District Parent Involvement Policy

Feedback and opinions are important as the district administers Lexington Four’s Title I Parent Involvement Policy developed by parents, community members, and educators. Please send any comments and/or suggestions to:

Leslie Hightower
Federal & State Programs Director
Lexington School District Four
607 E 5th Street, Swansea, SC 29160
(803) 490-7000 ext 10015
Email Leslie Hightower
 

2023-2024 Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy Lexington Four Early Childhood Center and Sandhills Primary School

Recognizing that the parent is the child’s first teacher, Lexington Four Early Childhood Center and Sandhills Primary School encourage parent and family engagement at all levels of its operations.   Lexington Four Early Childhood Center and Sandhills Primary abide by the Title One regulations for parent and family engagement which include:

Involve parents and family members in the joint development of the LEA plan and the process of school review and improvement.

  • Collaborate with community stakeholders at all levels of district and school strategic planning through School Improvement Councils, Title I planning committees, etc.;

  • Present Title I program/activities at board meetings;

  • School-wide plans are also presented to parents at an annual Title I meeting each year.

 Provide coordination, technical assistance, and support to schools for effective parent and family engagement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance.

  • Not less than 1% of the Title 1 allocation will be reserved for parent and family engagement activities including family literacy and parenting skills;

  • Not less than 90% of the funds reserved for parent and family engagement shall be distributed to schools and used for activities such as parent education workshops and home visits;

  • Implement a school counselor program in order to provide services such as individual and group counseling; home visits; provision of resources; character education; and career education programs;

  • Instructional coaches coordinate and conduct interactive literacy activities at Title I schools;

  • Provide a safe learning environment;

 Build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parent and family engagement.

  • Volunteer/mentor programs are supported in all Title I schools;

  • Parents are invited to observe in classrooms during instructional time;

  • Student intervention teams (SIT) identify at-risk behavior at an early stage and begin intervention through the efforts of parents, teachers, school counselor, and student;

  • Implement “Good Attendance” incentives

 Coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement under this program with parent and family engagement strategies under other programs, such as Head Start, Reading First, Even Start, etc.

  • Early Childhood coordinator provides information to parents concerning First Steps, CERDEP, and family literacy programs at the Title I schools.

 Conduct, with the involvement of parents and family members, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parent and family engagement policy that will determine the effectiveness of the present policy and any barriers to participation in the parenting activities.

  • Solicit comments from parents regarding parent involvement policy through an annual survey;

  • Provide final parent involvement policy to parents;

  • Seek input from District Title I Planning committee on the parent involvement policy.

 Use such finding from the evaluation to design strategies for school improvement and revise, if necessary, the LEA and school parent and family engagement policies.

  • School-wide planning teams review the school-wide plans and provide input into revisions, additions, and deletions for activities and budget;

  • Findings from the school’s annual needs assessment will be utilized to revise the policy;

 Involve parents and family members in the activities of schools served under Title I, Part A.

  • Schedule fall and spring parent-teacher conferences 

  • Provide interpreters/translators as needed at workshops/conferences;

  • Provide free childcare for parenting workshops as needed;

  • Provide monthly parenting workshops at a variety of times to accommodate parents’ schedules;

  • School website and social media sites are updated monthly with highlights from parenting workshops;

  • “Learning at the Hands of Our Children” program will be provided once a year per grade level;

  • Encourage two-way communication between home and school through weekly classroom newsletters, monthly school newsletters, teacher webpages, e-mail, phone calls, automated messaging system, parent conferences, etc.