One Year Action Plan Focus on Parenting

Indian Hills Junior High West Des Moines Schools

By Natalie French April 2013

One Year Action Plan

Natalie French

Parenting - Assist families with parenting skills and setting home conditions to support children as students, and assist schools to understand families.
Goal Statement: Build understanding among parents and teachers and provide parents with the resources to support their children as developing students. Activities NEEDS ASSESSMENT: Inventory of School and Family Partnerships Review data from Inventory of School and Family Partnerships survey and decide on focus area for the school year Meet my child letter writing activity Personnel Teachers, Parents, Building Leadership Team Building Leadership Team Timeline End of current school year, May 2013 June 1st, 2013 Morning committee meeting August 2013 Resources www.iowaparents.org Inventory Inventory results, Ten Truths of Parental Involvement Letter template document Business support Existing compact, Making the most of School-Family Compacts Completed revised compact Middle School Characteristics, PBIS

Teachers, Parents, Building Leadership Team All staff and families Administration, teacher team, parents, students Administration, teacher team, parents Administration, Counselors, Parents,

Back to School Night Parent University and Health Fair Revise Title I Compact

August 2013 September 2013

Share Compact with the Parent Advisory Committee 6th Grade Transition/Parent Information Meeting

October and November 2013 End of February 2014

7th Grade Transition/Parent Information Meeting Monthly School Newsletter with tips and opportunities for online discussions

Students Counselor, Psychologist, Administrations First Monday of every month

Presentation Various

Needs Assessment
Personnel: Teachers, Parents, Building Leadership Team Timeline: End of current school year, May 2013 Resources: www.iowaparents.org Inventory Details: Prior to the end of the school year, a digital survey on survey monkey will be sent home to all families with email addresses on file and a paper copy of the survey will be sent home to all families without email. In addition all staff members will complete the survey at the start of their collaboration time on Wednesday, May 15 th. The survey is modeled from the Inventory available on the www.iowaparents.org website. The results of the survey will be compiled and evaluated at the final building leadership team committee meeting the last week of school. Over the summer administration will finalize the one year action plan based off of the survey results.

Data Review
Personnel: Building Leadership Team Timeline: June 1st, 2013 - Morning committee meeting Resources: Inventory results, Ten Truths of Parental Involvement Details: As a building leadership team, the committee will review the data from the Inventory of School and Family Partnerships survey and decide on a focus area for the upcoming school year. The needs assessment indicated a need for increased communication between home and school and a request by parents for assistance in understanding the changes taking place in young adolescents and how to support their schooling at home. Based on these results the administration is designing a plan for assisting families with parenting.

Meet My Child Letter Writing Activity

Personnel: Teachers, Parents, Building Leadership Team Timeline: August 2013 Resources: Letter Template and Information Handout

Details: Because we value the parents as experts on their child, their first task before school begins would be to write a letter of introduction to their students homeroom teacher sharing information about their child as a person and as a student. Homeroom teachers will then be able to share this information with their team when they meet for team plan. The idea is not to look for risk factors or potential problems, rather to begin to get to know each student and build a connection with them so that they know an adult in the school building. Students identified as at-risk and English Language Learners may complete this task with their resource teacher during a home visit, or they have the option of writing the letter in their native language.

