Jackson Middle School Parent Involvement Plan
Jackson Middle School
October 8, 2008- Approved by Site Council
The Jackson community recognizes the important role parent involvement plays in the education, both academic and emotional, of children.
Parents who feel connected to their children’s school community are more likely to:
Ø Reinforce at home the learning opportunities provided by the teachers at school.
Ø Communicate openly and work as a team with teachers and staff to meet the needs of all students.
Ø Support both classroom instruction and school wide programs through their volunteer and fundraising efforts.
The Jackson community promotes parent involvement by:
ü Supporting PTA, Foundation & Site Council where all parents are welcome all the time.
ü Creating time for self-introductions of all meeting attendees at each and every meeting.
ü Providing a yearly student calendar/handbook to all students for a minimal cost (grants provided, too) that includes important dates from the school district calendar.
ü Using of a community list serve through PTA for weekly and periodic notices.
ü Providing a school website with links with important info, a calendar of school events, links to news, staff directory and more.
ü Distributing a Volunteer Opportunities sheet in the opening day packet to introduce parents to the wide variety of volunteer opportunities and collect information on what they might want to help with. This data is compiled into a spreadsheet with parent name, their email and phone# and volunteer preferences. The PTA volunteer coordinator closely manages volunteers and forwards emerging projects information to parents.
ü Publishing a monthly school newsletter with updates in English and Spanish on happenings at school and after school that is distributed to each family and available online. In addition, a weekly student news note goes to each teacher for announcement and is available on-line.
ü Organizing many community builders throughout the year for families (which are not merely fundraisers): 6th Grade Scavenge Hunt (Aug.), Back to School Night & Spaghetti Feed/Ensemble Choir Performance (Sept.), Grandparents’ Day (October), Fall Play (Dec), three Choir & Band Concerts (Dec., March & June.), two Student Dances with parent chaperones (fall & spring), Talent Show (Jan), Peopling of the Nation Project for 8th graders (a research project exploring a family member’s personal history in American history), Cultural Day (May), Spring Musical (May), Run for the Arts with parent volunteers (May), community art shows (through out the year at various locations in Portland; Volunteer Recognition through the PTA; and, Jackson t- and sweatshirts sales to promote school spirit.
ü Organizing and training parents to assist in the data migration project in the Jackson Library, a long term project of integrating Jackson’s large collection of library books into the Portland Public Schools system.
ü Organizing and training parents to assist in state testing and monitoring for ESL and struggling students.
ü Hosting a parenting conference sponsored by Oregon partnership addressing common parenting issues.
ü Providing the email address of all teachers and staff members to parents.
ü Publishing and distributing a Family Directory of phone numbers and addresses.
ü Making a deliberate and organized effort to have all parents sign up for and attend parent-teacher conferences in November.
ü Encouraging parents to chaperone field trips.
ü Facilitating communication by having the principal present in front of the school or in the main hallway, and teachers near or at the door of their classroom at the beginning and end of the school day.
ü Providing nametags for parents to wear when at the school.
ü Providing translators when needed.
ü Organizing and hosting an 8th grade promotion for students and their families
ü Welcoming Incoming family with an extensive plan for school tours, interfacing with feeder elementary schools.
Jackson could improve its family involvement by trying to:
o Improve signage of outer doors directing visitors to the main door.
o Improve signage of inside doors to rooms that volunteers use.
o Develop a plan to reach out to parents who speak limited English.
o Continue to evaluate Parent/Teacher conference opportunities including a spring option for 2nd semester classes.
o Provide easy to understand handout on the most important grade level benchmarks.
o Hold a classroom based curriculum night in the fall.
o Support teachers in their development of individual classroom websites.
o Provide training / explanation with interpreting report cards, benchmarks and curriculum.
o Publish the agenda of all meetings in the newsletter.
o Provide a “cheat sheet” explaining the difference, in lay terms, between Jackson School Foundation, PTA, and Site Council
o Post more materials on the Jackson website, including minutes and handouts from PTA, Foundation & Site Council meetings, and contacts for each organization where online feedback could be given.
o Create and distribute a video showing a day in the life of a Jackson student (with Somali voice over) to help bridge cultural and language barriers with the Somali families
o Include Special School Events in the School Calendar
o Conduct a computerized parent survey during conferences to solicit anonymous opinions about and ideas for school improvement from parents.
o Improve liaison with families of immigrant children to understand and support fieldtrips, especially overnight ones such as Outdoor School.