Purpose of the 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.

Lorton Station 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.

Lorton Station Elementary jointly developed this policy and compact with members of the school community and adopted it for the 2024-2025 school year. A number 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 parent surveys and School Home Partnership Meetings, and Family Outreach programs. 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 14 - December 2, 2024
• As needed during second, third, and fourth quarters

Progress Report Distribution
• November 13, 2024
• February 6, 2025
• April 9, 2025
• June 11, 2025

School Events
• Open House: August 15, 2024
• Back to School Night: August 28, 2024
• Annual Meetings: October 2024
• Principal Coffees: October 3, October 25, November 8, November 22, January 31, February 3, February 28, March 28, April 25, May 2
• Math and Literacy Night: September 10, November 6, January 30
• Advanced Academic Nights: September 10, 2024 and November 14, 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 Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) committee and Title I Parent Advisory Council.
• Engage caregiver input when developing the School Innovation Improvement Plan (SIIP), Title I Schoolwide Plan, 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 Title I Schoolwide Plan, offer multiple methods for caregivers to submit comments about programs they may not find satisfactory, and submit any such comments with the Title I Schoolwide Plan to FCPS central offices.
• Invite family members to help in organizing and executing a variety of school events to build collective ownership, such as Family Movie Nights, Family Bingo, Spell-a-thon, after school enrichment programs/clubs, and field trips.
• Provide opportunities for caregivers to volunteer within the school in various ways, such as Movie Night, PTO Family Nights, Wednesday Folders, Book Fairs, 6th Grade Promotion Ceremony and classroom volunteers.
• Encourage families to take part in annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness 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 our Parent Liaison, the Roadrunner Express (News You Choose), school marquee, Talking Points, Instagram, school website to support family communications/connections.
• Encourage all caregivers to attend Parent Teacher Organization meetings throughout the year 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 providing school performance profile information, sharing School Innovation Improvement Plan (SIIP), the state assessment program, and individual student assessment results to parents.
• Provide opportunities throughout the year for families to better understand the school’s goals for students and find ways to improve student learning by parent conferences, Back-to-School Nights, Math and Reading Nights, and Advanced Academic Nights.
• Maintain resources for caregivers to review student assignments and ongoing communication about student work, such as school agenda, interims, and progress reports. In addition, parents may request conferences at any time during the year.
• 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.
• Provide ongoing feedback on student progress through quarterly progress reports that show specific areas of proficiency and areas for continued growth.
• Provide information in families’ home languages whenever possible to increase communication with families and engage all families in their child’s education.
• Communicate with families on a regular basis regarding their child’s progress in school through conferences, phone calls, interim reports, and written messages in a language that parents can understand.
• Provide staff to support parent involvement including a bi-lingual parent liaison, school counselors, school social worker, school psychologist and family engagement leaders.
• Provide opportunities for parents to give feedback with surveys and discussions at Parent Teacher Organization meetings and school Title 1 events.

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-based organizations, and businesses, including the following:

• Hold workshops connecting caregivers to tools and resources, such as offering a variety of opportunities to engage parents of kindergarten students, as we support a smooth transition into elementary school. Events include: a Kindergarten orientation, Kindergarten Assessment Clinic, Bridge to K Program and Kindergarten Curriculum Night. An extension to the Early Literacy Program includes school-based transitions (i.e. “Field Trips” to the Library, Café, and Technology). Conduct workshops at a variety of times to aid all families in supporting their child’s academic achievement, such as Advanced Academics Parent Information Night, Partners in Print, and other curriculum nights; including SOL information and academic information focused on the four content areas. Also, offer opportunities to share information regarding 6th grade transition by providing academic advising with students and parents and information on the AVID program.
• Provide families with access to early childhood education by offering an Early Literacy Hispanic Program, African Heritage Early Literacy Program and Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youth (HIPPY) program to practice strategies for student success.
• Offer regular opportunities for families to learn directly from school staff about the school’s academic, behavioral, and social programming through Back-to School Nights, Math and Reading Nights, AAP Parent Information nights and SOL night.
• 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 Math and Reading Nights.
• Provide ongoing access to resources in the school, such Family Engagement and FCPS Parent Engagement Center homepage on the FCPS website featuring: Tip card of the month, Upcoming Events, Parent Resources, Parent Information Phone Line and Parent Liaison information – translatable via language selector tab into multiple languages and Family Support Department quarterly newsletter.
• Provide mentors for students though the MentorWorks Program and GrandInvolve Program.
• Provide opportunities to donate and access supplies donated by others, such as school supplies and coats, by accessing the Lorton Community Action Center, School Home Partnership, and other community agencies.
• Leverage partnerships with local businesses and organizations to enhance school programs and events, such as Grandinvolve and Lorton Community Action Center tutoring services.
• Support parents in accessing county and community resources, such as The Lorton Action Community Center, Winter Boutique Drive, and Fairfax County Coordinated Services.