Back to School Night

Personnel: All staff, students and families Timeline: Monday, August 19, 2013 Resources: Local support from the Clive Chamber of Commerce, Mercy Medical Center West, and YMCA of Greater Des Moines Details: From 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday evening, an activities and health fair, and parent university will take place at the school in conjunction with their back to school night. From 5:30-7:00 p.m. pizza, fruit, cookies, water, and lemonade will be available complimentary to all students and their families in the student center. There will also be information booths from the YMCA, Clive Public Library, West Des Moines Public Library, and West Des Moines Community Education. Finally there will be student representation from the Student Council, Intramurals, Drama Club, Bike Club, Math Counts, After the Bell Homework Club, 8th Grade Athletics, Show Choir, and Jazz Band. Health services will be provided as well from 5:00-8:00. Students will be able to complete a physical, receive immunizations, and dental screenings if needed. Health personnel will also be available to answer questions and help families complete forms for health and/or dental insurance if needed. From 6:00-7:00 teachers will also be in their rooms for students to visit and meet. Beginning at 7:00 p.m. parents and students will be able to attend two different informational sessions, one from 7:00-7:40 and from 7:50-8:30. Childcare will be available during this time for younger siblings by high school students working for silver cord hours. 7:00-7:40 Sessions 1. Navigating Infinite Campus how to logon, how to access student information, how to use information to support students learning and communicate with student ( Teacher Technology Leaders, Computer Lab) 2. Characteristics of Middle School Students what to expect in terms of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social development from your young adolescent and how to help them be a successful student despite changes in growth and development (Counselors, Chorus Room) 3. Reading Strategies how to support your students literacy development for both the struggling and advanced reader (Reading Resource Teachers, Media Center)

4. ELL Support Systems Part 1 specifically for ELL families, how to navigate the school and district website, how to translate the websites, what to do if student is absent or tardy, how to get homework help, what services are available through the school and community (ELL Teachers, ESL Room) 7:50-8:30 Sessions 1. Balancing Academics and Extra Curricular Activities specifically for 8th grade students involved in multiple extracurricular activities, how to balance school work, activities, and appropriate social time with family and friends (Coaches, Directors and Associate Principal in Auditorium ) 2. Characteristics of Middle School Students what to expect in terms of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social development from your young adolescent and how to help them be a successful student despite changes in growth and development (Counselors, Chorus Room) 3. Homework Helper what to expect for middle school homework, where to go to get help, resources for your student online and in person, how grading works, emphasis on learning ( After the Bell Teachers, Media Center) 4. ELL Support Systems Part 2 specifically for ELL families, how to navigate the school and district website, how to translate the websites, what to do if student is absent or tardy, how to get homework help, what services are available through the school and community (ELL Teachers, ESL Room)

Revise Title I Compact

Personnel: Administration, teacher team, parents, students Timeline: September 2013 Resources: Existing Title I Compact, Making the most of School-Family Compacts Details: In order to communicate a common set of expectations among staff, students, and parents, a committee will be put together from volunteers, with all stakeholders represented, to review and revise the existing school compact. Since we are a Title I school, we currently have a compact written addressing what is expected from each of these groups. The value in the compact comes from the discussion and the authentic conversation about what each groups expects from one another. Therefore, in the process of reviewing and making revisions to the compact, that conversation can take place. As a committee the document would also be edited to align more closely with our CSIP goals of improving student reading scores. In our conversation we would talk about what the data has shown and what are specific doable strategies that parents and students can do to work on improving reading.

Share Compact with Parent Advisory Group

Personnel: Administration, teacher team, parents Timeline: October 2013 Resources: Revised Compact Details: The compact would be presented at the October Parental Advisory Committee meeting and at the Clive Chamber of Commerce meeting. Our principal has been building a partnership with the city of Clive this year, so it is important to keep the community members abreast of what is happening at the school. The compact would be revisited at the transition meetings in the spring and reviewed and discussed as part of staff professional development and collaboration. Finally copies of the compact would be available online, at conferences, and in the school for people to take.

6th and 7th Grade Transition/Parent Meetings

Personnel: Administration, Counselors, Parents, Students Timeline: End of February 2014 Resources: Characteristics of Middle School Students PPT Details: The last major events of the year are the annual transition meetings. There are two separate meetings, one for students in 6th grade moving into the building to attend 7 th grade, and existing 7th grade students in the building who will be transitioning to 8th grade. At these meetings the administrative team shares the school schedule, school processes and procedures, whats similar to the year before and what change, as well as expectations from students in terms of being respectful, responsible and ready. The revised compact would also be available along with more information about the developmental changes of middle school students. The purpose of the meeting is to ensure a smooth transition and to ensure that parents know the school is looking out for their students safety and success. At this meeting the administration is not asking for parents to sign up to volunteer and be a part of school activities, rather they are asking for understanding and support from home.

