Title 1 Family Compact

Purpose of this Policy and Compact

Efforts will be made to clearly articulate the school’s intentions to engage with and involve parents/caregivers in the educational process.

Herndon Elementary is a Title I school within Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) and utilizes the Title I grant to improve student achievement and help all students meet the objectives of the FCPS Program of Studies and the Virginia Standards of Learning. A partnership with families is essential to meeting this goal. 
Under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, schools that receive Title I funds are expected to collaborate with families to develop and maintain a parent and family engagement policy that describes the school’s approach to involve families in students’ learning and includes a compact expressing the partnerships among staff, caregivers, and students to reach high academic goals for every student. 
Herndon Elementary jointly developed this policy and compact with members of the school community and adopted it for the 2023-2024 school year. Several of the provisions specifically address state or federal expectations for the policy and compact.

This policy and compact is distributed to all caregivers in a language that families can understand. Caregivers have opportunities to provide comments and feedback on the policy and compact through PTA meetings, the Annual Title I Meeting, School Events, and our family liaisons. Comments are submitted with the school’s policy and compact to FCPS central offices and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). This policy and compact are made available to the broader school community through the school website.

Important Dates

Parent-Teacher Conferences

  • October 10, 2023, November 6, 2023, and November 7, 2023
  • Additional dates, as needed

Progress Report Distribution

  • November 16, 2023
  • February 1, 2024
  • April 4, 2024
  • June 12, 2024

School Events

  • Summer Grade Level Playdates, August 9, 2023
  • welcom Walk & Back to School Bash, August 17, 2023
  • Popsicles on the Playground (Herndon Community Center), September 20, 2023
  • Science Night with the Children's Science Center, September 28, 2023
  • Family Literacy & Math Carnival, October 19, 2023
  • Career Day, April 2024
  • Heritage Night, April 25, 2024

Building Capacity for Involvement

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers are actively involved in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the school’s Title I program, including the following: 

  • Provide family members a voice in decision-making on committees, such as PTA, SIIP, and Title I Parent Advisory Committee.
  • Engage caregiver input when developing the School Improvement and Innovation Plan (SIIP), Comprehensive Needs Assessment, the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy and Compact and plans for use of Title I family engagement funding.
  • Seek feedback from families on programs within the SIIP, offer multiple methods for caregivers to submit comments about programs they may not find satisfactory, and submit any such comments with SIIP to FCPS central offices.
  • Invite family members to help in organizing and executing a variety of school events to build collective ownership, such as Principal Coffees, Movie Nights, Book Fair, and Popsicles on the Playground.
  • Provide opportunities for caregivers to volunteer within the school in various ways, such as assembling kindergarten and first day packets, classroom, cafeteria, health room and book fair volunteering, and field trip chaperones.
  • Encourage families to take part in the annual evaluation of the division-level Title I parent and family engagement policy in order to identify:
    • barriers to greater family participation,
    • ways to help family members be better able to assist in student learning, and
    • strategies to support successful school and family interactions.

Effective Communication with Parents

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers receive meaningful communication in a timely manner, including the following:

  • Use multiple methods of communication to families such as social media (X, Facebook, Instagram), Thursday folders (virtual and paper copies), weekly grade level emails, New You Choose, Talking Points, eNotify, and PTA meetings.
  • Encourage all caregivers to attend an annual meeting on October 3, 2023, in person to share information about Title I services, explain Title I grant requirements, and inform families of their right to be involved in the school.
  • Share school and student performance data with families in ways that seek their ideas about how to improve performance toward Virginia’s challenging academic standards, such as Back to School Bash, parent-teacher conferences, curriculum nights, and principal coffees/PTA meetings.
  • Provide opportunities throughout the year for families to better understand the school’s goals for students and find ways to improve student learning by curriculum nights, parent-teacher conferences, and principal coffees.
  • Maintain resources for caregivers to review student assignments and ongoing communication about student work, such as Schoology, Talking Points, Weekly Grade Level Emails, and Thursday folders.
  • Provide ongoing feedback on student progress through quarterly progress reports that show specific areas of proficiency and areas for continued growth.
  • Hold parent-teacher conferences for all students at least annually in the fall and more often, as needed.

