January 2025

Welcome Back!! As we step into this new year, we want to take a moment to express how thankful we are for our parents. Your support and commitment to your student's success is appreciated. We look forward to having an amazing year.

There are many ways to encourage your student:

Set clear goals: Establish attainable goals that students can work towards

Give praise: Acknowledge their efforts and specific achievements with compliments.

Positive reinforcement: Use rewards or small incentives to motivate students.

Active listening: Pay attention to their concerns and actively listen to their feedback.

Celebrate successes: Recognize and acknowledge their accomplishments, big or small.

Parents are an important part of the Title I team and are partners with the school in helping their to child’s achieve. As the parent of a student in a Title I school, you have the right to:

· Be engaged in planning and implementation of the parent and family engagement policy and program in your child’s school

· Ask to see the school and your child’s progress reports

· Request information about the professional qualifications or your child’s teacher(s) and/or paraprofessional(s) including degrees and certification held, and whether the teacher is certified in their respective area of instruction

· Help decide if Title I is meeting your child’s needs and offer suggestions for improvement

· Ask about your child’s school designation under the Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA),Title I, Part A

· Know if your child has been assigned or has been taught for 4 or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet applicable state certification, licensure requirements, or district requirements for certification

· Help develop your school’s policy for how parents and schools work together to promote student achievement

In December, JRE began our Leader in Me journey. Our students worked through modules on Goal Setting. Students created personal and academic goals for themselves. Here is a resource to help explain that process.

In January, our students will begin learning about the "5 Paradigms" of the Leader in Me program and the "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Family partnership is a vital component of a Leader in Me school.

In this section, you will find a week by week school to home connection activity that can be done for each week of January!

Try these activities during the assigned week to engage in the Leader in Me work at JRE! Select the appropriate grade level for activities. While activities are similar in theme per grade level, the vocabulary of the activity or the discussion element will vary.

• PreK
• K
• 1st
• 2nd
• 3rd
• 4th
• 5th

All Title I schools in GSCS are school-wide programs. This means that school staff work to improve instruction in an effort to increase student achievement, for all students, particularly those students who are low achieving or performing below grade level expectations. In a school-wide Title I program all students can benefit from extra support or services to meet their educational goals. Title I schools in GSCS are responsible for the following actions:

· Involve parents in the planning, review, and improvement of Title I programs, including the parent and family engagement policy.

· Develop jointly, with parents, a school-parent-student compact focused on academic achievement.

· Inform parents in an understandable language and format.

· Offer parent meetings at various times and in various formats.

· Provide information to parents about state standards, curriculum, and assessments and how parents can monitor student progress.

· Build parent capacity by coordinating and integrating parent programs and activities with other federal , state, and local programs.

Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) are defined as school districts, county offices of education, and district-funded charter schools that are responsible for the following actions:

• Plan and implement educational programs, activates, and procedures aa required under Title I that engages parents.
• Reserve 1% of Title I funds for parent and family engagement activities if the LEA receives more than $500,000.
• Develop a family and parent engagement policy with the participation of parents..
• Conduct an annual evaluation of the parent and family engagement policy and implement changes based upon the findings of the evaluation.
• Build parent capacity by providing literacy and technology trainings for parents
• Build capacity of school staff by providing resources to assist staff in communicating with parents to promote student success
• Provide full opportunities for participation of parents with limited English proficiency, disabilities, of migratory children and when appropriate , in a language and format that they can understand

Did you know that the Griffin-Spalding County School System also has a Parent Resource Center? Find hands on activities, books and brochures for your student in our District Parent Resource Center. The center is designed to provide educational resources for parents to help your student succeed academically. Parents can also find computers with internet access at the center. The best part is resources are FREE! You can find the Parent Resource Center located in the Parent Services Building, Room 121 on 234 E. Taylor Street, Griffin, GA 30224. If you would like more information or want to make an appointment, please contact LaJuana Love at 770-229-3700, ext 10321 or at Lajuana.love@gscs.org.

At JRE, we have several resources that are available for families to check out and use! Contact April Kisner at 770-229-3717 or april.kisner@gscs.org for more information.