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 open communication, friendly and respectful school climate, and one that builds on the relationships of families.
• 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 or other language interpreters for parent conferences, communication between parents and staff members, special education meetings, and translation of documents.
• Expand access for family participation in informational meetings and learning sessions through free family events sponsored by the school and School Home Partnerships Programs.

Compact Provisions

School staff, parents/caregivers, and students must work together to ensure a 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 resources.
• Provide ongoing professional development and support to all teachers to ensure effective instructional practices are used in all classrooms.
• Provide ongoing communication through a variety of ways (emails, google docs, CLT meetings, team meetings, staff meetings) between the classroom teachers, resource teachers, and administration to provide programs that differentiate through interventions and enrichment.
• Provide all students access to weekly lessons and activities to engage them in problem solving across the curricula that involves critical and creative thinking strategies.
• Provide online resources such as MyOn, Lexia, and ST Math.

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

• Provide clear expectations for student behavior and academic learning using Responsive Classroom strategies.
• Offer a variety of resources to help students with their learning.
• Promote a learning environment that encourages positive relationship where children and adults are treated with respect.

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 into the Title I program.
• Maintain regular and open communication with parents about children’s progress toward meeting grade level benchmarks and opportunities for critical and creative thinking activities.
• Offer learning opportunities for families through instructional nights such as Advanced Academic Services, Math Night, Family Literacy Night, SOL Testing, and Back-to-School Nights.

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

• Include caregivers as members of the School Innovation and Improvement Planning (SIIP) Committee and as collaborators in developing the Title I Schoolwide Plan and plans for the use of Title I family engagement funds.
• Continuously fostering a collaborative approach to working with parents and the school community to ensure success for all students.

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.
• Promote positive attitude about education and life-long learning lessons.
• Encourage my child to understand the need for building respectable rapport with school staff (teachers, counselors, administrators) and classmates.
• Support my child’s daily reading, writing and math assignments.
• Review math concepts with my child each day and encourage discussion of math in their daily life.
• Read with my child daily and discuss what they have read.
• Check my child’s book bag daily and respond to notices, teacher’s notes, and other communication.
• Bring concerns to the attention of teachers, parent liaisons, counselors, or school administrators so they can be addressed promptly.
• Praise and encourage my child when I work with him/her and recognize his/her efforts and successes at school.
• Attend Open House, Back-to-School Night, Parent/Teacher conferences, family learning programs and school events whenever possible
• Review all school communication and return the weekly Wednesday Folder.
• Send my child to school daily and on time.
• Participate in Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), family learning events, after-school literacy/math programs and school activities whenever possible.
• Maintain regular communication with my child’s school and teacher

The student will:

Share the responsibility to improve my academic learning to achieve the state’s challenging standards through the following 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.
• Follow the Lorton Station School Rules:
  • Be Respectful. Be Responsible. Be Safe and Caring.
• Return books, materials, and notices on time.
• Complete homework and turn in all daily assignments.
• Read independently or with a parent, guardian, or older sibling at home for at least 20 minutes per day.
• Always try my best to reach my personal goals/Hopes and Dreams.
• Talk with a parent, counselor, teacher, or school administrator if I need help solving a problem.