FAMILY ENGAGEMENT PLAN
2014-2015
Updated 7/12/2013
INTRODUCTION
Grizzlies Prep recognizes that a child’s education is a responsibility shared by the school and
family. Engaging parents, guardians, and family members is essential to improving student
achievement, and schools should foster and support active parental involvement. To educate
all students effectively, the school and parents must work as knowledgeable partners. Grizzlies
Prep endeavors to engage with and to meet the diverse needs of parents and children.
In service of Grizzlies Prep’s commitment to active parental involvement and in compliance with
the legal requirements of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Grizzlies
Prep, with the assistance of parents, has jointly developed, agreed on, implemented, and
distributed to parents this Family Engagement Plan. Parents are notified of the Family
Engagement Plan at the beginning of each academic school year in understandable and
uniform language and format (a). It is made available to the community via our school website
and is updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school (b). Parents
are informed of their rights to be involved in the plan and other parental involvement programs
at the outset of the school year during parent meetings (c).
PARENT ENGAGEMENT MEETINGS
Grizzlies Prep hosts a number of meetings on a flexible schedule (mornings and evenings) (d)
throughout the year to ensure that all parents have the opportunity to:



learn about the school’s programs, policies, and progress;
plan and participate in a variety of activities designed to enrich academics and engage
parents;
become involved, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review,
and improvement of Grizzlies Prep’s Family Engagement Plan and joint development of
the Title I schoolwide program plan (also known as a School Improvement plan, or SIP)
(e).
These meetings generally take four forms: Parent University, Board Meetings, Parent Team
Meetings, Parent Sessions, and student-led conferences (SLCs). These meetings are described in
further detail below.
Outside of these regularly scheduled parent engagement meetings, opportunities for regular
meetings, conferences, and other reasonable supports are arranged per parent’s request. In
these meetings, school staff will work with parents to formulate suggestions and support
participation, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and to
respond to any such suggestions (h, o).
To the extent practicable, Grizzlies Prep shall provide full opportunities for the participation of
parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory
children, including providing information and school reports in a format and, to the extent
practicable, in a language parents understand (p).
1
PARENT UNIVERSITY
In Parent University, school staff members give presentations and conduct answer sessions on
topics such as school policies and procedures, all school programs under ESEA/Title I, (f) the
curriculum Grizzlies Prep uses, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student
progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet (g).
Parent University meetings are held in the two weeks before the beginning of school.
BOARD MEETINGS
Board meetings are held monthly to discuss parent involvement activities, school staff needs,
school data, and school budget/finances. The Board is made up on members from the
community with at least one parent representative and one Grizzlies Prep staff member. They
aid in recruiting families for enrollment, community member for scholar support (ie. Lunch
Buddies), and financial donors. The board is also instrumental in helping the school staff
understand and address parent concerns.
PARENT TEAM MEETINGS
Parent Team meetings give parents the opportunity to voice concerns, learn about
engagement activities, and receive valuable informative information and updates about school
activities and policies. The Parent Team President meets with the Academic Advisor every other
week to discuss upcoming events and how to involve parents and families in Grizzlies Prep’s
community.
Parent Team meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month at Grizzlies Prep.
PARENT SESSIONS
The purpose of Parent Session is to have a mandatory touch-point with parents/guardians to
discuss school-wide policies, procedures, and concerns. These meetings are held twice a
semester at Grizzlies Prep and is planned and directed by the Dean of Culture.
STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES (SLCS)
The purpose of the student-led conference (SLC) is for the student and parent to have a
meaningful conversation about the progress the student has made in his studies. Teachers
prepare students before the conferences; every student has one piece of work or project from
each class that they share with their parent/guardian. During the conference itself, there is no
teacher or staff member present; it is the student and their parent/guardian, and the student
leads the entire conference. Whether a student is performing at the top or the bottom of his
class, SLCs give the student a chance to explain their grades and share their work with their
parent/guardian with no teacher present. SLCs will take place twice a year – at the end of the
first semester and at the conclusion of the year. Since parents/guardians and teachers will have
frequent communication throughout the year, SLCs will take the place of traditional parent-
2
teacher conferences. For parents/guardians who cannot attend, board members, other
