The purpose of Title I is to ensure that all children have a fair and equitable opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and to reach proficiency on state academic assessments. We provide financial assistance to schools with 40% and above of children who receive free or reduced lunch. Natrona County serves 8 schools with Title I funds. Each school uses the dollars to facilitate and enhance components of their school improvement plan ensuring that all children meet challenging state academic standards. Federal funds are currently allocated through statutory formulas that are based primarily on census poverty estimates and the cost of education in each state.

Title I also supports the NCSD Homeless Program. Staff members make sure that all children who are homeless have school supplies along with making sure they meet the same high standards that all children are expected to achieve regardless of living arrangements.

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Title I is a federal program that provides financial support for schools with high percentages of students from low-income families. NCSD schools that qualify for Title I include Bar Nunn Elementary, Cottonwood Elementary, Evansville Elementary, Journey Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Midwest, Pineview Elementary, and Sagewood Elementary. These schools are responsible for meeting additional requirements under federal law. All teachers and educational support personnel who work in Title I schools are required to meet specified credentials. All teachers and educational support personnel at NCSD’s Title I schools have met those specified credentials. Parents will be notified by the school if this 100 percent status changes. Parents have the right to check these credentials by contacting the NCSD Human Resources Services Office. Copies of school improvement plans and Title I action plans are available at each of the NCSD Title I schools. Title I schools also follow district-wide parent involvement guidelines, as follows: The Natrona County School District empowers every learner to grow, excel, and be successful contributors to the local/global community (Board approved Mission Statement, 2010)

 Within this context, what follows is district-level written guidelines/policy for establishing the expectations for parent involvement of participating Title I children. The intent is to encourage Title I schools to further involve parents of participating children in the education of their children through an organized structure that: 

A. Involves parents in joint development and review of each building’s Title I and school improvement plans through school improvement plan meetings held at each site; 

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B. Coordinates and assists participating Title I Schools by holding district parent advisory committee meetings at least one time per year for the purpose of sharing parent involvement activities and developing new activities for buildings implementation; 

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C. Provides each school with ideas and recommendations for building their capacity to: 

• Partner with schools in improving student achievement, 

• Assist parents in understanding the standards and assessments while monitoring their student’s progress and working with educators, 

• Provide support in implementing effective parental involvement, 

• Provide training on helping parents work with their children, 

• Build ties between the school and parents, including education on reaching out to parents and the value of their involvement, and 

• Communicate to parents the information about meetings and programs, effectively. 

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D. Coordinates and integrates Title I parent involvement strategies with those of Head Start, Even Start, preschool, and other parent-student training programs; www.natronaschools.org September 6, 2022 20 2022-2023 NCSD Student/Parent Handbook 

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E. Annually evaluates the parent policy during one of the district Title I parent advisory committee meetings and through the use of survey data. The evaluation will include the content and effectiveness of the policy, participation trends, and possible barriers to greater participation. Methods will be developed to: 

• Compare levels of parent participation, 

• Determine whether the levels of participation of parent who are economically disadvantaged, disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background are represented in adequate proportions, 

• Identify barriers to greater participation, 

• Assess the effectiveness of parental participation activities, procedures, and policy in the improvement of schools, 

• Report evaluation findings, and 

• Use evaluation findings to revise the policy. 

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F. Requires buildings to plan specific parent involvement activities and spend a portion of their Title I allocation toward the support of these activities and distribute the district parent involvement fund as needed; 

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G. Develops school/parent compact for schools to use each year to define shared responsibility with parents for student achievement; 

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H. Completes the following items at each building’s annual meeting and/or during individual conferences: 

• Give timely information about their programs to parents. 

• Describe the curriculum, assessments, and proficiency levels required.

• Provide opportunities during School Improvement Planning and/or other meetings for parents to provide suggestions and participate in decision-making. 

• Inform parents of their right to submit comments with the school’s plan, if the plan is not satisfactory to them, and 

• Review the Parent/Student/Teacher Compacts which describe our shared responsibilities for obtaining high student academic achievement. 

• Include a description of parent involvement activities in their school improvement plans.