Shared Responsibilities for High Academic Achievement

Efforts will be made to ensure parents/caregivers receive materials, training, and benefits from school partnerships with social and academic services, community organizations, businesses, including the following:

  • Hold workshops connecting caregivers to tools and resources, such as literacy, math, wellness, and community resources.
  • Offer regular opportunities for families to learn directly from school staff about the school’s academic, behavioral, and social programming through curriculum nights.
  • Encourage participation in family learning events where caregivers learn strategies to support their child’s learning at home and have a chance to practice those strategies with their child, such as literacy and math nights.
  • Provide ongoing access to resources in the school, such as lending library, weekend food bag distribution, and supply/backpack distribution.
  • Provide mentors for students though middle school, high school, and adult mentoring programs with Herndon staff mentors and community mentors.
  • Provide opportunities to donate and access supplies donated by others, such as Trinity Presbyterian Church, Food for Others Organization, and other FAITH organizations.
  • Leverage partnerships with local businesses and organizations to enhance school programs and events, such as the Town of Herndon, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Herndon Rotary Club, LINK, Heritage Fellowship, Food for Others, Herndon Police Department, The Wish List, Herndon Neighborhood Readiness Team, and Cornerstones.
  • Support parents in accessing county and community resources, such as the family resource fair.
  • Offer outreach and training for targeted families, such as parenting classes and English classes.

Welcoming All Families

Efforts will be made to ensure that all parents/caregivers are welcomed and provided opportunities to actively engage within the school, including the following: 

  • Create a welcoming atmosphere at the school with international flags, multilingual signage, and multilingual staff.
  • Provide interpretation services for parent-teacher conferences, workshops, and meetings.
  • Translate or provide interpretation of all school documents and communication to make them accessible in the caregiver’s preferred correspondence language and for those with vision or hearing impairments.
  • Support two-way communication between families and staff through assistance of a parent liaison for parent-teacher conferences, principal coffees, PTA meetings, and curriculum nights.
  • Expand access for family participation in informational meetings and learning sessions through offering printed documents in relevant languages, securing interpreters for meetings, using the Listening Interpretive System (LIS) at meetings and events, and providing bus transportation for families.

Compact Provisions

School staff, parents/caregivers, and students must work together to ensure student success.

The staff will:

Provide a high-quality curriculum and instruction that enables students to meet challenging academic standard through the following actions:

  • Teach all students according to the state’s challenging standards, using approved curriculum
  • Provide ongoing professional development and support to all teachers to ensure effective instructional practices are used in all classrooms.
  • Offer ongoing opportunities for students to actively engage in meaningful learning opportunities.
  • Provide regular training to teachers to understand students’ academic, social, and emotional needs.

Provide a supportive and effective learning environment for students through the following actions:

  • Provide clear expectations for student behavior and academic learning.
  • Offer a variety of resources to help students with their learning.
  • Offer opportunities and resources for student support and enrichment.
  • Implement practices that teach collaboration and respect, e.g. Morning Meetings.

Provide assistance to caregivers in understanding the school’s program through the following actions:

  • Hold an annual meeting to present information on the school’s Title I programs, state and division curriculum and assessments, and the school’s state and federal accountability status.
  • Provide multiple opportunities for caregivers to ask questions and give input in the Title I program(s).
  • Curriculum nights to share about academic and social emotion learning.

Build caregivers’ involvement in the school’s Title I program through the following actions: 

  • Include caregivers as members of the School Improvement and Innovation Planning (SIIP) Committee and as collaborators in developing the SIIP and plans for the use of Title I family engagement funds.
  • Make meeting minutes and agendas available to parents.
  • Encourage family members to join and participate with the PTA.

The parents/caregivers will:

Demonstrate understanding that participation in my child’s education will help his or her achievement through the following actions: 

  • Participate in decisions related to school programs and my child’s education and share my questions or comments about the programs in my child’s school.
  • Volunteer in my child’s classroom or in school activities, as my schedule allows.
  • Encourage and support my child’s learning at home and at school.
  • Stay informed about my child’s education by checking my child’s backpack regularly for school communication, such as the weekly folder, and will respond to teachers’ notes, school forms, and other communication.
  • Be involved in school activities and events to build community and support academic achievement.

The student will:

Share the responsibility to improve my academic learning to achieve the state’s challenging standards through the following’s actions:

  • Get enough sleep every night.
  • Come to school on time unless I am sick.
  • Try my hardest and work with my classmates to complete learning tasks.
  • Give my parents all notes and papers from my teacher.
  • Ask questions if I do not understand something.