Title I Parent & Family Engagement Policy & Compact

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.  

­­Timber Lane 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 involve families in students’ learning and includes a compact expressing the partnerships among staff, caregivers, and students to reach high academic goals for every student.  

Timber Lane Elementary jointly developed this policy and compact with members of the school community and adopted it for the 2024-2025 school year. Several 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 electronic responses and practical applications. 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

  • November 4 & 5, 2024
  • Additional Dates - TBD

Progress Report Distribution

  • November 13
  • February 5
  • April 9
  • June 11

School Events

  • Back to School Night - Sept 5
  • Open House - August 15
  • Event Parent Vue Info Session - Sept 5
  • Family Center Meeting - Dec. 2
  • Family Center Meeting  - Feb.10

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 on committees as Title l Parent Advisory Committee and Parent Teacher Association.
  • Engage caregiver input when developing the School Improvement and Innovation Plan (SIIP), Comprehensive Needs Assessment, the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy and Compact and plans for use of Title I family engagement funding.  
  • Seek feedback from families on programs within the SIIP, offer multiple methods for caregivers to submit comments about programs they may not find satisfactory, and submit any such comments with SIIP to FCPS central offices.  
  • Invite family members to help in organizing and executing a variety of school events to build collective ownership, such as our VIP program in which all family members are invited to participate and be invested in their child’s school.
  • Provide opportunities for caregivers to volunteer within the school in various ways, such as VIP Program, lunch with child, and volunteering in the classroom.
  • Encourage families to take part in the annual evaluation of the division-level Title I parent and family engagement policy in order 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 to families such as talking points, Timber Lane Times which is a newsletter to our families that is sent out weekly, and the posting of information on our web page.
  • Encourage all caregivers to attend an annual meeting on Back to School Night held Sept. 5th 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 in ways that seek their ideas about how to improve performance toward Virginia’s challenging academic standards, such as principal coffees, PTA meetings, VIP Program and TPAC meetings.
  • 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 the open house, back to school night, principal coffees, and attending curriculum night.
  • Maintain resources for caregivers to review student assignments and ongoing communication about student work, such as talking points.
  • Provide ongoing feedback on student progress through quarterly 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 workshops connecting caregivers to tools and resources, such as joint workshop between elementary, middle, and high school to bridge parents to available Fairfax County resources such as Parent Vue, Schoology tailored to their unique learning environment.                   
  • Offer regular opportunities for families to learn directly from school staff about the school’s academic, behavioral, and social programming through informational meetings such as back to school night, instructional night along with technology updates.
  • 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, such as afterschool learning opportunities.
  • Provide ongoing access to resources in the school, such as SOL Pass, BrainPOP, and Book Builder.
  • Provide mentors for students though our afterschool mentoring program.
  • Provide opportunities to donate and access supplies donated by others, such as our partnership with New City Church, Rotary Club, and Kids R First.
  • Leverage partnerships with local businesses and organizations to enhance school programs and events, such as Kids R First, New City Church and Food for Others.
  • Support parents in accessing county and community resources, such as Family Resource Center, Temporary Financial Assistance for Families (TANF), Medical Care for Children Partnership (MCCP), and the Office of Early Childhood Curriculum Program.
  • Offer outreach and training for targeted families, such as quarterly informational meetings with various topics of interest and latest updates within the program. 

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 established programs such as our VIP, parent coffees, family food market, and weekly food outreach for students.
  • 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 assistance of a parent liaison for talking points, e-notify, and hard copy flyers.
  • Expand access for family participation in informational meetings and learning sessions through VIP program and parent teacher association.

Compact Provisions

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

The staff will:

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

  • Teach all students according to the state’s challenging standards, using approved curriculum       
  • Provide ongoing professional development and support to all teachers to ensure effective instructional practices are used in all classrooms. 
  • Engage in frequent and ongoing collaboration and data analysis to meet the needs of all learners.

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

  • Provide clear expectations for student behavior and academic learning. 
  • Offer a variety of resources to help students with their learning. 
  • Deliver differentiated instruction and appropriate intervention to support all students.  

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 in the Title I program(s)
  • Provide multiple opportunities for caregivers to engage in their child’s learning through parent-teacher conferences, school events, and VIP program.

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

  • Include caregivers as members of the School Improvement and Innovation Planning (SIIP) Committee and as collaborators in developing the SIIP and plans for the use of Title I family engagement funds.  
  • Provide collaboration opportunities such as PTA meeting/VIP Program to enable input for the engagement funding.

The parents/caregivers will:

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

  • 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 in school activities, as my schedule allows.  
  • Encourage and support my child’s learning at home and at school.  
  • Reach out through multiple avenues to receive additional information when a question or concern arises. 

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 work with my classmates to complete learning tasks.