Granbury Independent School District

 

In order to help our students achieve this goal, parents are asked to become involved in their child’s education. It is the intentions of each campus to involve the parents of its students as much as possible by making the parents feel welcome and asking for their input on certain campus decisions. Each parent is encouraged to participate whenever possible. Studies have indicated that high parent involvement brings about high student achievement.

During the 2015-2016 school year, ten Granbury ISD campuses will be served with supplemental Title I federal funds. Title I funds are part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (formerly No Child Left Behind). The nine campuses receiving Title I funds are: Acton Elementary, Acton Middle School, Baccus Elementary, Brawner Intermediate, Granbury Middle School, Granbury High School, Oak Woods School, Mambrino Elementary, and Roberson Elementary. The Title I Part A federal program requires each campus receiving those funds to follow certain guidelines and perform certain activities. The required guidelines are as follows:

• Conduct annual meetings and offer flexibility in scheduling these meetings
• Involve parents in the planning, reviewing, and implementing of Title I programs
• Disseminate information to parents concerning the curriculum and academic assessment used within GISD and its Title I programs
• Create and distribute School-Parent-Student Compacts
• Request and encourage participation from parents of migratory children, students with disabilities, and students of diverse cultures

All Title I funded campuses are to hold parent meetings within the first month of the school year. These meetings are to be flexibly scheduled to meet working parents’ needs. It is at these meetings the campus principal is to notify parents of the requirements for receiving supplemental Title I funds.

Elementary campuses typically hold their Meet the Teacher nights the week before school starts. The scheduling of this event is to accommodate a parent’s work schedule. The campuses also hold back to school meetings after school starts to inform parents of school information, Title I information and how to encourage parent participation in the schools. Elementary campuses also hold Open House during Texas Public School week for parents to come and enjoy their student’s classroom and visit with their teacher.

Middle School campuses host events for incoming sixth graders to help them become familiar with the campus layout, pickup their class schedules, and participate in team building activities. The middle schools also hold parent information nights to inform parents of school information, Title I information and how to encourage parent participation in the schools.

Granbury High School holds their Meet the Teacher Nights approximately three weeks into the new school year. At this meeting the parents and students tour the building and visit each teacher’s classroom to become familiar with the curriculum being taught as well as each individual teacher’s classroom expectations. Title I information and requirements are distributed. Parents are strongly encouraged to be involved in their child’s education by working as a partner with the schools.

Title I funded campuses must meet federal requirements and timelines regarding informing parents of the federal funding the campus receives, how that funding is used, the parents’ rights regarding teacher qualifications, and the development of the Parent-School Compact.

Many of the requirements are met through parent meetings held during the school year. Notification of each of these meetings is disseminated through campus newsletters, notices sent home to parents via their students, Remind text messaging, as well as district and campus websites. Each type of notification is presented in English and Spanish.

Throughout the school year each elementary and intermediate campus presents special family oriented nights such as Family Reading Night, Family Math Night, Family Science Night, and Family Game Night. The secondary campuses hold many of the same family night activities but also include Family College Nights. It is at the secondary level that the students are exposed to the different possibilities of post- secondary opportunities.

Parents of all students are encouraged to call or email their student’s teachers anytime to schedule a conference if needed. Email addresses and campus phone numbers can be found on the GISD website at www.granburyisd.org.

Each campus, whether federally funded or not, includes parents on its Campus Leadership Team (CLT). This team, which is facilitated by the campus principal, makes decisions regarding many aspects of the campus. The CLT usually meets once a month in order to stay atop any developments within the school, issues that need to be addressed regarding campus planning or school-wide events that need coordinating.

During the spring, the CLTs are involved in the decisions regarding the use of campus local, state and federal funds. When federal funds are used, the overriding consideration must be whether or not the expenditure will increase student achievement. As with every federal educational fund, the use of this money must be directly related to student achievement and student success.

All Granbury ISD campuses disseminate information to parents concerning academic assessments. This information is used to drive instruction and achievement. The forms used to disseminate this information vary from campus newsletters, postings on campus websites, notices sent home to parents, and messages sent to parents through the School Messenger and Remind texting programs. All Title I funded campuses are required by federal law to focus on student achievement. Academic assessments are written to test the students’ learning of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and in preparation for the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests. These assessments are created by the district’s curriculum department and are used to guide the instruction in the district.

The Granbury ISD Curriculum is designed from the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Parents can find the TEKS for all grade levels at the Texas Education Agency website: www.tea.state.tx.us. State assessment information can also be found on this TEA website.

A School-Parent-Student Compact is a three-way commitment between all parties to focus on the improvement of student achievement. It is the responsibilities of all parties to develop a partnership that will help all children achieve the high academic standards set by the state of Texas. Compacts are usually explained and distributed to parents at the beginning of the school year meetings. These compacts are reviewed and discussed with the campus faculty at the earliest opportunity.

Granbury ISD uses a variety of resources to communicate with parents. The GISD webpage hosts the latest news of the district at www.granburyisd.org. Parents are encouraged to register on the website to get updates and information. School Messenger is used to communicate through the phone system. The Remind texting program is also used to distribute information to parents directly to their cell phones. Information is posted on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and Itunes. Campuses send out newsletters, calendars and email and Remind messages. Information is also posted on campus marquees. Parents are encouraged to keep their email account, address and phone information current at their child’s school to make sure they are receiving the most current information.

Granbury ISD will provide the ReadyRosie early education tool to families in Granbury ISD and the community to deepen and scale the parent engagement efforts by leveraging the power of video modeling and mobile technology to meet and equip parents wherever they may be located. ReadyRosie has hundreds of brief videos in English and Spanish that model everyday interactions in familiar environments with real parents. Additionally, the BringingUp program will be used to involve parents and the community in providing educational and practical everyday parenting videos for families with students in Grades K-3. Through these efforts, parents can be involved with Granbury ISD before and during their children’s school experiences while enhancing the transition between early childhood and the schools.

Granbury ISD makes every effort to involve the parents of all students in the learning environment. In this effort, the district attempts to meet the needs of all parents by offering flexible meeting times and flexible delivery methods for information. Parents of students with disabilities are encouraged to become a part of their child’s educational decision making process as well as an active member of the volunteers at the school.

With its more than 500 limited English proficient students, Granbury ISD actively seeks input from these parents. Because of their value to the learning community, parents of LEP students are encouraged to participate in campus events. At most campus events interpreters are used to the extent possible to facilitate communication with parents of diverse cultures.

Granbury ISD makes every effort to fulfill the needs of every parent in order to increase the parent’s involvement in its schools. At many of the campuses, childcare is offered during parent meetings in order to allow parents more opportunity to attend and become involved in their child’s education.