Anna Murray Douglass Academy, School #12 - Parent Involvement Plan 2022-2023

Vision: Parents are their children’s first and most important teachers. Research tells us that parent involvement significantly increases student development and achievement. When schools welcome families, foster relationships among them and staff, help parents understand how the school system works, and encourage family-staff collaboration to improve student achievement, students improve in their learning and school communities are stronger.

Anna Murray Douglass-Academy, School 12 will work as partners with our families to help ALL students reach their learning potential. Our school encourages families to be:

• teachers of their children at home
• supporters of our school and of public education
• advocates for their own and other children
• decision makers in school policy and practice.

Anna Murray-Douglass Academy, School 12 makes these commitments:

• We commit to building a welcoming school community that is inclusive and safe by respecting, supporting and honoring all students, staff, families, and community members.
• We commit to providing quality, historically accurate education to all scholars by designing our instruction that is representative of diverse cultures and needs.
• We commit to creating an environment that fosters critical thinkers and active learners through challenging, engaging, relevant and differentiated learning opportunities.
• We commit to giving students and families the authority to drive and shape their own learning and participate in decision making throughout the school year.

To meet these goals and remain family-friendly, our school will provide the following. (Please note that changes may occur in some of these areas and events due to safety issues, like covid.)

1. A welcoming environment where:
   • Friendly signs welcome visitors; the office is clearly marked
   • Visitors and callers are greeted politely, in a timely fashion, and can receive information easily; This standard of welcoming behavior applies to all staff.
   • The Front Atrium is available for socializing with other parents or eating lunch with a scholar, etc. (Available as safety allows for visitors.)
   • School 12 holds a Welcome Back Orientation for key grade levels and a whole school Open House at the start of the school year.
   • Administrators and teachers provide opportunities for family engagement within the school community and classroom.
2. Programs and activities to engage families in improving student achievement by:
   • Proudly displaying current student work throughout the building for visitors to experience what our scholars are learning.
   • Presenting Title I school events to help families understand what their children are learning and promote high standards.
   • Ensuring the academic concerns of all subgroups and cultures are addressed by teachers and staff collectively with families.
   • Ensuring information about programs and events are posted on the Parent Bulletin Board and sent home to families.
   • Communicating student progress to families and how teachers, parents and members of the community can work together to make school improvements.
3. An environment to foster strong relationships between teachers and students by:
   • Welcoming new families, offering tours, and introducing them to staff and other families. Language interpreters will be made available to help families who need them.
   • Providing opportunities where teachers and families can meet face-to–face and build relationships through open houses, parent-teacher conferences, and special events.
   • Assuring teachers make personal contact, whether in person, a phone call or a note home, at least once a month.
   • Providing a Parent Liaison to help teachers to contact families and follow up on school and personal issues that affect our families and the educational outcomes of our scholars.
4. Opportunities for families to develop their skills, leadership potential, and networks where:
   • Families can choose from a variety of volunteer opportunities within the school.
   • School committees and the PTA reflect the diversity of the school community and actively recruit and welcome families from all backgrounds.
   • Parents are encouraged to join the PTA, engage in all aspect of the school community, improvement plans and attend all school events.
5. Professional development for families and staff on how to work together productively where:
   • Families learn how the school operates and how to be effective advocates for their children through an offering of parent engagement workshops and resources.
   • Parents have the opportunity to join the School Based Planning Team and share policies with other parents.
   • Teachers engage in school and district professional development to learn successful approaches to working with families of diverse cultural backgrounds.
   • Families and staff can learn together how to collaborate to improve student achievement.
   • The school reaches out to identify and draw in local community resources that can assist staff and families.

Es importante que las familias y las escuelas trabajen juntas para ayudar a los estudiantes a alcanzar altos estándaresacadémicos. A través de un proceso que incluye maestros, familias, estudiantes y representantes de la comunidad, los siguientes son roles y responsabilidades acordados que nosotros, como coparticipes, cumpliremos para apoyar el éxito de los estudiantes en la escuela y en la vida.

It is important that families and schools work together to help students achieve high academic standards.  Through a process that includes teachers, families, students and community representatives, the following are agreed-upon roles and responsibilities that we as partners will carry out to support student success in school and in life.