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Burch Charter School
100 Linden Avenue
Irvington, New Jersey 07111
(973) 373-3223
Title I – Parents’ Right-to-Know Letter
September 12, 2011
Dear Parent/Guardian,
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act is our country’s most important federal education law. In 2001 this law was reauthorized and is now called the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). NCLB was designed to make changes in teaching and learning that will help increase academic achievement in our schools.
The law requires that all schools receiving Title I funds must inform parents of their right to ask schools about the qualifications of their child’s teachers. Our school receives Title I funding and we are happy to share this information with you at your request.
We believe that nothing is more important to your child’s education at school than having a well-prepared and highly qualified teacher. The law requires that all teachers must meet a specific legal definition of “highly qualified” in order to teach in schools that receive Title I funding. The legal definition of a “highly qualified teacher” has three parts. It states that the teacher must have the following:
1. A four-year college degree
2. A regular teaching certificate/license
3. Proof of their knowledge in the subject they teach
New Jersey has some of the most qualified teachers in the country, and we are extremely proud of the quality of the teaching staff at the Burch Charter School of Excellence. All of our regular teachers have college degrees and many have advanced degrees. The state of New Jersey has always required a teaching certificate/license for all teachers. In addition, every teacher continues learning through professional development activities and our teachers are evaluated each year to make sure that their teaching skills remain at the highest possible level.
Most teachers already meet this legal definition of highly qualified. All teachers hired after the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year were required to meet this definition. According to NCLB, veteran teachers, hired before the 2002-2003 school year, who do not yet meet the legal definition of highly qualified, had until the end of the 2005-2006 school year to do so. The state of New Jersey has requested flexibility from the United States Department of Education to extend the deadline to the end of the 2006-2007 school year.
To ensure that every child in every classroom has a highly qualified teacher, the state of New Jersey and our school are working together to help teachers meet the requirements of the federal law by providing several options. Teachers will soon be able to take a new test, or they can demonstrate their expertise through a combination of college coursework, professional development activities, and experience.
A highly qualified teacher knows what to teach, how to teach, and has a full understanding of the subject matter being taught. We believe that every teacher in our school is fully qualified and dedicated to teaching your child, and we will do everything possible to support our teachers who may not yet meet the legal definition required by the federal government.
I encourage you to support your child’s education and communicate with your child’s teacher(s) on a regular basis. For more information on NCLB, and the role of Title I parents, please visit the United States Department of Education Web site at www.ed.gov/nclb. Through strong and frequent partnerships, families and educators can provide your child with the best education possible.
Sincerely,
Dr. Dorian L. Dorsey
Principal
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The Burch Charter School of Excellence Policy
TITLE I - PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
Board Approval Date: September 14, 2010
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A school district that receives Title I funds must implement programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in programs assisted by Title I funding. The district will reserve not less than one percent of its allocation under Subpart 2 to carry out these requirements, which shall include promoting family literacy and parenting skills. Parents of pupils receiving Title I services shall be involved in the decisions regarding how funds will be allotted for parental involvement activities. The district is not required to reserve at least one percent of its allocation under Subpart 2 if the one percent of the district’s allocation is $5,000.00 or less.
Each school served with Title I funds shall jointly develop with, and distribute to, parents of participating pupils, this parental involvement policy, agreed on by such parents, that shall describe the means for carrying out the requirements of No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, §1119(a) through (f). Parents will be notified of this policy in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language the parents can understand. This policy shall be made available to the local community and updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and schools within the district.
“Parent”, for the purposes of this policy, means a parent and/or legal guardian. “School”, for the purposes of this policy, is a specific school in a Target Assistance Title I program or schools within the district in a school-wide Title I program.
Policy Involvement
Each school served with Title I funds will:
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Convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to which all parents of participating pupils shall be invited and encouraged to attend, to inform parents of their school’s participation and the requirements of this Policy, and the right of the parents to be involved;
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Offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening, and may provide, with Title I funds, transportation, child care, or home visits, as such services relate to parental involvement;
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Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of programs, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school parental involvement policy and the joint development of the school-wide program plan under NCLB, §1114(b)(2);
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Provide parents of participating pupils:
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Timely information about programs required by NCLB, §1118;
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A description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure pupil progress, and the proficiency levels pupils are expected to meet; and
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If requested by parents, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible.
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Submit any parent comments on the plan when the school makes the plan available to the Board of Education, if the school-wide program plan under
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§1114(b)(2) of NCLB is not satisfactory to the parents of participating pupils.
Shared Responsibilities For High Pupil Academic Achievement
Each school served by Title I funds shall jointly develop with parents of all pupils served with Title I funds, a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and pupils will share the responsibility for improved pupil academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the State’s high standards. The compact will:
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Describe the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the pupils served by Title I funds to meet the State’s pupil academic achievement standards, and the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children’s learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, and television watching; volunteering in their child’s classroom; and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and positive use of extracurricular time; and
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Address the importance of communication between teachers and parents on an ongoing basis through, at a minimum:
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Parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the compact shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual pupil’s achievement;
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Frequent reports to parents on their children’s progress; and
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Reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and observation of classroom activities.
Building Capacity For Involvement
To ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve pupil academic achievement, each school and school district assisted with Title I funds:
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Shall provide assistance to parents of pupils served by the school in understanding such topics as the State’s academic content standards and State pupil academic achievement standards, State and local academic assessments, the requirements of this Policy, and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children;
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Shall provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement;
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Shall educate teachers, pupil services personnel, Building Principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school;
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Shall, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, the Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers Program, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents to more fully participate in the education of their children;
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Shall ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand;
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May involve parents in the development of training for teachers, Principals, and
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other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training;
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May provide necessary literacy training from Title I funds if the school district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for such training;
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May pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with local parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions;
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May train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;
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May arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school, in order to maximize parental involvement and participation;
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May adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement;
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May develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities; and
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Shall provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this Policy as parents may request.
Accessibility
In carrying out the parental involvement requirements of NCLB, §1118 and this Policy, the School and school district, to the extent practicable, shall provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, to include providing information and school reports required under NCLB, §1111 in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language such parents understand.
The district will inform parents of any parental information and resource centers that provide training, information, and support to parents and individuals who work with local parents, school districts, and schools receiving Title I funds.
The Superintendent of Schools will submit this Policy to the New Jersey Department of
Education for review to be sure the Policy meets the requirements of NCLB, §1118.
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, §1118
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