Lake Dallas ISD Community Engagement Plan

In compliance with provisions of the High Quality Pre-Kindergarten grant Lake Dallas ISD has created the  following plan to improve community engagement. 

1. Activities facilitating family to family support:
   1. Host family nights such as literacy night, science fair, etc. to allow families the opportunity to  connect. 
   2. Host “Meet the Teacher” night at each elementary campus to allow families to meet staff and  connect. 
   3. Host a “Little Falcon Camp” to introduce students and parents to the campus at Lake Dallas Middle  School. This provides an opportunity for families to meet staff and each other.
   4. Promote family to family support at the secondary campuses through band or athletic booster  clubs. 
   5.  Annually conduct a “Fish” camp to familiarize students and families with Lake Dallas High School  and build family to family connections.
   6. Provide a community room at each elementary campus to facilitate family to family support  through various activities.
   7. Hold GOAL (Guys & Girls Operating As Leaders) family kick-off event to promote participation. f) Conduct various activities through the GOAL club to strength family to family ties.
2. Establish a network of community resources:
   1. Organize a presentation from WIC (Women, Infants and Children) to inform parents of the  resources available through their organization at least every other year.
   2. Partner with Texas Health Steps to connect parents to medical and health related services at least  every other year.
   3. Provide information sessions from the health department, CHIPs, Vita, Medicaid, Medicare, local  clinics, dental care, counseling, banking and college savings periodically.
   4. Provide Adult Education classes through partnership with Denton ISD to provide ESL and GED  classes.
   5. Work with Community in Schools to provide a backpack program, which provides food for needy  families regardless of age.
   6. Community in Schools makes referrals to a wide variety of agencies to meet the needs of families.
   7. Community in Schools will host various events to help prepare families for their student’s  educational future and financial planning.
   8. Partner with Frost Bank to provide parents with information on financial management and budget  planning.
   9. Work with Community in Schools to provide a mentoring program for 4^th and 5^th grade girls.
3. Increase family participation in decision-making:
   1. Continue to offer and expand opportunities for family participation in district decision-making on  Campus Education Improvement Committees, Title 1 Committees, and other campus committees. 
   2. Continue to offer and expand opportunities for family participation on district level committees  such as the District Education Improvement Committees and School Health Advisory Council.
   3. Involve parents and community members on special committees such as District of Innovation and  other select committees whose role is specific.
   4. Conduct surveys of various groups including ELL families to guide the District Parent Education  Program.
   5. Maintain strong PTAs at each campus to provide families a voice in spending and selecting  appropriate resources. 
4. Equip families with tools to enhance and extend learning:
   1. Present information to families to meet academic challenges such as math at home and science at  home to parents at all three elementary schools.
   2. Host literacy nights, science fairs, etc. at each elementary campus to connect students to their  families through education, which has been shown to have a big impact on student performance.
   3. Regularly hold events during school hours such as Story Time to involve families with young  children.
   4. Create games and other resources specifically designed for families to work with their  prekindergarten children on academic skills at home.
   5. Use the Pre-School First monitoring tool to allow parents to directly monitor the progress of their  prekindergarten students and facilitate dialogue between teachers and parents.
   6. Use Ready Rosie, which provides simple activities families can us to turn everyday activities into  learning opportunities for prekindergarten and kindergarten students.
   7. Host Leader in Me nights to provide parents with information about the program and how to  effectively implement the program at home.
5. Develop staff skills in evidence-based practices that support families in meeting their children’s  learning benchmarks:
   1. Regularly provide training on sheltered instruction to staffs at all levels to help ELL and other  students.
   2. Provide ongoing training on using various technology applications to enhance teacher to family  engagement.
6. Evaluate family engagement efforts and use evaluations for continuous improvement:
   1. The Director of Instructional Services shall meet with the District Parent Involvement Coordinator  and campus representatives from the Communities in Schools in the spring to evaluate the current  school year’s activities and plan for the following school year.
   2. The District shall evaluate the Adult Education program and coordinate with Denton ISD to ensure  it continues to serve our community effectively.
   3. Bright Bytes survey of families at all campus to provide a snapshot of technology needs d) Use Community in Schools home visits to determine needs.

Revised 4/23/2018