Family Engagement Policy and Compact

Purpose of this Policy and Compact

Efforts will be made to clearly articulate the school’s intentions to engage with and involve parents/caregivers in the educational process.

Centre Ridge Elementary is a Title I school within Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and utilizes the Title I grant to improve student achievement and help all students meet the objectives of the FCPS Program of Studies and the Virginia Standards of Learning. A partnership with families is essential to meeting this goal.

Under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, schools that receive Title I funds are expected to collaborate with families to develop and maintain a parent and family engagement policy that describes the school’s approach to involve families in students’ learning and includes a compact expressing the partnerships among staff, caregivers, and students to reach high academic goals for every student.

Centre Ridge Elementary jointly developed this policy and compact with members of the school community and adopted it for the 2023-2024 school year. Several of the provisions specifically address state or federal expectations for the policy and compact.

This policy and compact is distributed to all caregivers in a language that families can understand. Caregivers have opportunities to provide comments and feedback on the policy and compact through PTA meetings, Parent resource Center and parent coffees. Comments are submitted with the school’s policy and compact to FCPS central offices and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). This policy and compact are made available to the broader school community through the school website.

Important Dates

Parent-Teacher Conferences

  • October - November 2023
  • Additional dates, as needed

Progress Report Distribution

  • November 2023
  • February 2024
  • April 2024
  • June 2024

School Events

  • Welcome Back Bus Tour: August 18th
  • Back to School Night and Annual Meeting: September 28th
  • Annual Title 1 Meeting/State of CRES Address: October 30th and in June (TBD)
  • Reading and Math (RAM Night): TBD
  • Title I Family Engagement Night: TBD
  • Multicultural Potluck: November 13th (coupled with the Book Fair)
  • AAP Parent Night: November 14th 
  • Bingo Nights: November 10th & Spring (TBD) (*PTA sponsored)

Building Capacity for Involvement

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers are actively involved in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the school’s Title I program, including the following:

  • Provide family members a voice in decision-making on committees, such as School Innovation and Improvement Plan (SIIP) and PTA.
  • Engage caregiver input when developing the School Improvement and Innovation Plan (SIIP), the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy and Compact, and plans for use of Title I family engagement funding.
  • Seek feedback from families on programs within the SIIP, offer multiple methods for caregivers to submit comments about programs they may not find satisfactory, and submit any such comments with SIIP to FCPS central offices.
  • Invite family members to help in organizing and executing a variety of school events to build collective ownership, such as Bingo Nights, Multicultural Potluck, and Popsicles on the Playground.
  • Provide opportunities for caregivers to volunteer within the school in various ways, such as the Read-a-Thon, Book Fair, Read Across America, Tuesday Folders, cafeteria support, library, and individual classroom opportunities.
  • Encourage families to take part in the annual evaluation of the division-level Title I parent and family engagement policy to identify:
    • Barriers to greater family participation,
    • Ways to help family members be better able to assist in student learning, and
    • Strategies to support successful school and family interactions.

Effective Communication with Parents

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers receive meaningful communication in a timely manner, including the following:

  • Use multiple methods of communication to families such as KIT, eNotify, TalkingPoints, United language, email, phone calls, translation services, and family liaisons. Social media accounts, such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, our school website, and Tuesday Folders will ensure real time communication and highlight our school celebrations.
  • Encourage all caregivers to attend an annual meeting to share information about Title I services, explain Title I grant requirements, and inform families of their right to be involved in the school.
  • Share school and student performance data with families in ways that seek their ideas about how to improve performance regarding Virginia’s challenging academic standards.
  • Provide opportunities throughout the year for families to better understand the school’s goals for students and find ways to improve student learning through our bi-annual State of CRES Addresses and Principal Coffees.
  • Maintain resources for caregivers to review student assignments and ongoing communication about student work, through the Schoology site, progress reports, interims, and parent conferences.
  • Provide ongoing feedback regarding student progress through quarterly progress reports that show specific areas of proficiency and areas for continued growth.
  • Hold parent-teacher conferences for all students at least annually in the fall, and more often—as needed. Prioritize in-person communication, whenever possible.

