Title One Apollo-Ridge Elementary School School-Parent Compact Apollo-Ridge Elementary School has established a Title I School-Parent Compact, developed as a collaboration between parents, teachers, and administrators, to highlight the responsibilities of school stakeholders in providing a high-quality education to all students. This document is sent home to all families in the elementary school, and may also be viewed online by clicking on the attachment below. | ||
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Title One Apollo-Ridge Elementary School Parent Involvement Policy With the collaboration of the Title One Parent Advisory Council, the School Parent Involvement Policy provides specific details regarding how Title One practices are developed and implemented within the school, along with how parents may take an active role in the process. To view the Title One Apollo-Ridge Elementary School Parent Involvement Policy, please click on the attachment below: | ||
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Title I Questions and Answers for A-R
What is Title I?
Title I is a federally funded program that is designed to ensure that all students have a fair and equal opportunity to obtain a high-quality education. Each school district receives a funding amount as part of Title I, Part A based on a given formula, including consideration for the number of economically-disadvantaged students in your district. For each school year, the district completes a Consolidated Application detailing how the funds are projected to be spent, including a budget indicating dollar amounts for each given eligible area. Title I funding may be spent on reading instruction, mathematics instruction, or both.
How does Apollo-Ridge use Title I funding?
Apollo-Ridge school district devotes it's Title I funding to the elementary school level. In particular, Title I funds are used to support the reading program for students in grades K-5. Apollo-Ridge Elementary is designated as being "School-wide," which provides a greater amount of flexibility in how funding is used (this is addressed is the next section.) Much of this funding is used to pay the salary and benefits of individuals who will help support students to acquire the skills they need to become proficient readers.
Some individuals paid through Title I serve as Reading Specialists, who may work with small groups or individual students within the classroom or in an alternate location in order to build basic literacy skills. An instructional aide paid through Title I is assigned to work with the Reading Specialists in order to assist in monitoring the progress of children and supporting the methods used to increase literacy in classrooms.
Title I funding is also used to support portions of salary and benefits for teachers of Full-Day Kindergarten in the elementary school. Full-Day Kindergarten was first implemented in Apollo-Ridge Elementary School in the 2011-2012 school year, and was put in place to address the needs of all students, providing more instructional time that will enable students to increase their literacy skills.
Funding is also devoted toward parent and community involvement. Programs such as Family Fun Night, Reader's Theater, and other reading-focused events are developed by Title I funded staff and supplies are funded through this source.
Professional development may be funded through Title I also. Surveys are given to faculty in the elementary school each year in order to assess the needs of staff, and the district Professional Education Committee designs a plan for professional development based on those needs and the goals of the district.
A portion of Title I funding received by Apollo-Ridge is shared with non-public school where resident students may attend. The non-public schools have the option as to whether they wish to participate, as they must adhere to federal guidelines in order to receive the funding. For schools that do wish to participate, Apollo-Ridge works collaboratively with them in order to meet the needs of students who are targeted to participate and ensure a quality program is provided. Since Apollo-Ridge only utilizes Title I funding in its elementary school, only elementary level non-public schools are eligible to receive a portion of the funding.
What does it mean to be "School-Wide?"
There are two types of programs that school can be designated as that use Title I funding to support their programs, Targeted Assistance and School Wide. In basic terms, with a targeted assistance program only specific students who qualify may take part in programs or have access to staff paid for with Title I funding. In a school wide program, as we have in A-R Elementary, the entire building qualifies as eligible to use Title I funding, meaning that every student from K-5 is eligible to benefit from these services if appropriate. The phrase if appropriate is stressed, because it is important to remember that Title I funding is designed to help students achieve basic skills. While current and future kindergarten students will benefit from the full-day kindergarten program, beyond kindergarten Title I funded staff in our school may only work with specific groups of students in need of remediation or the further development of a particular literacy skill.
How do I know if my child is participating in a Title I program?
The best way to understand the nature of your child's academic program is through communication with your child's classroom teacher. They have the immediate working knowledge of what your child is doing or learning on a day-to-day basis.
Across all elementary grade levels, the program seeks to balance between whole group instruction and small-group or individually based instruction. Each day, core instruction in connection with our reading program is delivered to our students in a large group setting. Additionally through the course of the day, children may move location to work with teachers who will work to the strengths or areas of need for smaller groups of students. Where or to whom these students report to for this instruction is based on data, including information that describes students' current levels of fluency or comprehension. Groupings or the specifics of instruction may differ by the day, week, month, or other period of time. Basically, we work really hard to customize instruction to meet the needs of your child on an on-going basis!
If my child is in a reading intervention program, will they always be in one?
Instruction for students is always based on need. Within the school, progress is monitored on an on-going basis. If a student was working in an intervention or remedial program to address the skill becomes proficient in that area, they may absolutely move to a different type or level of instruction when they are ready. As a district, our philosophy does not seek to "pigeon-hole" students into a particular program or track. If a student is in need of remediation, we seek to provide remediation. If a student is in need of enrichment, we look for ways to provide enrichment. In any case, students may experience changes in program and who is delivering instruction based on data and the demonstration of need. It is important, however, to maintain an open line of communication with your child's classroom teacher in order to understand the academic program being provided to them.
How can I become involved with or support the Title I program in our school?
The great news is, due to being designated as being School Wide, your support of any of our elementary reading programs is related to Title I services. Extracurricular events such as Family Fun Night, Literacy Nights, Open Houses, and so on are open and available to all parents, and we greatly encourage you to attend.
Additionally, parent input is solicited with regard to the development of Title I affiliated documents such as the School-Parent Compact and School Parent Involvement Policy, both of which are available on the district website (www.apolloridge.com). The school district has meetings of a Title I Parent Advisory in both the fall and spring to review these documents, as well as discuss other program-related issues.
If you are interested in becoming part of the Title I Parent Advisory Council, please contact:
Dr. Ashley J. Coudriet Director of Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment (724) 478-6032
Who do I contact if I have questions regarding my child's reading program?
The first contact regarding information of your child's academic program is their classroom teacher. Please seek to contact them by phone or email.
Should you have further concerns, please contact your child's building principal:
Mr. Travis Barta K-8 Principal (724) 478-6000 ext. 5001
Mrs. Courtney Anderson K-8 Assistant Principal (724) 478-6000 ext. 5001
For questions specific to Federal Programs or Title I:
Dr. Ashley J. Coudriet Director of Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment (724) 478-6032 |