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 Connecting Waters Charter School (CWCS).[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 CWCS 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, CWCS will provide a Parent/Student Handbook. It will provide the following:

Contact Information, Mission Statement, Charter, Parent Involvement Policy, Independent Study Policy, Student Behavior Policy, Assessment Confirmation Form, Student Agreement Form, Internet/Computer System Agreement, Parent Information Check Off Sheet, General Information: Academic Probation, Approved Vendor List, Assessment /Testing, Attendance and Learning Records, Career Planning, Cheating and Plagiarism, Communication, Concurrent/Dual Enrollment, Contract Program Courses, Curriculum, Education Specialist, Education Specialist Advisor, Educational Activities, Educational Benefits, Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, Elluminate Code of Conduct Policy, Funding, Graduation, Learning Centers, Learning Challenges, Newsletters, Parent Education Certification, Parent Evaluation Survey, Parent Support, Portfolios, Report Cards, School Counselor, School Goals, School ID Cards, School Policies, Student Admission, Student Dress Code, Student Evaluation Survey, Surpass, Suspension and Expulsion, Truancy, Visiting Other School campuses, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), Work Permits, Yearbooks, and the 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, CWCS will involve parents of participating students as follows:

Ø CWCS will publish an online monthly newsletter with notification of upcoming participation opportunities.

Ø CWCS will maintain a parent listserve with reminders of upcoming events.

Ø CWCS’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 four (4) times a year (once per quarter) at the designated location and will be made up of 22 parent council members. Additionally, the Parent Council will be involved in decisions regarding parent involvement activities.

Ø All parents of CWCS 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 CWCS, parents and the community to improve student academic achievement, CWCS 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 CWCS 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 Meetings will be held to discuss how parents can work with their ES to improve their child’s academic achievement.

Ø CWCS will periodically hold family math and science nights to introduce parents to CWCS’s curriculum and it’s correlation to the State’s academic content standards and academic achievement standards.

Ø Parents will be invited to attend workshops to learn about State and local academic assessments.

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 CWCS’s website, a link is provided 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, CWCS will provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement.

C. Education on Parent Involvement

CWCS 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 CWCS. 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 CWCS, including but not limited to, parents, guardians, grandparents, aunts, uncles, foster parents, stepparents, etc.