Shared Responsibilities for High Academic Achievement

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers receive materials, training, and benefits from school partnerships with social and academic services, community-based organizations, and businesses, including the following:

  • Hold workshops connecting caregivers to tools and resources, such as our Family Literacy program, parent workshops through the Family Engagement office and Parent Resource Center, and our AAP parent resource meetings.  
  • Offer regular opportunities for families to learn directly from school staff about the school’s academic, behavioral, and social programming through parent coffees, PTA meetings, Open House, Back to School Night, and RAM night.
  • Encourage participation in family learning events where caregivers learn strategies to support their child’s learning at home and have a chance to practice those strategies with their child, such as through the Title I Family Engagement Nights.
  • Provide ongoing access to resources in the school, such as Parent Resource Center, Family partnership program, and Parent Resource Center (PRC) classes.
  • Provide mentors for students through partnerships with Fairfax County, Centreville Methodist church, Mclean Bible Church, and our school-sponsored mentor program.  Provide student mentor program for Grade 6 students to mentor primary grade students.
  • Provide opportunities to donate and access supplies donated by others, such as clothes donation bin, school supplies, book donation box, and our Friday Friends food program.
  • Leverage partnerships with local businesses and organizations to enhance school programs and events, such as mentors, donations, tutoring, and other extracurricular activities.
  • Support parents in accessing county and community resources, such as counseling, food programs, dental and medical care, supplements for rent or bills.
  • Offer outreach and training for families, such as parenting classes, literacy classes, and partnering with the Centreville Community Resource Center, as well as our local police station and Community Services Board (CSB). 

Welcoming All Families

Efforts will be made to ensure that all parents/caregivers are welcomed and provided opportunities to actively engage within the school, including the following:

  • Create a welcoming atmosphere at the school through our Family Resource Center, PTA and school events, parent volunteers, translated signs and communications, and multilingual office staff.
  • Provide interpretation services for parent-teacher conferences, workshops, and meetings.
  • Translate or provide interpretation of all school documents and communication to make them accessible in the caregiver’s preferred correspondence language, as well as for those with vision or hearing impairments.
  • Support two-way communication between families and staff through assistance of a family liaison for our Open House and Back-to-School events, teacher conferences, parenting workshops, school-wide information, and registration.
  • Expand access for family participation in informational meetings and learning sessions through translated PTA (Spanish, English, and Korean), parent resource workshops, and our RAM night.

Compact Provisions

School staff, parents/caregivers, and students must work together to ensure student success.

The staff will:

Provide a high-quality curriculum and instruction that enables students to meet challenging academic standard through the following actions:

  • Teach all students according to the state’s challenging standards, using approved curriculum resources.
  • Provide ongoing professional development and support to all teachers to ensure effective instructional practices are implemented in all classrooms.
  • Structured literacy and comprehensive math instruction, small group instruction, and intervention/enrichment opportunities (“What I Need”/WIN Time)
  • Collaborative team meetings twice a week for literacy and math; 5th grade Science CLT

Provide a supportive and effective learning environment for students through the following actions:

  • Provide clear expectations for student behavior and academic learning.
  • Offer a variety of resources to help students with their learning.
  • Responsive classroom practices schoolwide
  • AVID: Advancement Via Individual Determination to support access to rigor
  • Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) to address students with academic or behavior challenges

Provide assistance to caregivers in understanding the school’s program through the following actions:

  • Hold an annual meeting to present information on the school’s Title I programs, state and division curriculum and assessments, and the school’s state and federal accountability status.
  • Provide multiple opportunities for caregivers to ask questions and give input regarding Title I budget.
  • Parent Resource Center, Parent Coffees, RAM night, Family Engagement Nights, Back-to-School events
  • Weekly communication, translated to community.

Build caregivers’ involvement in the school’s Title I program through the following actions:

  • Include caregivers as members of the School Improvement and Innovation Planning (SIIP) Committee and as collaborators in developing the SIIP and plans for the use of Title I family engagement funds.
  • Parent Resource Center, Family Partnership workshops
  • ESOL education nights, Partner with Centreville Community Resource Center

The parents/caregivers will:

Demonstrate understanding that participation in my child’s education will help his or her achievement through the following actions:

  • Participate in decisions related to school programs and education, and share questions or comments about programming in my child’s school.
  • Volunteer in my child’s classroom or in school activities, as my schedule allows.
  • Encourage and support my child’s learning at home and at school. 
  • Attend school events; join the PTA 
  • Attend conferences and meetings as scheduled

The student will:

Share the responsibility to improve my academic learning to achieve the state’s challenging standards through the following’s actions:

  • Get enough sleep every night.
  • Come to school on time unless I am sick.
  • Try my hardest and work with my classmates to complete learning tasks.
  • Give my parents all notes and papers from my teacher.
  • Actively participate in all learning experiences.
  • Be respectful to all staff and classmates.
  • Use technology responsibly.
  • Demonstrate schoolwide expectations taught, and reinforced, throughout the year.

Please reach out to school administration with any questions or comments that you may have. We are here to serve our community and are invested in your children’s success!