GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER MIDDLE SCHOOL Parental Involvement Policy
Tulsa Public Schools shall promote parent involvement in all schools as mandated by Title I, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and work as equal partners with parents in providing quality learning experiences for everystudent, everyday, without exception.
The Board believes and acknowledges that parent involvement raises the academic achievement level of students. Additionally, parents become empowered, teacher morale improves and communities grow stronger when parents take an active role in educating their children. To this end, schools shall involveparents in the education of their children at all gradelevels. The Superintendent or his/her designee shall provide coordination, technical assistance and other support necessary to assist all schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance.
Public Law 107-110, No Child Left Behind, section 1118-Title I Parent Involvement, establishes that to build the capacity for parent involvement within schools, a district is to "develop jointly with, agree with, and distribute to parents of participating children a written Parent Involvement Policy". This policy includes six (6) critical elements to ensure that schools strive to build the capacity of parents to help their children achieve high academic standards.
BUILDING PARENTS CAPACITY FOR INVOLVEMENT
The Board believes that empowering parents to insist on improvement and giving schools extra incentive to do so and by giving parents options regarding their children's education helps the district to realize its vision to become the "District of Choice" for patrons of the community. As a result of this belief, the Board shall create an environment of supportive and collaborative parent involvement.
DEFINITION OF PARENT INVOLVEMENT
Parent involvement is the support and participation of parents at home, in the community, and at the school site that directly and positively affects the educational performance offered to all children. Parent involvement is most successful when it is viewed, practiced, and promoted as a partnership between the home and school.
The Administration, Faculty, and Staff of Carver Middle School believe that parental involvement is a valuable key to help our students succeed in school and later in life. As a result of this belief and in compliance with Title I, Part A of the No Child Left Behind Act of 200l, Carver Middle School established the Parental Involvement Policy, to be kept on file in the main office.
1) SHARED ACCOUNTABILITY:
The mission of Carver Middle School is to empower all students to be inquirers and to meet high academic standards in a nurturing, enriching, supportive environment where individual differences and talents are respected; academic excellence is promoted; lifelong learning is strongly encouraged; critical, creative, and higher level thinking skills are developed; connections among all disciplines are provided; and students are empowered to become productive citizens of the global community. Faculty and staff members at Carver strive to provide a quality learning experience for every student, everyday, without exception. At Carver, our tradition is excellence; our concept is diversity; our potential is unlimited; our future is global.
Carver believes that this mission can be achieved by the active partnership of students, families, faculty and staff working collaboratively. Therefore, Carver utilizes various accountability measures to ensure that the needs of our students are being met. Parents, students, and teachers will sign an "Accountability Agreement" during the fall of each school year that outlines the responsibilities each holds in the education of the student. Students and parents will receive written notification of the Code of Conduct, Dress Code, and Attendance Polices at the beginning of each school year to make parents and students aware of acceptable behavior and the consequences of violating these expectations. Progress reports and/ or grade cards will be sent to parents to monitor their student's progress.
2) COMMUNICATION:
Carver is committed to keeping parents informed of its activities. The school uses an automated telephone calling system identified as School Connects to inform parents of school activities and student absences. Carver also communicates with parents by using the following parent notices: SchoolWay App, Facebook, Twitter, the outdoor marquee, personal telephone calls, handouts, weekly PTSA emails to parents, monthly school news letter (Wild cat Roar), written notices, announcements at special events and parent meetings, and 24-hour access to both the Carver sponsored website and the Carver parent sponsored website PT Avenue. Teachers also send Time Management (TM) / student planners home with students on a daily basis. The TM book contains information about daily class room assignments and homework assignments. Class specific progress reports are sent home on a quarterly basis and report cards are sent home in conjunction with the district's semester rotation schedule.
The academic progress of students will be communicated to parents by phone calls, mail, and e-mail as necessary to ensure that parents are informed when any concerns arise. Guidance Counselors will provide community resources on parenting topics.
3) MATERIALS AND TRAINING:
Carver will provide materials and training, to help parents work with their children to improve achievement. Teachers will provide parents with relevant web pages/ sites that contain all important information. The school marquee, weekly PTSA emails, monthly editions of the "WildcatRoar", "SchoolConnects" telephone messages, Facebook, Twitter, and "SchoolWay app text messages will be utilized to inform parents of the issuing dates for progress reports and semester report cards. Parents and teachers will also utilize the Time Management (TM) /student planner book to monitor daily classroom assignments and homework.
EDUCATE EDUCATORS
In conjunction with our PTSA office, Carver will also house items for parents to utilize as resources. The Parent Resource Center/PTSA office will house a collection of parenting books, informational flyers, and community resource information to provide parents with the tools necessary to help develop successful students. Carver will also provide professional development opportunities for faculty and staff to strengthen and enhance the "teacher/parent" relationship as well as strategies and techniques for parents to assist their children with learning activities at home that support and extend the school's instructional program.
5) ACTIVE PARENTS:
In many ways, parents are the most important teachers that their children will ever have. (Studies indicate that when parents are actively involved in their child's education, students perform better academically, are more disciplined and organized, and are more willing to and better able to communicate with their parents. At Carver, parents are encouraged to volunteer with athletics and student organizations, participate in school activities such as monthly PTSA Meetings, Falland Spring Musical Programs, Back-to-School Night, Parent/Teacher Conferences, and the Carver Foundation/Carver PTSA Fundraiser night (March-Madness/BBQ & Basketball, Jazz and Jeans/Denim, Diamonds & Diversity, etc.). Parents also have the option to volunteer to supervise during planned field-trips, school bookfairs, make copies and grade papers for teachers, mentor students, tutor students, monitor hallways, and manage the front desk of the Carver Library Media center.
6) FAMILIES-COMMUNITIES AS PARTNERS:
In following with the Tulsa Model, Carver takes great pride in building and maintaining community support with parents and members of our community. Through activities such as Back-to-School Night, March-Madness/BBQ & Basketball and/or Intercultural Evening sponsored by our PTSA association (school-wide dance, bingo, etc.), and other school functions, we continue to build our community relationships. In addition, we strive to have 100% participation in our PTSA. We also continue to maintain positive relations with our current Partners in Education-American Theatre Company, Inc., Greenwood Cultural Center, Petroleum SW Power, Masonic Lodge, Jordan Plaza, Hutcherson Family YMCA, First Baptist Church North Tulsa, Operation Hope Prison Ministry, and the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma.
7) ANNUAL TITLE I MEETING:
Carver will hold anannual Title I meeting to inform parents of "NoChildLeftBehind", Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), Supplemental Educational Services, academic achievement, state testing, Title I programs at Carver, school hours, uniform policy information, and the parents’ rights under Title I to be involved in the program.
8) INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS:
In order to promote positive and meaningful interaction between parents and staff, Carver will hold meetings throughout the school year at flexible and convenient times for parents. These meetings include, but are not limited to: Sixth-Grade Parent Student Academy, Back- to-School Night, Parent-Teacher Conferences, Open House Show case for prospective 5th and 6th grade students and their parents, monthly Parent-Teacher-Student-Association Meetings, and monthly Carver Foundation meetings.
Questions or Concerns
Please contact Parent Involvement Facilitator Nancy Casillas at (918) 925-1420 or email casilna@tulsaschools.org.