The Family Depot Chronicle

February 2016
Volume 3 Issue 3

You Can Build Families. We Can Help.

TEST TAKING TIPS FOR FAMILIES

All parents and family members want to help their children

succeed in school. By working together with schools and teachers,
families can help their children succeed.
We should provide our children with opportunities to feel
comfortable and prepared for quizzes and tests everyday. Below
are some ways family members can help at home:

Tip #6 Use fun games and Make and Takes as an easy way to
help your child prepare for and understand that quizzes and
tests are a normal part of life and the more they practice the
better they are. Ask your child's teacher for suggestions about
learning activities that you and your child can do together at
home.

Here are some best practices to help you prepare your student:
Tip #1 Schedule and attend Parent Teacher Conferences to learn
about and understand your students academic data.
Tip #2 Ensure your student spends a half-hour reading a
mixture of nonfiction and fiction books to enhance vocabulary skills
and critical thinking.
Tip #3 Maximize on experiences. Ensure your student is
enrolled in an after school program and/or mentoring/church
program that exposes them to various learning experiences and
activities.
Tip #4 If your child has special test accommodations, learn what
they are and practice with them at home. See if your childs
teacher can provide a list of things and ways you can ensure your
child is familiar with testing procedures.
Tip #5 Avoid test anxiety! Thats correct, our children
experience stress as well and pressure to succeed and not fail can
cause children to overwork themselves emotionally and mentally.
Encouraging words along with appropriate preparation are great
ways to ensure your child isnt too overly worked up about test
taking.

Visit these websites for additional academic help:

Helping Your Child Series - U.S. Department of Education
http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/hyc.html
Khan Academy

https://www.khanacademy.org/

Support Your School

Please participate in the Georgia Department of
Education (GaDOE)
Parent Survey
The results of the survey are tied to the CCRPI scores.
The survey link is
http://apps.gadoe.org/schoolclimate/parents.nsf/
Survey.xsp
Open until February 26, 2016

20152016 Title I Family Engagement Theme:

Family Academic Engagement Depot We Build
The FAES team are offering an arsenal of tools to build an effective family engagement program,
strong families, strong students, strong staff, strong schools, strong system.

Inside this issue:

At Home Activity
2
Title I Q & A

The Spotlight

Title I Tools

FAMILY NEWS

HOMEWORK AND STUDY HABITS RESOURCES

AT HOME SKILL BUILDING ACTIVITY

Punctuation TOSSGrades K-5
Fluency is the ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with
proper expression.

HOMEWORK HOTLINE 678-553-3029

Free and available Monday through Thursday, 4:00 p.m. to
9:00 p.m., except during holiday and semester breaks.

Materials: Game board (provided), List of Sentences (provided),

penny or other marker

Visit the GaDOE website and listen to the pre recoded parent
workshop with helpful suggestions on assisting children with
developing good homework and study habits.
http://video.doe.k12.ga.us/doemedia/October%202011%
20Webinar%20Modules/

Preparation: Print game board and sentences related to a theme.

Cut sentences apart.
Activity Instructions:
1. Each player take turns tossing the penny or marker onto the
game board, landing on a punctuation mark.
2. They must then read one of their sentences using expression
that reflects that punctuation mark.
This and other activities are available on the National PTA website
at http://www.pta.org under Inspire Family Reading at Home

APS CHARTER SCHOOL SYSTEM

EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2016
To learn more visit the APS website
http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/

EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT

OF 2015
TITLE I QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act

of 2015 into law on December 10, 2015. This landmark legislation,
which received overwhelming bipartisan support in the House and
Senate, reauthorizes the long overdue Elementary and Secondary
Education Act/No Child Left Behind (ESEA/NCLB).

Q. What is a Title I Priority school?

A. A Title I school is designated as a Priority school based on:

The schools performance over three years, and keeps
the designation until the school meets the exit criteria for
Priority School status.
Ranked in the lowest 5% of all Title I schools in the state.
Graduation rates less than 60% for two (2) consecutive
years.

This new law brings needed improvements to K-12 education in the

United States, provides greater responsibility to states to meet
the needs of all students and acknowledges the essential role of
family engagement to student achievement.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) contains a Statewide
Family Engagement Centers program that will provide states and
districts with the capacity to support effective implementation and
enhancement of family engagement policies and initiatives. The
law also includes improvements to Title I that will require
districts to conduct family engagement activities that are
proven to make a difference for students and schools.

