Purpose of this Policy and Compact

Efforts will be made to clearly articulate the school’s intentions to engage with and involve parents/caregivers in the educational process.

Bucknell Elementary is a Title I school within Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and utilizes the Title I grant to improve student achievement and help all students meet the objectives of the FCPS Program of Studies and the Virginia Standards of Learning. A partnership with families is essential to meeting this goal. 

Under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, schools that receive Title I funds are expected to collaborate with families to develop and maintain a parent and family engagement policy that describes the school’s approach to involving families in students’ learning and includes a compact expressing the partnerships among staff, caregivers, and students to reach high academic goals for every student. 

Bucknell Elementary jointly developed this policy and compact with members of the school community and adopted it for the 2024-2025 school year. A number of the provisions specifically address state or federal expectations for the policy and compact. 

This policy and compact is distributed to all caregivers in a language that families can understand. Caregivers have opportunities to provide comments and feedback on the policy and compact through the Parent Liaison’s Office or with an administrator. Comments are submitted with the school’s policy and compact to FCPS central offices and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). This policy and compact are made available to the broader school community through the school website.

Important Dates

Parent-Teacher Conferences

• September and October 2024 additional dates, as needed.

School Family Engagement Events

• August 2024 - Kindergarten Play Dates 
• August 2024 - Welcome Walk 
• August 2024 - Back to Bucknell/Open House
• September 2024- Back to School Night
• September 2024 – Welcome to Bucknell for New Families
• Monthly (TBD) - Principal/Parent Virtual Coffees

Family Instructional Spotlight Events

• Quarterly Family Instructional Spotlight (Content/ Dates TBD)

Building Capacity for Involvement

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers are actively involved in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the school’s Title I program, including the following:

• Provide family members a voice in decision-making through Parent/Principal coffees and PTA committees.
• Engage caregiver input when developing the School Improvement & Innovation Plan (SIIP), Title I Schoolwide Plan, the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Compact, and plans to use Title I family engagement funding.
• Seek feedback from families on programs within the Title I Schoolwide Plan, offer multiple methods for caregivers to submit comments about programs they may not find satisfactory, and submit any such comments with the Title I Schoolwide Plan to FCPS central offices.
• Invite family members to help organize and execute various school events to build collective ownership, such as the 2024-2025 Family Instructional Spotlight Events.
• Provide opportunities for caregivers to volunteer within the school in various ways, such as Family Engagement Events, Family Instructional Spotlight Events, Classrooms, and the library.
• Encourage families to take part in the annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the division-level Title I parent and family engagement policy to identify:
  • barriers to greater family participation,
  • ways to help family members be better able to assist in student learning and
  • strategies to support successful school and family interactions.

Effective Communication with Parents

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers receive meaningful communication in a timely manner, including the following:

• Use multiple methods of communication with families, such as Thursday folders (backpack distribution), Instagram, Talking Points, News You Choose, enotify, and parent conferences.
• Encourage all caregivers to attend an annual meeting in September 2024 during Back to School Night in the Gym to share information about Title I services, explain Title I grant requirements, and inform families of their right to be involved in the school.
• Share school and student performance data with families through parent conferences, annual meetings, and principal coffees to seek their ideas about improving performance toward Virginia’s challenging academic standards.
• Provide opportunities throughout the year for families to better understand the school’s goals for students and find ways to improve student learning by attending Principal Parent Coffee Meetings and Family Instructional Spotlight Nights.
• Maintain resources for caregivers to review student assignments and ongoing communication about student work, such as parent conferences, Thursday folders, and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings.
• Provide ongoing feedback on student progress through quarterly interims and progress reports that show specific areas of proficiency and areas for continued growth.
• Hold parent-teacher conferences for all students at least annually in the fall and more often as needed.

