Title I, Family and Community Engagement Plan
The Board recognizes that a child’s education is a responsibility shared by the school and family. To educate students effectively, the school and parents must work together as equal partners. We know families and communities play an integral role in the education of children, and we want to encourage and support active involvement in our schools. Our district receives Title I, Part A funds to help meet the needs of all students. The funds are used to hire additional teachers in our Title I schools, purchase technology and resources, and train school personnel to serve as ambassadors for families and the school community. All schools receiving funds from the Title I grant are required to have a Family and Community Engagement Plan that meets the guidelines established by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. In GCPS, our schools call this The Plan and The Promise.
Gwinnett County Public Schools partners with students and caregivers to engage, equip, and empower families, educators, and community members as co-authors for the development of the whole learner from birth through adulthood.
Our goals, as we partner with you, are to:
- establish expectations for meaningful and effective family engagement and
- strengthen the academic achievement of all students by engaging and supporting our families in the education of their children.
Family engagement provides parents, families, and school personnel with opportunities to participate in two-way, meaningful communication for the common goal of supporting students. Parents and families of all students in our schools are invited to attend meetings to share ideas and suggestions about the district’s and school’s improvement plans. Below are several ways you can engage with us:
1. Monthly Board Meetings— School Board meetings are typically held on the third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. All meetings are open to the public and may be viewed online on the district website (www.gcpsk12.org). The meeting schedule is found on the school district website. These meetings offer an opportunity for parents and community members to learn about districtwide news and initiatives. The agenda is prepared in advance of each meeting. Anyone wishing to speak before the Board must fill out the Request Form on the district website. The form to speak at the next month’s meeting is available the Thursday prior to the Board meeting. Citizens needing interpretation services should note that when completing the form.
2. Local School Councils—The primary goal of the local school council is to bring communities and schools closer together. The council makes recommendations to improve academic achievement, provides support for teachers and administrators, and brings parents into the school's decision-making process.
3. Federal Programs Family-School Partnership Advisory Council (PAC)– All parents are invited to participate in the PAC. PACs meet several times each year to:
1. establish how the district should use funds set aside for family engagement activities,
2. gather input on the District Improvement Plan
3. develop the GCPS Family and Community Engagement Plan, and
4. to learn about district and community resources to support student social, emotional, academic, and cognitive performance.
4. Local School Planning Meetings– Before the beginning of each school year, Title I schools host meetings for families and community members to provide input on local school and district improvement goals and the Title I budget. These meetings are for families and other interested community members to jointly develop The Plan & The Promise. We encourage all families to participate in the planning meetings at the local school. We work to remove as many barriers as possible to maximize participation in our planning meetings. Whenever possible, we will provide childcare, interpreters, and translations of documents. We will communicate in a variety of languages and family-friendly formats and offer a variety of meeting times, dates, and locations.
Parents are invited to communicate with their child’s teacher, visit their Title I school’s Family Engagement Center, or speak with the Parent Instructional Coordinator (PIC) or Parent Outreach Liaison (POL) to see how they may get involved in their child’s school.
The Office of Federal Programs provides ongoing support, guidance, and monitoring to ensure that Title I schools are working in partnership with families. Our Title I schools collaborate with other federal programs to improve the academic achievement of all students. Based on input from our families and communities, we use 1% of Title I grant funding to ensure that all Title I schools have either a certified PIC or a POL to assist families. The PIC or the POL takes the lead in providing opportunities for families to learn academic strategies that can be used at home, as well as training school staff on effectively communicating and building positive working relationships with families. All schools offer activities that align with the school goals, opportunities for shared decision-making, and assistance to families in the transition process from one school level to the next. In addition, each Title I school has a Family Engagement Center containing resources for use at home.
To promote school readiness for our future students, GCPS offers Play 2 Learn in all of the district’s Title I elementary schools. Parents in the program bring their child(ren), birth to age 5, to a weekly 90-minute session. During these sessions, activities are modeled and facilitated by a certified staff member using best practices for readiness skills. The program is focused on building the capacity of parents to be their child’s first teacher and providing an opportunity for students to be in a high-quality school environment.
The Engage, Equip, and Empower Series provides opportunities for families to participate in instructional sessions, workshops, events, and activities to engage with Gwinnett County Public Schools. The series will provide opportunities for families to learn how to support their children at home in the core academic content areas, be active participants in their children’s education, and learn about resources, programs, and wraparound services to support their children.
We encourage parents to attend district-level and school-level meetings to provide input on improvement strategies for schools that have been identified as Comprehensive Support and Improvement Schools and Targeted Support and Improvement Schools.
To determine the effectiveness of the Family and Community Engagement Plan and Title I programs, we ask parents and family members to complete a survey. This feedback helps us to better understand the needs of the school community and how we can improve our partnership with families. The results of the survey are posted on both the district and school websites. During the annual needs- assessment process, we review the data from the survey, along with other input from all stakeholders gathered throughout the year, to update and revise our Family and Community Engagement Plan.
This plan was reviewed and revised with the input of GCPS staff, families, and community members for the 2024–25 school year. The plan is available in Family Engagement Centers of Title I schools as well as on school and district websites.
Complaint procedures for Federal Programs are located on the district website.
Below are several ways you can engage with us:
3. Federal Programs Family-School Partnership Advisory Council (PAC)
4. Local School Planning Meetings
Parents are invited to communicate with their child’s teacher, visit their Title I school’s Family Engagement Center, or speak with the Parent Instructional Coordinator (PIC) or Parent Outreach Liaison (POL) to see how they may get involved in their child’s school.