Q. What is a Title I FOCUS School?

A. A Title I school is designated as a Focus school based on the
schools 3-year average CCRPI Achievement Gap score,
and will keep this designation until the school meets the exit
criteria for Focus School status.

2015-2016 TITLE I REWARD SCHOOLS ANNOUNCED

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
APS 2015-2016 Title I REWARD SCHOOLS

Highest Performing
Charles R. Drew Charter School
KIPP Vision Academy
West Manor Elementary School
Highest Progress
The Kindezi School
KIPP West Atlanta Young Scholars Academy

On December 11, 2015 the Georgia Department of Education announced the

2015-2016 Title I Reward Districts and Schools.
Reward Schools are Title I schools that fall into one of two categories:
A Highest-Performing School is among the five percent of the states
Title I schools with the absolute highest performance, over three
years, for the all students group on the statewide assessments. A
school may not be classified as a Highest-Performing School if it has been
identified as a Priority or Focus School.
A Highest-Progress School is among the 10 percent of the states Title I
schools making the most progress in improving the performance of
the all students group over three years on the statewide
assessments. A school may not be classified as a High-Progress school if it
has been identified as a Priority or Focus School.

Principal Hyla-Monet Hardrick Penn & Parent Liaison

Felicia FernandesThe Kindezi Schools-West Lake
KIPP Vision Primary and KIPP Vision Academy
building capacity Parent University.

Parent Liaisons Gabrielle Newton (KWP)

and Jackie Goodman-Cook (KWA) with
KIPP WAYS Academy Principal
Dwight Ho-Sang.

TITLE I TOOLS
Title I Parental Involvement Monitoring Audit Checklist
Did your school complete the required Title I program activities?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

School Wide Planning meeting* completed by July 17, 2015

Parent Notification Letters sent to all parents by August 25, 2015
School Parental Involvement Policy revision meeting* by September 18, 2015
School Parental Involvement Policy distributed by September 30, 2015
School Parent Compact revision meeting* by September 18, 2015
School Parent Compact distributed by September 30, 2015
Collect a majority of the School Parent Compacts/Cover Sheets, dated and signed by parent,
student and school representative by October 16, 2015
Insert all School Parent Compacts/Cover Sheets in a Title I Compact binder in grade level order
Annual Title I meeting* by October 30, 2015
Title I Budget Amendment meeting in January 2016 (if applicable)
At least two Staff Building Capacity Initiatives by February 19, 2016 and all six by March 31, 2016
An Annual Title I Parental Involvement Survey by March 31, 2016

Does your schools Title I Family Engagement documentation notebook contain the
required artifacts for each Title I event?
1.
2.
3.
4.

Multiple ways of inviting families to participate and multiple ways the PIP was
distributed
Agenda
Sign-in sheets (with a column for ROLE of the attendee)
Minutes required for meeting* /evaluation surveys for workshops

UNIQUE WAYS TO CAPTURE PARENTS ATTENTION

Parent Pick Up & Car Pool Lane/Curbside Campaign - Fliers presented in creative ways: Learn On the
Go: Wrap Fliers & Info on pencils or pens to give out to parents, fold fliers in creative designs.
Tea or Coffee to Go - attach flier to appropriate cups and inside have a bag of tea or coffee packet.
Community - Post information at pharmacies, health clinics, grocery stores! Our area is one of the
largest areas for asthma in youth and the change of seasons have a lot of parents at urgent care, doctors office, etc. Great way to reach families at places where they are.
Technology - Record a ten (10) second advertisement and post via email, website and social media.
The Family Depot Chronicle is an electronic newsletter created by the Title I Family Academic Engagement and Title I Teams. Its
designed to provide Parent Liaisons and families with information and resources regarding how families can be involved in their childs
education, best practices to empower families to work with their children at home to improve student success and provide
stakeholders with Title I information.
Please submit articles or comments to any member of the Title I Family Engagement Team.
Office of Student Services
130 Trinity Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30308
http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/
Visit the APS Family Engagement website at http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/Page/39852

IMPORTANT TITLE I DATES

New date
January 29, 2016
Turn in Title I Family Engagement
and the Compact Documentation
Notebooks for the Title I Audit
***
February 2016March 2016
Complete Building Capacity
activities and/or workshops for
Staff and Parents
***
February 2016
District Parent Liaison and FAES
Professional Development
Power My Learning
Monday, February 1, 2016
and
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
One 2 hour session
***
March 8-10, 2016
APS Title I Cross-Functional
Monitoring Audit