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Family Engagement Plan

According to the Texas Education Code, a school district shall develop, implement and make available on the district's website a family engagement plan to assist the district in achieving and maintaining high levels of family involvement and positive family attitudes towards education. An effective family engagement plan creates a foundation for the collaboration of mutual partners, embraces the individuality and uniqueness of families, and promotes a culture of learning that is child-centered, age-appropriate and family-driven.

Muenster ISD has developed a family engagement plan that will bring family, community, and educators together to support early learning and development of children. All efforts will be focused on improving the education of all students in an innovative way that will help them become lifelong learners who will be able to be successful and compete in an ever-changing world.

Muenster ISD School Parent and Family Engagement Policy

Muenster ISD believes that the education of all students should be a partnership between the school, parents, and family members.  As parents are their child’s first teachers, they play an essential role in the success of students.

Definitions of Family and Family Engagement:

  • Family includes adults and children significant in the child’s life who support the early learning and development of the child.
  • Family engagement is the mutual responsibility of families, schools and communities.
  • Family engagement builds relationships to support student learning and achievement and to support family well-being, family-student relationships and ongoing learning and development of children, families, and educators.
  • Family engagement is fully integrated in the child’s educational experience and supports the whole child. It is culturally and linguistically responsive and continues through a child’s life.

 

Components and Strategies:

1. Create a foundation for collaboration of mutual partners:

  • We foster a collaborative exchange of information with our weekly newsletters.
  • We encourage family participation in decision-making with our Site-Based Committee and PT0 organization.
  • We utilize district communication with Blackboard Communications, classroom communication with Remind 101 and SeeSaw to communicate with parents about situations and events pertaining to the school.
  • We use phone/email communication with the parents directly about the student’s progress throughout the year and conduct parent-teacher conferences.  
  • Annual Title I meetings, scheduled at convenient times, to which all parents are invited and encouraged to attend, review the Parent and Family Engagement Policy, and School-Parent Compact. Parents are informed of their rights, including the right to be involved in their child's education.

 

2. Embrace the individuality and uniqueness of families:

  • We have lunch programs, classroom holiday celebrations, and six week awards programs for parents, grandparents, and other family members to come to the school and actively participate in school functions.
  • We use a variety of ways to welcome and involve parents and family members at school (Welcome Back - Meet the Teacher, Grandparents Week, Open House, and programs such as Veterans Day Ceremony, MES Talent Show, etc.).
  • We have designed experiences for families that provide a variety of activities throughout the school year (parent-teacher conferences, field trips, and school programs).

 

3. Promote a culture of learning that is child-centered and family driven:

  • We provide a welcoming environment that reflects on parent experiences, practices, and new strategies with our curriculum and class parties.
  • We use positive contacts, notes, and emails to talk with our families about their children’s academic progress and discuss ways that parents and family members can support their academic achievement.

 

4. Establish and articulate expectations:

  • We help parents and families understand the types of involvement that will help achieve the goals and objectives identified to meet the needs of the child and family.
  • We hold annual Title I meetings, at convenient times, to which all parents are invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of the school’s participation in Title I.
  • We provide parents and family members a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of the challenging State academic standards.
  • We provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their child's academic achievement as well as using the Parent Portal to check their child's grades.

 

5. Evaluate and improve family engagement efforts:

  • We utilize informal and formal data collections to promote continuous parent and family engagement.
  • We ensure that our family engagement activities and teaching and learning goals are aligned by sending home family projects and activities that correlate with what we are learning about at school and by using those teachable moments when big, important events happen in our students’ lives.
  • We instill the belief in educators/staff that family engagement is a core strategy to improve teaching and learning.
  • We involve parents in the annual improvement planning process which includes the review of the parent and family engagement policy, school-parent compact, and campus improvement plan.