The Family and Community Engagement Plan and all other Title I information are available on our school’s website at (https://www.gcpsk12.org/ChesneyES) under the Title I Section. Families can also find paper copies of this Family and Community Engagement Plan in our Family Center. The Family and Community Engagement Plan will be reviewed during the Title I Planning Meeting in the Spring and during the Fall/Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences.

It is reviewed and revised at least annually during the Planning Meeting in the spring. All feedback forms from the Planning Meeting are submitted to the Office of Federal Programs for review. Families who are not able to attend the Planning Meeting have the opportunity to review draft documents and provide input during the draft document review period.

At Chesney ES, families and school personnel participate in two-way meaningful communications with the common goal of supporting students. Chesney ES promotes positive communication that informs, reassures, and engages families while maintaining a strong partnership with families. When possible, we use the home language of the families to ensure the message is received and understood.

Our school system hosts Parent-Teacher Conferences twice a year (Fall/Spring). In addition to these planned conference times, parents, teachers, students, support staff and administrators may initiate additional conferences at any time. Please contact your child’s teacher or our Family Center to request a conference.

The Family Center - Ms. Dorina Chimilio, POL (678) 542-2305, or Ms. Marilyn Morales, PIC (678) 542-2309

Empathy: Cultural competence, staff and student well-being, educator diversity.

Equity: Multi-tiered system of supports, opportunity and access, equitable resource allocation.

Effectiveness: Results-Based evaluation system, talent management, educational return on investment.

Excellence: Preferred education destination, post-secondary and workforce readiness, world-class communication and engagement.

We will provide all students with high quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment to meet high academic standards.

Empathy: Staff and Student Well Being: Promote student and staff well being through prioritizing self-care, physical and mental health, and social emotional learning. Continue our PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports) opportunities, and SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) daily lessons.

Equity: Multi-Tiered System of Support: Implement a framework for a multi-tiered system of supports to address academic and non-academic student needs and remove barriers to success. Offer all students the opportunity to use i-Ready Math and i-Ready Reading to enhance their academic skills and enrich their academic skills through STEM experiences.

Opportunity and Access: Expand student opportunities to engage in high-quality, rigorous, and culturally relevant curriculum (Advanced Placement and dual enrollment), and enrichment activities (e.g., the arts, gifted, STEM, career technical education).

Effectiveness: Results-Based Evaluation System: Redefine the inputs, behaviors, and outcomes that determine the standards for student success as measured by the RBES process. Engage our students with responsive teaching of the AKS at all grade levels.

Excellence: World Class Communication and Engagement: Demonstrate world-class communication and engagement through transparent, two-way communication. Continue offering quarterly Principal Townhall Meetings to foster positive and transparent communication with families and stakeholders.

It is a plan that describes how our school will provide opportunities to improve family engagement that will support student learning at school and at home. All students and their families are invited and encouraged to fully participate in the opportunities described in this plan. The school will provide information and as many opportunities as possible for the participation of all family members.

It is a written agreement that outlines how the school, the students, and the family will work together to ensure your child’s academic success. An effective School-Family Promise contains the following elements:

· Clear learning goals that are linked to the school’s improvement plan

· Specific skills students will learn during the year

· Strategies that staff, families, and students will use to improve student learning

· Ways to extend learning at home

· Methods teachers and family members will use to communicate about student progress

· Opportunities for family members to observe and participate in the classroom

· Jointly-developed by families, school staff, students, community business partners, and other stakeholders during our Planning Meeting

· Reviewed and revised throughout the year

· The Plan… The Promise… is written and reviewed annually at the Title I Planning Meeting and during the document review opportunities. This document will be reviewed during parent workshops and during Fall/Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences.

ENGAGING AND EMPOWERING FAMILIES WITH…

Title I Program Information: Program information is available during the Title I Planning Meeting in the spring and Annual Parent Meetings in the fall, on the school website, and in the Parent Center.

Curriculum Information: Knowing what your child is learning at school is important. We will keep you informed throughout the year about what your child is learning during parent meetings, conferences, eCLASS, and on our school website.

Student Progress Monitoring: The Parent Portal is an online resource that allows families to view grades, attendance, schedules, assessment, and your child’s results, course history, and much more. Monitoring your child’s progress in school is an important way to be engaged.

Parent Resources: We have many resources available for checkout to use at home with your child. We also host several parent workshops to empower you as you work with your child at home.

Staff Training: We will train our staff to effectively communicate with you. Your input on how we train our staff is valuable.

