I. Introduction

Research has shown that the attitudes, behavior and achievement of children are enhanced when parents or other caregivers are involved in their children’s education. To that end, our School has adopted this parent involvement policy in order to promote learning and provide a more positive learning experience for the students of the School.[1]

Parents who enroll their children in CWCS shall, through specific enrollment and curriculum contracts, accept responsibility for their children’s education. CWCS will support its students and parents with appropriate educational materials, and with a team of education specialists (credentialed teachers) and advisors. CWCS education specialists and advisors shall advise and assist parents and students in all aspects of student education pursuant to relevant contracts.

II. Annual Meeting

Each year the school has four parent council meetings. A meeting is held each quarter: September, December, March & May.

III. Notice

Within 30 days of the beginning of school, the School will provide a parent Handbook. It will provide the following:

Contact Information, Charter, Mission Statement, General Information: Educational Benefits, School Goals, Expected Schoolwide Learning Results (ESLR, WASC, Education Specialist, ES Advisor, Seven Growth Areas, Learning Records and Attendance, Learning Difficulties, Truancy, Funding, Curriculum, Student Admission, Assessment/Testing, Portfolios, Work Samples, Report Cards, Parent Evaluation Survey, Parent Support, Communication, Newsletters, Learning Centers, Guidance Counselor, Graduation, Contract Program Courses, Educational Activities, Approved Vendor List, School ID Cards, Yearbooks, Work Permits, Student Agreement Form, Assessment Confirmation Form, Parent Information Check off Sheet, and School Calendar.

The School will post this policy on its website.

IV. Program Involvement

In order to involve parents in an organized, ongoing and timely way, the School will involve parents of participating students as follows:

Ø The School will publish an online monthly Newsletter with notification of upcoming participation opportunities.

Ø The School will maintain a parent listserve with reminders of up coming events.

Ø The School’s Parent Council will assist in planning, reviewing and improving programs, the parent involvement policy and the schoolwide action plan. The Parent Council will meet 4 times a year (once per quarter) at the designated location and will be made up of 29 parent council members. Additionally, the Parent Council will be involved in decisions regarding parent involvement activities.

Ø All parents of the School are invited to attend Parent Council meetings where parents are able to formulate suggestions relating to the education of their children.

V. Building Capacity for Involvement

A. Standards, Assessments, Monitoring Progress and Improving Student Achievement

In order to ensure effective parental involvement and support a partnership among the School, parents and the community to improve student academic achievement, the School will provide the following programs to assist parents in understanding State academic content standards and State student academic achievement standards, State and local academic assessments, and how to monitor their child’s progress and work with their Education Specialist (ES) to improve the academic achievement of their children:

Ø The School will regularly publish in its Newsletter, and/or on its website, descriptions and explanations of State academic content standards and State student academic achievement standards, State and local academic assessments, and how to monitor their child’s progress and work with their ES to improve the academic achievement of their children.

Ø Regular meetings will be held at the School, at community libraries and/or parent volunteer homes to discuss how parents can work with their ES to improve their child’s academic achievement.

Ø The School will hold Family Math and Science nights to introduce parents to the School’s curriculum and it’s correlation to the State’s academic content standards and academic achievement standards.

Ø Parents will be invited to attend regular classes to learn about State and local academic assessments and to take sample tests.

Ø At the beginning of each school year, the ES and parent will develop personalized learning plans for each student and review them each year with each student’s parent. The ES will also review with parents each student’s personalized learning plan at the conclusion of each year to measure progress and success in meeting the goals.

Ø On the School’s website, it will provide a link to its School Accountability Report Card on the California Department of Education’s website.

B. Helping Parents to Work with their Children

In an effort to foster parental involvement, the School will provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement.

C. Education on Parent Involvement

The School will annually educate teachers, pupil services personnel, executive director and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and the School. The training shall take place each year in staff orientations, annual staff development materials and other in-service trainings held throughout the school year.

[1] Within this policy, the word “parent” is employed. This word is intended to reach any caregiver of students enrolled in the School, including but not limited to, parents, guardians, grandparents, aunts, uncles, foster parents, stepparents, etc.