Family & Community Engagement Plan
2022-2023 NMES Family & Community Engagement Plan
- Introduction
- We are a Team
- Response to Intervention
- School Information
- Second Harvest Program
- Parent/Community Involvement
- School Safety
- Tracking Student Progress
- Student Attendance
- We Need YOU!!!
Introduction
The Jefferson County Schools Family and Community Engagement Plan is based on the concept that families have a major influence on their children’s achievement in school and through life. As a result of this influence, positive results occur when schools, families, and community groups support learning. The New Market Elementary School Family and Community Engagement Plan supports those beliefs and we invite and encourage all stakeholders to participate in school events, support our students and faculty, and learn all they can in the process.
We are a Team
New Market Elementary School faculty and staff expect that families and community members are an integral part of our school. Classes are periodically offered for parents as well as for faculty and staff in the Love & Logic curriculum, which is used throughout the school year. Teachers and staff have received Capturing Kids Hearts training to better support building positive relationships within our building and provide a structure for supporting student behavior in a more meaningful way. School Volunteer Training will be offered throughout the school year in person and in virtual format as needed to accommodate parent schedules.
Response to Intervention
Response to Intervention is offered daily through Star Time to each child based upon the child’s academic and behavioral needs. Instruction is provided and individual progress is monitored. Meetings are held with parents when student progress is not what it should be and students need more intensive assistance. Parents are encouraged to contact their child’s teacher any time by notes, e-mail, or by calling the school during the teacher’s planning period. Teachers use student planners, class notebooks, daily calendars, Class Dojo App, and the Remind App to inform parents of students’ daily behavior and grades. We celebrate student success with parents and the community. The Pre-K teacher sends home monthly take home material for parents.
School Information
Parents are invited to participate in school-wide activities throughout the year. Annual activities may include school fundraisers, Christmas in Jefferson County collection of peanut butter and rice, and collections of Box Tops for Education. Parents are continually informed of school activities through school wide newsletters, teachers’ classroom newsletters, ClassDojo and Remind Apps, the school district’s website, the school’s website, through a large outdoor sign at the school, and the Blackboard Connect call system. New Market Elementary School’s website includes the district’s calendar, faculty emails, school events, and a lunch calendar for easy access. Parents are given an opportunity to look at the curriculum for each grade level via the web at any time or they may contact their child’s teacher. Assessments are explained through brochures, and newsletters as well as during RTI, 504, and student-support team meetings. Annually, at the Open House meeting, the Principal and teachers explain the curriculum and assessments used in our school, the current school data, as well as the qualifications of our highly trained faculty and staff. Also, at the Open House Meeting, the Principal explains the school improvement plan, its process, findings, and action steps to achieve the goals that have been set. During our Open House meeting, we also discuss Title I funds, what they are, how we spend the funds and gather input from parents on their ideas of how we could spend the money to best support our students. We encourage parents to contact the school if they have questions. Parents are included on the School Improvement Plan Committee and their input is valued. The State Report Card is available online and is published in the local newspaper. Parents of pre-kindergarten students are offered Parenting Education and Pre-K staff makes home visits upon student enrollment. Parenting Classes are offered through the Family Resource Center. These classes have a developmental education focus and give parents suggestions for activities that can be done at home. In addition, parents who have their child screened at the Family Resource Center prior to entering kindergarten will receive quarterly newsletters with helpful parenting tips.
Second Harvest Program
Families in need may sign up for the Second Harvest Food for Kids Program. Students are given enough food from the five basic food groups to take home on Fridays to ensure they have something to eat over the weekend. New Market United Methodist Church, located adjacent to the school, has offered room for storage of the food and members assist with the delivery to the site and bag the products for school distribution.
Parent/Community Involvement
Parents are given many opportunities to participate in the decision-making process of New Market Elementary School. We believe their input is important to the process of creating class rosters. Parents are asked to serve on the Community Engagement Committee, the School Improvement Plan Committee and the School Health Index Committee. Parents are invited to attend various music programs throughout the school year, STREAM Night, a Veteran’s Day Program, Pre-K and Fifth Grade Graduations, as well as the school’s Honors Day, etc. Parents are asked to participate in the school’s Book Character Day near Halloween to read to classes. A Veterans’ Day Program allows students to invite military family and friends where they are recognized and honored in a special program. Our School hosts an annual Fall Festival/Literacy & Math Night and provides volunteers for the library’s annual Book Fair. Fifth Grade sponsors opportunities where parents and community members are invited to participate in raising money for a fifth-grade overnight field trip. Parents are also encouraged to attend special events through the school year such as Field Day, Fun Day, County-Wide Elementary Field Day, the school and County-Wide Spelling Bees, Scholars’ Bowl Tournament, as well as Chorus and Band performances and many grade-level field trips. The annual County-Wide Spelling Bee is hosted at New Market Elementary.
School Safety
Visitors are only allowed to enter our school after we have verified who they are and why they are here. The visitor must be “buzzed” into the school building because all building doors are locked. During afternoon car rider dismissal, the person picking up the child must have a specialized car tag with their name on it. If a child must be dismissed through the office, a driver’s license must be shown and that person must be listed on the child's emergency card as having access to the child. We have radios assigned to each school employee for communication purposes in case of an emergency. We have a School Resource Officer provided by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department assigned to our school that patrols the area to make sure our school is secure. Our school safety team meets regularly to update our notebook of plans that we are to follow. We have security cameras and lights that surround our building so that we can monitor activity. All outside and classroom doors are locked throughout the school day. School safety is very important to us at New Market Elementary School.
Tracking Student Progress
Student progress is easily accessible to parents through the ASPEN school information system as well as through the Remind App and the Class Dojo App where students are rewarded for good behavior by earning points. The RTI2B program is fully implemented at NMES and positive behavior supports are in place.
Student Attendance
Student attendance is critical to achievement. Parents are encouraged to have students arrive on time each day and that they remain at school for the duration of the school day. Students are encouraged to be present and are rewarded for perfect attendance in each grading period. The school also incorporates a weekly attendance competition between classes to reward the class with the best attendance from the prior week. We support parents and students who are struggling with attendance by creating and implementing individualized attendance intervention plans.