Come Grow with Us!

1. Come Grow with Us! Hill City Elementary Parent Involvement

2. Research • Active parent involvement has a direct correlation to student achievement • Research suggests that schools would need to add $1000.00 per student to have the same impact as active parent involvement. • Students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the community benefit from family involvement. • Parent involvement in early childhood help children succeed in Kindergarten and elementary school. • Parents may need guidance and assistance on how to effectively help their children at home with school work.

3. Research • Parent involvement will differ based on cultural or ethic groups. This must be considered when planning parent involvement activities. • School programs must be individualized to meet the specific needs of students, parents, and the community.

4. How does parent involvement impact achievement • Earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs • Be promoted, pass their classes, and earn credits • Attend school regularly • Have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school • Graduate and go on to postsecondary education (see A New Wave of Evidence, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 2002)

5. How does parent involvement benefit parents? • Learning ways to be more supportive of the children and their education • More positive view of teachers and school in general • Learning how education programs work and how schools work • Becoming empowered for education.

6. How does parent involvement benefit staff? • Higher expectations of students by parents • Becoming more effective teachers • Learning how to understand family views • Improved morale

7. Hill City Elementary View of Parents • The faculty and staff of HCES believe that the parent is the central contributor to a child’s education. We further believe that parent involvement must be a legitimate element of education and should receive strong focus in the school program. • The faculty and staff of HCES believe that parent involvement is a process, not a program of activities. We further believe that it requires ongoing energy and effort. • The faculty and staff of HCES believe that most barriers to parent involvement are found within school practices. They are not found with parents.

8. Hill City Elementary View of Parents • The faculty and staff of HCES believe that parents must be identified and approached individually. Parents are not defined by gender, ethnicity, family situation, education, or income. • The faculty and staff of HCES believe that successful parent involvement strengthens the bonds between home and school, parent and teacher, parent and school, school and community.

10. Pickens County and HCES Vision for Education

11. Demographics • Serves approximately 545 students • 59.4% students are economically disadvantaged • School wide Title I school • Serves a population of 76 students with disabilities including: Autism, Other Health Impaired, Emotional Behavior Disorder, Specific Learning Disability, Visually Impaired, Mildly Mentally Handicapped • 36 Full time teachers including: Counselor, Learning support specialist, 3 special education, speech language therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, Art/Music, Physical Education

12. Our families (One size does not fit all)

13. Our families (One size does not fit all)

14. Road blocks to successful parent involvement programs • Lack of school support for parents involved in the school • Practices that do not accept the diversity of the modern family and their needs • Child care issues • Negative personal experiences with schools in the past • Hierarchy of personal needs taking over: food, shelter, etc. • Feeling inadequate in the school environment • Lack of time • Unsure of what to do?

15. Make the school a family affair • Calls to new families welcoming them to the school • Make EVERYONE feel they are part of the school • Home visits to families (not just those in crisis) • Encourage families and community to have breakfast and lunch at school • Increase volunteer opportunities in the school • Have family events at night and on the weekend

16. HCES and how we grow with parents and community • Hawk Academy • Hawk Volunteers • Caterpillar Kids • Home Visits • Team 2026 • Feed our Family Project • C.I.A. (Community in Action) • Parents as Teammates in the School

17. Hawk Academy • Meets once per nine week grading period • Teachers provide instruction to parents on CCGPS standards that will taught during the nine weeks. • Parents participate in a framework activity that is typical of what their student will be assigned during the grading period • Parents are invited to attend class with their student to observe teaching in the classroom.

18. Hawk Volunteers • Volunteer classes are offered throughout the school year in both day and evening sessions. • Volunteer class is approximately 30 minutes in length • Volunteers are required to take part in a “no charge” background check before volunteering in the classroom • Volunteer opportunities are tailored to the expertise of parents and community members. • Examples: tutoring, garden, bulletin boards, media center, CAMP, yearbook, etc.

19. Caterpillar Kids • Meets once per nine week grading period • Parents and students come to school in the evening for dinner and training. • Kindergarten staff volunteer their time to assess the pre-kindergarten students and provide a learning opportunity • Free materials are provided for the students based on their areas of need to take home: flashcards, maniuplatives, etc.

20. Home Visits • Home visits are done on as needed basis by principal and counselor • Welcome to the community • Provide resources to the family (clothing, food, etc.) • Welfare checks on students • Help with paperwork (SPED, enrollment, RTI, Free and Reduced Lunch, etc)

21. Team 2026 • Identify at risk kindergarten students • Match these students with a mentor that will work with them throughout elementary school • Provide mentoring sessions on a bi-weekly basis • Provide materials to the family (computer, software, etc) • Provide community resources as needed to the family

22. Feed our Family, GA project • Began by faculty and staff in 2010 • Provides a free Thanksgiving meal to any community member that wants to participate (not based on financial need) • Provided at the school with Santa, live music, and door prizes • Traditionally serves over 1200 meals per year • Extra food is donated to families in need throughout the school year via our school food pantry.

23. C.I.A. (Community in Action) • Seeks to actively involve community in our school • Not only a venue for monetary donations • Service orientated • Speakers, volunteers • Good and services to the school

24. Parents at Teammates of the School • Open to parents throughout the school day • Parents and grandparents are encouraged to have breakfast and/or lunch with their student at school • Fun family events at school in the evening(movie night, bingo, family dances, family meals, pictures with Santa, craft evenings, Writing fair, Social Studies/Science fair, STEM evening, Fair Arts night) • Parents are encouraged to call the principal outside of school hours on personal cell to insure open lines of communication.

25. Come Grow with Us! Together we can make a difference for every child