Monthly School Newsletter and Online Discussion

Personnel: Counselor, Psychologist, Administration Timeline: First Monday of every month Resources: Various Details: A monthly e-newsletter will be sent home with a different focus area each month. The staff will take turns participating in the writing of the newsletter. Copies will be made available for families without internet access or email addresses. The focuses each month will be as follows:

September: Family Routines October: The Purpose and Practice of Homework November: The Iowa Core December: Systems of Support at School and in the Community January: Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports February: Careers and Future Planning March: Internet Safety April: Parent/School Relationships May: Summer Programs and the Benefits of Extra Curricular Activities The e-newsletter will also have a discussion board component that will be monitored by the counselor, allowing parents to post comments, questions, and concerns under a screen name, as well as respond to the posts by other parents creating a network of support. Needs Assessment

Ten Truths of Parental Involvement

Parent Introduction Letter Sample Handout

School-Family Compact

School-Family Compact Article May 2011 | Volume 68 | Number 8 Schools, Families, Communities Pages 48-53

Making the Most of School-Family Compacts

Anne T. Henderson, Judy Carson, Patti Avallone and Melissa Whipple

Field Based Learning Assignment Reflection

The idea of a Parent and Community Involvement Plan or Project was at first very broad and overwhelming. There is a large variety in what is expected and what is received in terms of Parental involvement depending on the grade level and even type of school or location of the district. In looking at the needs of the district where I teach, I know we have an active parent advisory committee, and consistent family involvement. However I also know that our student population is changing and there is an increasing number of inactive, disconnected families, not necessarily by choice, but due to circumstance. I originally intended to do a broad three year plan focusing on all three types of involvement, but after talking with my principal/mentor about what changes will be taking place with our own model of parent and community involvement, I thought it might be more practical to address some of the ideas he proposed and to flush them out, to some extent, into a one year action plan.

My focus in the one year action plan was to hone in on some specific tools and events that would allow parents and families to connect, interact with one another, with school staff, and members of the community. I understand everyones schedule quickly fills up, especially when managing the schedule for a family of 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7+. As a school I wanted to ensure that we honor our families time and other commitments. Because of this there are only two major events planned, one a semester, that require actual participation at the school. The other portions of my action plan are done through communication networks, and voluntary parent groups. There were two parts of this project that I really enjoyed. The first was outlining a plan that was detailed enough to follow and implement, but still open enough where it can be edited and adopted to fit the needs of an individual building or entire district. The second part I enjoyed was viewing sample Pecha Kucha presentations and working on creating my own. The quick transitions between slides forced me to be succinct in what I was communicating to our class. As I began the presentation, I worked to simplify my ten page plan and resources down to 20 slides with 20 seconds. After several rough drafts I realized that I needed to first communicate my goal in my plan, why we are focusing on this initiative, and then provide enough details to get a big picture of what the plan entails and to hold audience interest. It was a challenge to then find images that represented the content of my presentation to accompany my dialog. Finally in presenting my Pecha Kucha I worked to have a (one-sided) conversation with the audience and to not simply lecture. It took me about 16 hours to complete this project, including the time it took to narrow my focus, sort through all of our resources from class, blackboard, and the iowaparents.org website, outline and flush out my plan, and then create, practice, and record my presentation. In completing my action plan, I used many of our online resources,

information that Id previously read about in ASCD and Middle Ground, experiences in my own school building in regards to transition night, and back to school, and I had several conversations with my principal about schoolcommunity partnerships. Id also had the opportunity to attend the district community education committee meeting. Drawing from all of those experiences and conversations with supervisors, colleagues, and parents helped me maintain a big picture view when creating my action plan.