Title I Family-School Compact

Vision

Helping students believe they can be creative, healthy, lifelong learners!

Mission

We are dedicated to the intellectual, personal, and social growth of our students. Through diversified experiences, we help students discover their potential and succeed in a safe and caring environment.

Student Agreement

• I will come to school ready to learn.
• I will be a good listener and observer.
• I will be responsible and response-able to my class and school.
• I will do my BEST.

Family/Parent Agreement

• We will prepare our children for school.
• We will be engaged with homework.
• We will establish rules and routines at home.
• We will be involved with school activities.

Teachers/Staff Agreement

• We will be responsible for the safety of our students at ALL times.
• We will be fair and honest in our treatment and assessment of our students.
• We will communicate frequently with parents.
• We will attend quality professional development to learn innovative practices.
• We will provide instruction that is rigorous and focused on student learning.

Title I Parent and Family Engagement School Policy

Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) Title I program is established to improve student achievement so that every student will graduate on time with the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind necessary to create a thriving future for themselves and their community.

Occoquan Elementary School will ensure effective involvement of families and will support a partnership among the school, parents, guardians, and community to improve student achievement in the following ways: 

School Family Engagement Policy

• Review the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy which is jointly developed and distributed to parents.
• Provide all parents with information about the schools’ participation in Title I at the Annual Meeting and inform parents of their right to be involved.
• Invite and encourage all parents to attend all Title I Family meetings and events. Inform parents that the school may provide support for them to attend meetings.
• Involve family participation in the planning, review, and improvement of the schools’ Title I Schoolwide/Continuous Improvement Plan
• Provide parents with information about the Title I program, the curriculum, academic assessments, and students’ expected proficiency levels.
• Notify the PWCS Title I Office if the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children. 

Shared Responsibilities for High Student Achievement

• Invite parents to volunteer, observe, and/or participate in their child’s class(es) and school.
• Include a schedule for parent-teacher conferences and progress reports.
• Invite parents to participate in events related to academics.

Building Capacity for Engagement

• Assist parents to understand the state’s academic content, achievement standards, and assessments.
• Communicate with families on a regular basis regarding their child’s progress in school; including school performance information and student assessment results.
• Provide materials and training to help parents support their children’s academic progress.
• Develop, in consultation with families, a Family-School Compact, stating how the school and families will share the responsibility for high student performance. Review the Family-School Compact annually with families and school staff.
• Educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and how to communicate and work with parents as equal partners.
• Coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement programs and activities with other federal and state programs supporting preschool, multilingual students, and students with disabilities.
• Ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to parents in a format that is practicable and in a language that parents can understand.
• Distribute annual parent surveys encouraging parents to respond to additional support needed to participate in parent and family engagement.
• Provide opportunities to participate in decision-making at Parent Advisory Council meetings, Parent Teacher Organization meetings, and meetings related to Title I program planning.

Accessibility

• Provide opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency and parents with disabilities, in a format that is practicable and in a language that parents can understand.

Important Dates and Upcoming Title I Events

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Elementary Schools

• November 4, 2024
• January 22, 2025

Middle Schools and High Schools       

• Touch base days will be scheduled by schools

Last Day of Grading Periods

• October 31, 2024
• January 17, 2025
• March 27, 2025
• June 12, 2025 

Title I Parent & Family Engagement Events (additional events may be added)

• Annual Title I Family Engagement Meeting: Back to School Night, September 24, 2024, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• Title I Family Engagement Meeting: Trunk or Treat, October 25, 2024, 6:00 – 8:00 m.
• Title I Family Engagement Meeting: Family STEAM Night, February 19, 2025 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
• Title I “Summer Thrive” Family Engagement Meeting: May 28, 2025, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

Every Student Successes Act School Summary

PARENTAL RIGHT TO INFORMATION ABOUT TEACHERS:

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, most recently reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds Act, states that parents in Title I schools have the right to request certain information about their child’s teachers. The information that you have a right to request about your child’s teacher is:

At Occoquan ES, we are extremely proud of our teachers and paraprofessionals, and are happy to provide you with any of the information above pertaining to your child’s teacher(s). If you have such a request, please call the school at 703.494.2195 and ask for the information you are interested in.

1. 1. • Whether the teacher has met state qualifications and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subjects the teacher is teaching.

1. 1. • Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which state qualification or licensing has been waived.

1. 1. • The baccalaureate degree major of certification or degree held by the teacher, and the field of discipline of the certification or degree.

1. 1. • Whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

PARENTAL OPT OUT OF ASSESSMENTS

Parental Notification of Assessment Opt Out Policies under The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 According to the Virginia Department of Education, "All students in tested grade levels and courses are expected to participate in Virginia's assessment program, unless specifically exempted by state or federal law or by Board of Education regulations." On December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA) was signed into law. Section 1112(e)(2) of ESSA states that parents of students in Title I schools have a right to know about state or division policies regarding student participation in any assessments mandated by ESSA, including any policy, procedure, or parental right to opt students out of such assessments. The Commonwealth of Virginia does not currently have an Opt Out policy for SOL assessments. However, Section 22.1-253.13:3.Cof the Code of Virginia states that, “The Board of Education shall not include in its calculation of the passage rate of a Standards of Learning assessment for the purposes of state accountability any student whose parent has decided to not have his child take such Standards of Learning assessment, unless such exclusions would result in the school's not meeting any required state or federal participation rate.” Prince William County Public Schools regulations state that, if a parent or guardian decides to not have a student take a state or local assessment, then the person making the request should be informed about the academic consequences that decision could have on the student.

If you would like to receive more information about this topic, please contact the principal.