Hemet Unified Case Study

Parent and Community involvement does not occur overnight. I feel that schools must make parent and community involvement a priority, valuing and accepting each other’s differences. Schools, families and communities must work together to support all students in a learning environment to ensure every student is a successful learner. Positive family and school involvement fosters a partnership among my school encouraging students to reach their highest potential academically and in life. Parent and community involvement does not mean stay-at-home mothers coming to school to help as needed, or a businessman stopping by to see events occurring on campus. The role of school, family and community involvement is a partnership incorporating goal-oriented activities for all grade levels linked to academic success and student growth.

This document is the Strategic Diversity Plan for the Houston R-I School District. This plan is a 5-year plan designed to help our school district meet the diverse needs of all students. It is our goal to have a school district that is embracive, supportive, and respectful of individual differences. The Houston R-I School District is focused on and committed to providing opportunities for our school and community to work together to develop a pluralistic relationship that supports all students socially, emotionally, and academically. We will strive to be a school

Union Hill Elementary School is embedded in an area of rich history in the City of Worcester. Their school building was built following the Civil War and has withstood the changes of time from its early years of a primarily Jewish Immigrant and merchant town to today’s urban neighborhood, rich in diversity but plagued with instability, crime and poverty. In March of 2010, Union Hill was identified as a Level IV School; it was a school that lacked structure with a chaotic environment with many deficits. There was a lack of supervision, schedule, standard-based curriculum, effective instruction and leadership. Most importantly, there was a lack of trust among the parents. They did not have the faith that Union Hill was going to give their children the best education possible. Under the supervision of new Principal Marie Morse, changes were made. There was a new level of commitment and passion among the school staff that drove them toward creating five areas of focus for the year:

As a result of the location of the school in a suburban community, the parents are very actively involved in the school. As a result of the active of the supportive parents in the community, the students arrived every day with a smile on their faces and generally prepared for learning. However, as with

Probably one of the most important issues when it comes to Family/Community Partnership is trying to get the families/community involved in what we are doing. By engaging parents, it will help us to see what we are lacking and what we need to do in order to have our families fully engaged. I feel that if our families/communities are not engaged in our program then we need to reevaluate in order to encourage their participation. By reevaluating our program we can further access what we need to work on. If parents/communities feel that they are not valued as part of our team, they won’t engage in our program. Both the parents and the community play a big role in the education of our children. Parents are their first teachers and the communities have valuable resources for the children.

There were three primary goals that this particular project set out to achieve. First was to ensure all parents and guardians had access to K12, MPS websites and enrollment information, including LEP families. When this project was initiated no K12 MPS, or the national K12 sites had a way for LEP parents to access information in their primary language or contact information on how to obtain an interpreter. At the conclusion of the 2015/2016 academic year, 100% of K12 MPS’s have information on their websites on the process and phone number to obtain an interpreter.

First, by developing professional learning communities, HSHS primary goal is to establish an organizational culture of shared commitment to academic excellence and exemplary behavior for all students. As evident, in Document 1. Excerpt from Teacher Survey (see attached) revealed that 30% of the ELA Teachers and 37% of the Math and Science Teachers “My academy receives necessary professional development.” In addition, Document 1. Excerpt from Teacher Survey revealed that 38% of the ELA Teachers and 42% of the Math and Science Teachers said, “I feel safe at the school.” Moreover, Document 2. Excerpt from Parent Survey revealed that 68% of the Latino (ethnic) agreeing or strongly agreeing and 87% of the Black (ethnic) agreeing or strongly

Changing demographics might impact children and the way they will learn. Children learn and start to develop a sense of the world at an early age. How does a center meet the needs of these new families when they come from a demographic where those households were the norm at their center. Children and families rely on the facilities to create and welcome their diversity. Centers and Schools are realizing that demographic trends are changing and that working together with families in creating a welcoming environment in order to embrace their diversity to protect the children’s well-being.

As a new charter school located in a vibrant neighborhood in Wilmington, our school has worked directly with neighbors, community groups, local nonprofit organizations and local elected and government leaders to establish a good relationship and prepare the way for our students and families to benefit from our neighborhood and location. The Brandywine neighborhood where our school is located is in the center of downtown Wilmington, easily accessible to many local businesses and government agencies, and area neighborhoods, by foot and by public transportation. We have worked extensively with local community groups, agencies and organizations to ensure that the relationship between our school and the community is mutually beneficial. When

Promoting school-community relations with Hispanic parents begins with identifying the barrier that prevents involvement or engagement is school issues. Those issues can include lack of knowledge on American schooling, transportation issues, limited English spoken, or problems with work or childcare availability. Once these barriers can be broken, an aggressive approach can be initiated to close the academic gaps many English Language Learners are facing. Zimmerman (2011) states the six strategies for enhancing Hispanic parent involvement include; "remove language barriers between the parents and the schools, address economic obstacles that hinder parental involvement, schedule activities to make transportation easier for parents, empower and

Alumni of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are concerned about the inadequate representation of minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related professions. Consequently, DCHBCUAA STEM professionals have designed and organized an instructional hands-on workshop for students in grades 10-12. The workshop is designed to increase their awareness of the exciting opportunities available in the sciences and to provide an opportunity for students to talk to subject matter experts currently working in STEM occupations.

In this internship activity, I first researched Chapter 89 the Adaptations for Special Populations, Subchapter BB. I reviewed the policies as required in the Texas Education Code, Chapter 29, Subchapter B that ensures equal educational opportunities for every student in the state who has a home language other than English and who is identified as an English language learner. It is important to know the requirements and competencies for this program. I also became aware of the exceptions and waivers a district must submit a waiver for if it is unable to provide and bilingual education or English as a second language program. Once understanding the criteria and program design, I attended and observed an Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC) meeting where each student’s level of proficiency as discussed and educational goals were put in place for each student to master English language skills across all content areas.

Understanding a community is essential when planning for instruction. My current placement is at Kofa High School which is a located in an urban community –Yuma, Arizona- with an estimated population of 93,000 people. It is fundamental to recognize that Yuma’s population mostly consists of Hispanic and White people. Although English is mostly spoken in this area, Spanish is commonly heard in the community due to the high Hispanic population.

Sycamore Community School District 427 is a well rounded school district for the amount of ELs that are within the community. With the small number of ELs, it poses a challenge on the administration on how to best service the student body to give them the best educational experience possible to help them thrive inside and outside of school. The school demographics being majority white and English speaking, and the ELs of a very diverse background, poses a challenge on creating two-way dual language programs in the district which would benefit the students most. According to The Bilingual Advantage, “Even if children and adolescents are not fully proficient in their primary language, enabling students to use their

Although it is important for families to be involved with their child’s school, school personnel should also strive to create a positive interaction with families of students. Carl Dunst (2002) states that school and parent collaboration is necessary, and if schools take on a more family-centered approach, it will help create a supportive environment and help to strengthen a family’s capacity to enhance and promote a child’s development and learning.