Holbrook Unified School District #3

Family Involvement Partnership

The Holbrook Family Involvement Partnership--schools, families, and the community--recognizes that a child’s education is a responsibility shared by all. To ensure that all students are effectively educated, the schools and parents must work as knowledgeable partners.

Our community’s diversity is a strength we can build on to establish programs and practices that enhance family involvement and reflect the specific needs of students and their families. These will be comprehensive and coordinated in nature, with annual evaluation of effectiveness and changing needs.

Family involvement can be defined in many different ways from attending parent conferences and school performances to more foundational needs such as

ensuring that children are at school every day and on time
making education a priority
setting a routine and providing a space for completion of homework assignments
maintaining communication with school and teachers
reading to or with children every day

Schools can promote effective family involvement by:

providing avenues for regular, two-way and meaningful communication
promoting and supporting responsible parenting
encourage families to play an integral role in assisting student learning
welcoming families in the school
providing opportunities for families to participate in educational decisions
seeking community resources to strengthen school programs, family practices and student learning

Working together, schools, homes, and the community can best support children’s educational needs by:

ensuring basic physical, social, and health needs are met
setting goals and expectations
being available for children
expressing positive attitudes

Addressing Barriers to Family Involvement

Holbrook’s Family Involvement Partnership recognizes the barriers to meaningful family involvement and has a commitment to address those barriers tin order to best meet the needs of families and students. Among the primary barriers identified are the following:

distance and transportation
Broadband and internet access for educational purposes
time and competing priorities
socio-economic status and job commitments
intimidation factors (i.e. lack of education, poor literacy skills, personal insecurities, or adverse educational experiences
health issues or lack of child care

We also acknowledge that schools must work to break down barriers such as:

inadequate communication
lack of a welcoming atmosphere (including an open and welcome environment within the school, a warm reception by all staff, and accessibility to buildings)
lack of planning or resources to provide transportation and child care, as well as holding meetings and activities at times conducive to the greatest participation
addressing language needs through interpreters and written translations

Goals for the Future

1) Holbrook’s Family Involvement Partnership will provide support for effective family involvement programs and practices through professional development opportunities to enhance understanding and implementation of effective family involvement strategies and methods for addressing barriers to involvement.

2) Once adopted, pertinent components of the Family Involvement Partnership policy and goals will be included in each school’s Student Handbook. In addition, family involvement activities and services will be promoted through the local media, brochures, and the HUSD #3 website.

3) Holbrook’s Family Involvement Partnership will assist schools with the implementation of the six standards for meaningful family involvement:

Communicating
Parenting
Student Learning
Volunteering
School Decision-making and Advocacy
Collaborating with the Community

These standards, developed by the National Parent Teacher Organization, were designed to help school and parent leaders develop dynamic parent involvement programs that are meaningful, well planned and long-lasting. The attached addendum, “National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs,” provides detailed information and quality indicators.

Top Ten Techniques for Elementary School Parents:

Review your student’s school handbook
Attend family engagement nights
Attend individual conferences
Serve on the school site council
Attend special events such as music concerts, field days, classroom events
Volunteer in your child’s classroom
Utilize the Infinite Campus Parent Portal to track your child’s progress
Utilize the HUSD #3 app for school-wide communications and updates
Look for and/or ask for progress reports from your child’s teacher
Request a conference with your child’s teacher at any time
Attend “Meet Your Teacher” at the beginning of the year

Top Ten Techniques for Junior High School Parents:

Review your student’s school handbook
Attend family math and technology nights
Attend both parent-teacher conference events (fall and spring)
Attend special events such as music concerts, sporting events, classroom events
Volunteer in your child’s classroom
Search Infinite Campus Parent Portal to access your child’s academic progress
Look for and/or ask for progress reports from your child’s teacher
Request a conference with your teacher at any time
Utilize the HUSD #3 app for school-wide communications and updates
Attend “Meet Your Teacher” at the beginning of the year
Serve on the school site council

Top Ten Techniques for High School Parents:

Review your student’s school handbook
Attend Back to School Night to meet your child's teachers
Attend both parent-teacher conference events (fall and spring)
Attend special events such as music concerts, sporting events, school events
Search Infinite Campus Parent Portal to access your child’s academic progress
Look for and/or ask for progress reports from your child’s teacher
Request a conference with your teacher at any time
Utilize the HUSD #3 app for school-wide communications and updates
Work with your child’s teacher to support your child in their college and career aspirations
Attend FASFA (student financial assistance) nights
Serve on the school site council