SPAC News Letter

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) created the Title I State Parent Advisory Council (SPAC) in 1990. SPAC includes parents of children participating in Title I. The purpose of this council is to share ideas with the Division of Federal Programs about involving Title I parents to increase student achievement. SPAC parents advise PDE on many aspects of Parent and Family Engagement-from working with children at home to developing partnerships among parents, teachers, administrators, and community leaders to create effective and engaging parent involvement programs.

SPAC Has Three Main Goals:

• To give parents the skills and knowledge to become advocates for Title I children.

• To distribute information and share ideas that will increase parent participation in Title I programs.

• To identify successful parent involvement programs that can become models for schools with limited parent involvement.

SPAC accomplishes these goals through these major activities:

• An annual Title I parent training conference.
• A statewide parent resource center.
• Visits to Title I schools that request assistance in increasing parent involvement.

The resource center has a large selection of parent resource materials that provide concise and up-to-date information on topics that affect children, teenagers, and their families.

Title I parents are welcome to request a single copy of up to ten free booklets that might help them to discuss important issues with their children.

All you have to do is complete the order form (English/Spanish) and mail it to us, or your school can collect the requests and send them in one envelope. We will fill the orders and mail them to parents individually.

In addition to supporting student achievement, informing parents about the resource center will help you to comply with the Parent and Family Engagement section of PDE’s Title I monitoring instrument.

For more information, please contact Carrie McComb using the contact information provided below.

Email: carrie.mccomb@miu4.org
Website: www.spac.k12.pa.us
Phone: (724) 458 - 6700

Parent and Family Engagement (PIE) consultants will visit LEAs that express an interest in going to the next level to expand meaningful Parent and Family Engagement in their schools. (For Free)

The purpose of the Parent Involvement in Education (PIE) Consultant technical assistance visit is to provide support to LEAs that want to;

• Better Engage parents/families in the child’s education,

• Build collaboration between parents/family leadership,

• Understanding Title IA laws and regulations for parent and family engagement and/or,

• Expand and gain a more in-depth understanding of meaningful parent and family engagement.

Use the link below to access the Technical Assistance Visit Form.

Marshmallow Bunnies

Ingredients (makes 12):

• 6 pink marshmallows
• 6 white marshmallows
• 9 pink mini marshmallows
• 9 white mini marshmallows
• black and pink edible marker pens
• tubes of pink and white writing icing

Using the edible marker pens: Draw the eyes, cheeks, and nose. With the writing icing you can stick the bunnies ears on. 🐰

• Fly a kite
  
• Look for four-leaf clovers
  
• Jump in puddles
  
• Get dirt under your fingernails
  
• Blow bubbles
  
• Climb a tree
  
• Find a playground and swing on the swings
  
• Feed the ducks at a pond
  
• Wade in a creek
  
• Draw pictures on the sidewalk with chalk
  
• Skip stones across a pond
  
• Plan a kid-friendly spring break vacation
• Pick dandelions
  
• Play frisbee
  
• Craft a fairy garden
  
• Have an Easter Egg Hunt
  

Here's a way to turn your child’s favorite TV show into an opportunity to practice math skills.

During the program, have your child keep track of the number of minutes used for commercials. Next, have your student compare that number to the number of minutes spent on the program. Which is greater? Then, help your child make a bar graph to show the results.

To extend the practice, have your elementary schooler watch a program aimed at children and compare the results with a graph of a program aimed at adults that you choose.

Players look for license plates from U.S. states and check them off the list. Each player must call out the plate in order to get credit for it. Another player may not use the same license plate. After a designated period of time, such as an hour, the player with the most states wins. You could even add extra points for knowing the abbreviation or the State capital.

The State Parent Advisory Council is comprised of volunteers from across the state of Pennsylvania. One of the many important responsibility of SPAC is to promote Parent and Family Engagement in schools across the state.

What is your favorite part of being in SPAC?

Learning new things that help me help my child and school!

What made you want to join SPAC?

To be a representative for the smaller schools! Letting them know their voice is as important as the bigger school districts in the commonwealth.

What was your favorite subject in school?

English

What are your hobbies?

Reading