Communication: We will communicate, to the extent feasible, all information with you in a language and format you understand. Whenever possible, we will provide interpreters during parent workshops, and academic events. Translation is available for most documents.

Transition Support: Entering a new school can be scary for both students and families. We will host events to make sure both you and your child are aware of what is expected and how you can prepare as your child transitions to a new school level, college, and career.

Chesney Elementary School will…                                                                                                                    

· Offer various clubs aligned with students interests to ignite curiosity and guide our students to think of their future as productive citizens. Invite parents to share their professional experience to guide our students’ future planning.

· Provide a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) to ESOL students to help them gain mastery of the English language skills. ESOL parents will be invited to building parent capacity events to enable them to help their children at home.

· Through MTSS we will target children’s academic needs (Reading and Math) to offer them an individualized plan to assist them in achieving improvement in the District Benchmark Assessment. The school will host Curriculum Night, Literacy Night, and STEM Night to guide parents to work with their students at home.

· We will invite our families to actively participate in the process of creation and revision of the school’s improvement plan.

As Students, we will…    

· Participate in clubs that will open up a world of professional possibilities and help me become a productive citizen.

· Work hard to achieve proficiency in the English language by engaging with the intention to succeed in all the learning opportunities offered at school.

· Read at least 20 minutes every night to develop reading fluency and learn about the world around me.

· Practice Math in everything I do.

As Families, we will…                                                                                                                                        

· Guide my child in the selection of extracurricular activities that will prepare them for the future and help them develop a relationship with their community.

· Practice the English language with my child through reading age- appropriate books that I can check out from my community library or the Family Center.

· Help my child review their acquired knowledge by following up with the student’s agenda.

· Participate in the decision-making process of Chesney ES’ improvement plan.

Chesney Elementary School is committed to frequent two-way communication with families about student learning. Some of the ways we can use to foster effective communication include:

Parent Square, Instagram, X, and the school website (https://www.gcpsk12.org/ChesneyES), Parent- Teacher Conferences, phone conversations, email, flyers, and eClass.

If you need interpretation and/or translation services, please contact: The Family Center - Ms. Dorina Chimilio, POL (678) 542-2305, or Ms. Marilyn Morales, PIC (678) 542-2309

Chesney ES will host the following events to engage families and support a partnership between school, parents and community in order to improve student academic achievement:

• Meet Your Teacher Day
• Title I Annual Meeting
• Curriculum Night
• Literacy Night
• Parent-Teacher Conferences (Fall/Spring)
  • October 23 and October 24
  • March 5 and March 6

• Charles Brant Chesney Night
• STEM Parent Workshop
• Scholastic Family Engagement Workshop
• ESOL Parent Workshops (ML Families)
• Heritage Night
• Test Taking Workshop
• Kindergarten Transition Orientation for Parents
• Title I Planning Meeting
• Title I Document Review                            

• Title I is a federal program designed to support school reform efforts to improve teaching and learning for all students.
• Title I programs are based on effective means of improving student achievement and include strategies to support family engagement.
• The Title I Office reserves at least one percent of the district’s allocation to fund family and community engagement programs. The use of these funds is based on suggestions gathered at our spring Planning Meetings from families and community members. Funds are distributed equally to all our Title I schools.
• Childcare and/or transportation may be provided for meetings and school events.

“The mission of Chesney ES is to develop successful life-long learners and productive citizens by maintaining high expectations for personal responsibility and academic excellence in an environment that fosters the joy of teaching and learning”

Our Family Engagement Center has learning games, books, and many other resources available for families to checkout and use at home. Our Parent Outreach Liaison is Ms. Dorina Chimilio, and our Parent Instructional Coordinator is Ms. Marilyn Morales, they are available to help you find resources, navigate the Parent Portal, connect with teachers, and learn about ways you can help your children at home.

Our Family Engagement Center is located off the front foyer in Room 1.108A.

Our Hours of Operation are Monday-Friday from 9:00am to 2:00pm

You are welcome to schedule an appointment.

Please contact Ms. Chimilio or Ms. Morales for additional information about our Family Engagement Center and resources available for check-out.

Ms. Chimilio: (678) 542-2305, dorina.chimilio@gcpsk12.org Ms. Morales: (678) 542-2309, marilyn.morales@gcpsk12.org

Contact our Family Center and learn more about how to become a volunteer at Chesney ES. We need you!

Policy for classroom observation:

Requests for classroom observations must be approved by the principal and if approved will be limited to no more than 45 minutes under the supervision of an administrator. (CES Student Manual 2023-2024).