The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) strengthens adult family members' connections to schools and how schools cultivate relationships with families. Providing learning experiences for the entire family to enjoy, creating hands-on parent learning activities, volunteering opportunities, and partnering with parents for school decision making is the heart of family engagement. Research proves increased family engagement has a direct positive correlation to students' academic and social-emotional success at school.
To learn more, read our District Parent and Family Engagement Plan (DPFEP)
Family engagement is an ESSA requirement for Title I schools. However, MCSD knows the importance of family engagement without ESSA's explicit mandate. The district is committed to family engagement through:
- Offering programs and activities to engage parents and family members, and seeking meaningful consultation with parents
- Developing with parental input written parent and family engagement policy
- Building schools' capacity to engage families
- Evaluating family engagement policy and practice with meaningful input from families
- Involving families in activities of Title I schools
- Reserving at least 1% of Title I funds to support parent and family engagement activities and involving parents in deciding how to use these funds.
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