and to support a partnership among the school, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, Heights and Prosser School District will:

1. Provide assistance to the parents of children served by the school or district, as appropriate, in understanding such topics as:   the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for ELA and math, other content area state standards, state and district assessments, 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 work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate and available, to foster parental engagement.

3. Educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school. The development of positive and effective school-parent-community relationships are a high priority for the Prosser School District. Evidence of the commitment to creating strong home-school-community partnerships includes, but is not limited to, the following activities:

   • The Prosser School Board has established a goal that supports the development of positive communication and strong school-parent-community relationships.

   • The district provided customer service training for key members of the district staff.

   • The importance of parent communication was emphasized at the district expectations meeting held at the beginning of the school year.

4. 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 parents can understand.

   • Heights provides parent information in both English and Spanish through the use of a district translator.

5. Provide such other reasonable support for parental engagement activities under Title 1, Part A as parents may request.

   • For a current listing of the parent liaison(s) for the Heights Leadership Core, please contact the office. 

   • Heights Elementary also provides parents the opportunity to provide feedback by completing a survey every three years.

     In addition, Heights Elementary and the Prosser School District:

6. May involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training following a district protocol.

7. May provide necessary literacy training from funds received under Title 1, Part A if the district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for such training.

8. May train parents to enhance the engagement of other parents.

9. May arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct phone conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, for parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school, in order to maximize parental engagement and participation.

10. May adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental engagement.

PART III-ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

In carrying out the parental engagement requirements districts and schools, to the extent practical, shall provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with children with limited English proficiency, parents with children with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports in a format and, to the extent practical, in a language that parents can understand. Special programs at Heights Elementary, which reach out to these students, include Migrant Support, LAP Services, Bilingual Support, Special Education, and 504 Plans where applicable.

PART IV-ADOPTION

This Heights Elementary Parental Engagement Policy/Procedures has been developed/revised jointly with, and agreed upon with parents of children participating in Title I program, as evidenced by meeting minutes. The Parent Engagement Policy/Procedures were revised with the help of parent input and will be in effect until they are reviewed again by October of 2020. The school will make the Parent Engagement Policy/Procedures available on the Heights website, to all parents of participating Title 1 children and the community.  Hard copies of the document may also be requested through the Heights office.

Heights School-Parent-Student Compact 2019-20

At Prosser Heights Elementary School, our staff, students, and parents will work as partners to create a safe and supportive learning environment.  All members of this learning community will be recognized for their unique talents and abilities, as well as be provided opportunities to learn, grow, and achieve.  Prosser Heights and the parents of the students participating in activities, services, and programs funded by Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (participating children), agree that this compact outlines how the parents, the entire school staff, and the students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership that will help children achieve the State’s high standards. 

Prosser Heights Responsibilities:

1. Provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the participating children to meet the State’s student academic achievement standards as follows:

   Curriculum and instruction provided in classrooms is aligned with state standards and designed to address the needs of students.  The goal for all students is that they meet the state academic achievement standards in all subject area and become college and career ready by graduation. 

2. Use the Positive Behavioral Supports and Interventions (PBIS) and Elementary Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) strategies to support students as they learn positive behavior and learning skills. 

3. Hold parent-teacher conferences (at least annually in elementary schools) during which this compact will be discussed as it relates to the individual child’s achievement.  Specifically, those conferences will be held:  October 17 and 18, 2019 and April 2 and 3, 2020                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

4. Provide parents with frequent reports on their children’s progress.  Specifically, the school will provide reports as follows:  Report Cards will be provided 3 times per year for all students. Communication will also be encouraged through the use of agendas. Each Heights student also has access to the academic support program called Mangahigh, which can be accessed on-line.  Progress of student work/practice on this program can also be accessed by parents using the student log in.    

    

5. Provide parents reasonable access to staff.  Specifically, staff will be available for consultation with parents as follows:   Parents and staff may communicate via email and phone calls at any time during the school year.  Parents may contact the school to request a meeting with school staff at any time during the year.

    

6. Provide parents opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and to observe classroom activities, as follows:  Parents may volunteer in the district in any of the school by completing a volunteer form submitted to the district office.  Parents are also invited to sit on school and district committees. Parents are welcome to observe their child’s class by calling the school office to schedule a time.

 Student Commitments:

As a student, I will

• Be RESPECTFUL of myself and others.

• Be RESPONSIBLE for my agenda and homework, and ask for help when needed.

• Come prepared to be READY TO LEARN and will take an active role in my learning.

Parent Responsibilities:

As a parent or guardian, I will support my child’s learning in the following ways

• Insure that my child is on time and attends school daily.

• Check my child’s agenda regularly.

• Support the school in its effort to encourage and maintain appropriate and positive behavior.

• Read with my child and encourage him/her to use the library regularly.

• Teach and encourage my child to become responsible for his/her own learning.

• Believe my child can learn and support him/her in their effort.

 Teacher:________________________    Date:______________________          

 Parent: _____________________   Date: ______________    Student: _______________ Date: ____________

The Heights Elementary Title 1 School Wide Improvement Plan for 2019-20
is available to view in the Heights office.