Title I, Part A Family Engagement District Policy

Title I, Part A 
Family Engagement District Policy 2024-2025

Grand Prairie Independent School District (GPISD) is committed to partnering with parents/families, students, the community, and other stakeholders to improve student academic achievement and social-emotional development. We believe that parents have an important role as their child’s first teacher and are essential and valued partners in the educational process. 

Grand Prairie Independent School District will reach out to all parents and family members and implement programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents and family members in programs consistent with the requirements of ESSA Section 1116.  Such programs, activities, and procedures shall be planned and implemented with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children. 

• GPISD will provide open and two-way verbal and written communication between families through various strategies and methods including, but not limited to, email, newsletters, district/campus websites, social media, phone calls, and printed notices sent home or posted in community.   
• Parents are encouraged to take the initiative in calling their child’s teacher or campus administrator when they have a concern.  
• GPISD schools will provide a safe and open atmosphere for parents and families to visit the school their children attend.

Grand Prairie Independent School District receives Title I, Part A funds. Our goal is to plan and implement effective parent and family involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance.  Therefore, GPISD will develop jointly with, agree on with, and distribute to, parents and family members of participating children a written family engagement policy. 

• The policy shall be incorporated into the local educational agency’s (LEA) plan developed under section 1112 (District Improvement Plan, DIP), 
• The policy will establish the LEA’s expectations and objectives for meaningful parent and family involvement. 
• The policy will be posted on the GPISD District website for all families to access and review. 
• Each Title I campus creates a School-Parent compact that outlines how parents, staff, and students share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement.  This agreement is posted on campus website for all families to access and review. 
• Each Title I campus will hold a stand-alone annual Title I meeting for parents in the fall semester.  The purpose of this meeting is to provide parents with information regarding Title 1-A guidelines and services offered as stated in the current Family Engagement Policy. The policy will also be distributed to parents during this meeting and given the opportunity to offer their suggestions for any revisions of said policy.  This meeting will be held at a convenient time and all families of enrolled students will be invited and strongly encouraged to attend. 

Grand Prairie Independent School District will provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist and build capacity for all of its Title I, Part A schools in planning and implementing effective parent and family involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance. 

• GPISD Family Engagement Liaisons, Family Engagement Specialists, and Family Engagement Action Team Leaders are assigned to Title I campuses for this support.  
• Provide ongoing professional development to all teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, and other school staff on how to engage, communicate with parents as equal partners. 
• GPISD families are provided parent involvement services at GPISD Family Service Center where the Director of Family and Community Engagement, Maria Herrera, is located. 

The GPISD Grand Family Service Center
1301 E. Coral Way
Grand Prairie, Texas 75051
(972) 623-9000

Grand Prairie Independent School District will coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement strategies under Title I, Part A, to the extent feasible and appropriate, with other relevant Federal, State, and local laws and programs, including public preschool programs, and conduct other activities that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children. 

• All GPISD parents are strongly encouraged to volunteer at their child’s campuses.  
• All parent and community volunteers must comply with district policy regarding volunteer requirements, orientation, and State of Texas background checks. 

Grand Prairie Independent School District will conduct, with the meaningful involvement of parents and family members, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the family engagement policy in improving the academic quality of all Title I, Part A schools served under this part, including identifying 

• Barriers to greater participation by parents in activities (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background);
• The needs of parents and family members to assist with the learning of their children, including engaging with school personnel and teachers; and 
• Strategies to support successful school and family interactions.

Grand Prairie Independent School District will assess the needs of parents and children in the community through a variety of measures, including parent surveys, so that family engagement programs can be tailored to meet those needs. GPISD will use the findings of such evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary, the family engagement policies.

• An End of Year Family Engagement Survey will be distributed in May by the Director of Department of Family & Community Engagement to all GPISD families. 
• Workshops and other resources will be made available to address the expressed needs. Parents will be notified of these opportunities by the Family and Community
• Engagement Department and/or their individual campuses. 
• Family and Community Engagement Department provides monthly parent workshop sessions called Parenting on the Go (in-person).  All GPISD families are invited to attend monthly at the GPISD Grand Family Service Center located at 1301 E. Coral Way. Visit https://www.gpisd.org/Page/49715 for details on dates, times and topics.  
• GPISD parents are also encouraged to contact the Family and Community Engagement Department or the individual campuses to express an interest in a workshop, topic, or to make recommendations to the program.  
• GPISD encourages our parents and families to support their children’s learning at home and in school and serve as their children’s advocate.  

Grand Prairie Independent School District will involve parents in the activities of the schools which may include establishing a parent advisory board comprised of a sufficient number and representative group of parents or family members served by the local educational agency to adequately represent the needs of the population for the purposes of developing, revising, and reviewing the family engagement policy and provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this section as parents may request.

• GPISD encourages families, teachers and community members to join their campus Parent Teacher Association (PTA). 
• GPISD parents are also invited to participate in the district level Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). Meetings for this school year will be held on the following Wednesdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the GPISD Grand Family Service Center.

09/11/2024
11/13/2024
02/05/2025
04/09/2025

To learn more on how to be part of this committee, please reach out to our Family & Community Engagement Director, Maria Herrera at maria.herrera@gpisd.org 

To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, Grand Prairie Independent School District shall:

• Provide assistance to GPISD parents in understanding such topics as the State academic standards, State and local academic assessments, the requirements of the family engagement program, and how to monitor a child’s progress on Skyward and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children. 
• Provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as using technology, as appropriate, to foster parent involvement. 
• Educate teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, and other school leaders, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school.
• Ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand. 

GPISD’s Family Engagement Policy is a working document that is reviewed on an ongoing basis to assure that we cultivate and strengthen our trust, relationships, partnerships with all our GPISD students, families, educators and community partners.  

You may access the GPISD Family Engagement Policy in other languages by visiting our website https://www.gpisd.org/Page/45055.  Document can be translated by clicking the “translate” feature located on the top right corner of the webpage.  Select language of choice.   

Puede acceder a la Política de participación familiar de GPISD en otros idiomas visitando nuestro sitio web https://www.gpisd.org/Page/45055. El documento se puede traducir haciendo clic en la función "traducir" ubicada en la esquina superior derecha de la página web. Seleccione el idioma de su elección.

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