Shared Responsibilities for High Academic Achievement

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers receive materials, training, and benefits from school partnerships with social and academic services, community-based organizations, and businesses, including the following:

• Hold family engagement events connecting caregivers to tools and resources, such as Home SchoolPartnership, Attendance, School Resources, and Curriculum (the science of reading and math instructional practices).
• Offer regular opportunities for families to learn directly from school staff about the school’sacademic, behavioral, and social programming through Family Instructional Spotlight Events (Literacy, Math, and English Learners).
• Encourage participation in family learning events where caregivers learn strategies to support their child’s learning at home and have a chance to practice those strategies with their child.
• Provide ongoing access to resources in the school, such as the Parent Liaison’s office, which has books, technology, and postings on learning opportunities provided by the Parent Resource Center
• Provide opportunities to donate or volunteer for programs so families can access supplies donated by others, such as school supplies, winter coats, and weekend food packages.
• Leverage partnerships with local businesses and organizations to enhance school programs and events, such as donations of school materials, school events, and other supplies.
• Support parents in accessing county and community resources, such as health care and counseling, with the support of the school social worker and parent liaison.
• Offer outreach and training for targeted families, such as Special Education Parent Support Group and New Families.

Welcoming All Families

Efforts will be made to ensure that all parents/caregivers are welcomed and provided opportunities to actively engage within the school, including the following:

• Create a welcoming atmosphere at the school with friendly faculty and staff and support in multiple languages.
• Provide interpretation services for parent-teacher conferences, workshops, and meetings.
• Translate or provide interpretation of all school documents and communication to make them accessible in the caregiver’s preferred correspondence language and for those with vision or hearing impairments.
• Support two-way communication between families and staff through the assistance of a parent liaison for conferences, workshops, and meetings.
• Expand access for family participation in informational meetings and learning sessions by offering a variety of meeting times and childcare for select events.

Compact Provisions

School staff, parents/caregivers, and students must work together to ensure a student's success.

The staff will:

Provide a high-quality curriculum and instruction that enables students to meet challenging academic standards through the following actions:

• Teach all students according to the state’s challenging standards, using approved curriculum resources.
• Provide ongoing professional development and support to all teachers to ensure effective instructional practices are used in all classrooms.
• Determine and implement systemic, timely, and directive interventions impacting student achievement.
• Examine policies, practices, and procedures to assess their impact on learning.

Provide a supportive and effective learning environment for students through the following actions:

• Responsive Classroom schoolwide implementation.
• Provide clear expectations for student behavior and academic learning.
• Offer various tiered support and resources to support students with their learning.
• Recognize students’ individual strengths/interests and plan accordingly.

Provide assistance to caregivers in understanding the school’s program through the following actions:

• Hold an annual meeting to present information on the school’s Title I programs, state and division curriculum and assessments, and the school’s state and federal accountability status.
• Provide multiple opportunities for caregivers to ask questions and give input into the Title I programs.
• Two-way communication to inform parents and build partnerships with families.
• Facilitate parent-teacher events and other school-related functions

Build caregivers’ involvement in the school’s Title I program through the following actions:

• Include caregivers as members of the School Improvement Planning (SIP) Committee and as collaborators in developing the Title I Schoolwide Plan and plans for using Title I family engagement funds.
• Create opportunities for parental involvement and seek out parent participation.

The parents/caregivers will:

Demonstrate understanding that participation in my child’s education will help his or her achievement through the following actions:

• Participate in decisions related to school programs and my child’s education and share my questions or
  comments about the programs in my child’s school.
• Volunteer in my child’s classroom or school activities, as my schedule allows.
• Encourage and support my child’s learning at home and school.
• Communication with my child’s teacher regularly.
• Ensure my child attends school regularly.

The student will:

Share the responsibility to improve my academic learning to achieve the state’s challenging standards through the following actions:

• Get enough sleep every night.
• Come to school on time unless I am sick.
• Try my hardest and collaborate with my classmates to complete learning tasks.
• Be a respectful citizen in class to create a learning space where all students are reading to learn and feel safe.
• Give my parents all notes and papers from my teacher.