Parent and Family Engagement Plan

Holcomb Bridge Middle School 2024-25

Revised June 24, 2024

What is the Parent and Family Engagement Plan?

In support of strengthening student academic achievement, Holcomb Bridge Middle School receives Title I, Part A funds and therefore must jointly develop with, agree on with, and distribute to parents and family members of participating children a written parent and family engagement plan that contains information required by section 1116(b) and (c) of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The plan establishes the school’s expectations for parent and family engagement and describes how the school will implement many parent and family engagement activities, and it is incorporated into the school’s plan submitted to the local educational agency (LEA).

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Jointly Developed

Holcomb Bridge Middle School will take the following actions to involve parents in an organized, ongoing, and timely manner in the planning, review, and improvement of Title I programs, including opportunities for regular meetings, if requested by parents, to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their child and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible.

Our school believes that parents are to be involved in the development of The School Parent and Family Engagement Plan. Parents of Holcomb Bridge Middle School are encouraged to participate in the following to be involved in the planning, review, and improvement of parent and family engagement programs:

Collecting feedback and suggestions through our Annual School and Family Engagement Survey- last given March 2024
Gathering changes, suggestions and comments during the School and Family Input Meeting, conducted in March 2024 for this school year
Suggestions and comments are gathered and welcomed throughout the year during Parent University Workshops, emails, and teacher-parent conferences.

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HBMS School Parent and Family Engagement Plan

Holcomb Bridge Middle School agrees to implement the following requirements as outlined by Section 1116:

· Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of programs under Title I, Part A, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school parent and family engagement policy and the joint development of the schoolwide program plan under Section 1114(b) of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

· Update the school Parent and Family Engagement Plan periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school, distribute it to the parents of participating children, and make the Parent and Family Engagement Plan available to the local community. The plan will be posted to our school website, available in the Parent Resource Room and at the Annual Title I Meeting in the fall, as well as emailed to parents and family members in a language they can easily understand.

· Provide full opportunities, to the extent practicable, for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under Section 1111 of the ESSA in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.

· If the schoolwide program plan under Section 1114(b) of the ESSA is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, submit any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the local educational agency.

· Be governed by the following statutory definition of parent and family engagement and will carry out programs, activities, and procedures in accordance with this definition:

· Parent and Family Engagement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring:

Parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning.
Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school.
Parents are full partners in their child’s education and are included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child.
Other activities are carried out, such as those described in Section 1116 of the ESSA.

Annual Title I Meeting

Holcomb Bridge Middle School will take the following actions to conduct an Annual Title I Parent Meeting each school year, prior to November 1. The Annual Title I Parent Meeting is at a convenient time, and an invitation is extended to all parents of participating children to attend, informing them about the school’s Title I program, the nature of the Title I program, the parents’ requirements, the school Parent and Family Engagement Plan, the school wide plan, and the School-Family Compact.

Annual Title I Meeting

Date: September 12, 2024

Time: 5:30 PM

Location: HBMS Media Center

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Communications

Holcomb Bridge Middle School will take the following actions to provide parents with the following:

· Communicate with ALL families and community regarding Parent University events, meetings, and other activities in a timely manner and through the following: school website, weekly newsletter, social media, phone calls, emails, and School Website: https://www.fultonschools.org/holcombbridgems

· Share information in an understandable format and language to help parents understand pertinent school information.

· Provide Parent -Teacher Conferences, progress reports, report cards and Infinite Campus Parent Portal to allow a communication bridge for students’ academic progress.

· Offer flexible number of Parent Engagement workshops and Meetings in a timely manner. Meetings will be offered in different formats (such as online, in-person, or community visits) to reduce transportation barriers.

· Publish teachers’ email addresses on our website.

· Convenient hours of the Parent Resource Room for questions about their students, resources & materials, and volunteer opportunities.

· Child care may be available upon request. Transportation services may be available to families upon request.

Parent Resource Room

Monday – Friday/8:30 am -3:30 pm or by appointment

Contact: Maria Baron (bilingual/Spanish)

470-254-8427

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School-Family Compact

Holcomb Bridge Middle School will take the following actions to jointly develop with parents of participating children a School-Family Compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and how the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the state’s high standards.

As part of this plan, the compact will be reviewed and updated annually at the Title l Input Meetings based on feedback from parents, teachers and students. Parents are welcome to offer feedback at any time, the School-Family Compacts are kept with the Parent Resource Room, Counseling Office, School Website and Front Office, if parents need a copy in addition to copies that are emailed to parents annually.

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Reservation of Funds

HBMS will take the following actions to involve the parents of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parent and family engagement is spent by:

Holcomb Bridge Middle School will share with parents the budget for parent and family engagement activities and programs during the Spring Input Meeting each year. Parents are welcome to give their feedback and suggestions throughout the year for the reservation of funds. The funds are used for the following:

Materials/Resources for the Parent Resource Room & School.
Parent University Workshops/Meetings
Innovative Resources for Students
Employees: Literacy and Math Instructional Coaches

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Coordination of Services

HBMS will extend feasible and appropriate parent engagement programs, such as School Transition Nights for our rising 6th and 9th grade students; coordinating and integrating parent and family programs like Open House , Curriculum Night, PTA Spring Fling, and Fine Arts performances. We will work within programs offered at our school, such as AVID, as well as the state to offer college and career ready resources to both students and families.

These are just some activities with community partners that provide additional support and resources to families. See below for a full list of Parent Engagement Calendar of Events.

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Building Capacity of Parents

Holcomb Bridge Middle School will build the parents’ capacity for strong parent and family engagement to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school and the community to improve student academic achievement through the following:

· Providing parents with a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the academic assessments used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet. The FCS Curriculum Hub is also available to parents at this website: https://safari.fultonschools.org/PORTAL

· Provide parents with individual student assessment results and an explanation of how to interpret those results.

· Materials and training to help parents to work with their child to improve their child’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parent and family engagement.

· Aiding parents of participating children, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following:

· The Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE).

· The State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments.

· The requirements of Title I, Part A.

· How to monitor their child’s progress.

· How to work with educators to improve the achievement of their child.

The school offers many activities, such as Parent University Workshops/Events, Teacher-Parent Conferences, Infiite Campus Parent Portal, and free student agendas to support parents in helping their student’s academic success.

Holcomb Bridge will collaborate with PTA, community leaders, and business groups to increase participation and awareness of the school parent and family engagement plan and activities.

See below for a descriptive list of Parent University workshops, events, and meetings.

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Building Capacity of School Staff

Holcomb Bridge Middle School provides training to educate the teachers, support personnel, principal, and other staff regarding ways of communication with families, working with parents as equal partners, the value and utility of the contributions of parents, and how to implement and coordinate parent programs that will build better relations and partnerships between school and families.

Additionally, staff are supported to provide home-school communications in a language and format that parents can understand. The school staff will support and respond to requests for family engagement activities, including conferences and classroom observations.