parents/guardians, tutors/lunch buddies, and community members may be a student’s guest.
Every student will have an SLC twice a year.
PARENT TRAINING
The Grizzlies Prep Family Engagement Plan includes programs and practices that build capacity
for involvement and reflects the specific needs of students and their families. Through the various
parent engagement meetings described above, parents can learn about a number of topics,
including (j), but not limited to:
1. State academic content standards, state student academic achievement standards,
and state and local academic assessments.
2. Grizzlies Prep’s performance on standardized benchmark and end-of-year exams.
3. How to monitor student progress
4. How to work with educators to improve student achievement
5. How to advocate for student’s education
Grizzlies Prep ensures that materials and trainings will help parents work with their children to
improve their achievement (k), and that all information related to school, parent programs, and
other activities will be sent in an understandable language and format (n).
SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAM PLAN/SIP
Each year, Grizzlies Prep enlists the support and input of parents to draft a schoolwide program
plan, also known as a School Improvement Plan, or SIP. All schools that receive
schoolwide/whole school funding under ESEA/Title I are required to draft and implement a SIP
annually to address academic goals set jointly by the school and district in response to federal
requirements.
In the event that the schoolwide program plan/SIP is not satisfactory to parents after it is made
available to the district, parents’ comments/concerns are accepted on comment cards in the
main office by the administrative assistant or via email from administrators (i).
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGAGEMENT AND VOLUNTEERING
Grizzlies Prep invites community involvement and encourages parents and teachers to avail
themselves of resources that businesses, organizations, and individuals in the community make
available for the purpose of improving educational outcomes.
LEVERAGING COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Grizzlies Prep will compile and publish a volunteer resource book that lists the interests and
availability of volunteers for school staff members’ use. The resource book will help match school
3
needs with volunteer interests. The resource book contains helpful hints, websites, and familial
time activity ideas.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGAGEMENT AT GRIZZLIES PREP
Grizzlies Prep actively recruits volunteers from the greater Memphis community for three
volunteer programs described below.
Career Speakers
Career talks are a great way for Grizzlies Prep scholars to learn about career opportunities
available to them when they graduate college. Grizzlies Prep staff have recruited many
successful professionals in the Memphis Community to speak to our young. Once a month, the
entire school gathers in the cafeteria for a 20-minute career talk followed by a 5 minute question
and answer session. Every professional who gives a career talk at Grizzlies Prep stresses how our
core values – responsibility, integrity, courage, commitment, grit, and excellence have
impacted their lives and helped them be successful.
The Development Coordinator is the primary point of contact for recruiting Career Speakers and
scheduling them on the calendar.
Lunch Buddies
Lunch Buddies are area professionals who eat lunch with our young men and serve as mentors.
Lunch buddies eat with scholars at least once a week.
All Lunch Buddies must pass criminal background checks conducted by the school district’s
security office.
TEAM Up Mentors
Grizzlies TEAM Mentor is a youth mentoring program administered by the Memphis Grizzlies
Charitable Foundation. This program is school-based and matcher 3 volunteer mentors with 9
scholars to form each TEAM. TEAM Up mentors are professionals from the community who
commit to coming to Grizzlies Prep every Tuesday from 3:30 – 5:00 PM. TEAM Up’s mission is to
create meaningful relationships between caring adults and scholars, building resilient individuals
through civic engagement, peer interaction, and experiential learning.
All mentors must pass criminal background checks before working with scholars.
Other Volunteer & Engagement Opportunities
Grizzlies Prep often needs extra help with its programs and works to give parents opportunities to
help in a variety of ways. For instance, parents can help the school by:
4






participating in the uniform
exchange or donating belts, pants,
deodorant, outgrown uniforms, and
winter jackets
acting as a “teacher’s assistant” as
an extra pair of eyes in the
classroom
helping staff set up classrooms
before the new school year begins –
assemble desks, carts, cut tennis
balls, etc.
carpooling with other students
monitoring scholars before school
doors open
promoting and participating in
educational enrichment







opportunities (e.g., M squared, chess
clubs, debate events, going to a
lectures)
serving as a TCAP monitor
acting as a “stand in parent” for
scholars whose parents may not be
able to attend SLCs
serving as a PTSA officer
volunteering with the school store
Friday mornings
attending Community Gathering
Fridays from 7:45 – 8:15am
chaperoning field trips
speaking at Parent University
orientation sessions
COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE (SCHOOL/PARENT/STUDENT COMPACT)
To encourage the parents to act as full partners in the decisions that affect their child and
family, a school compact is drafted with the aid of parents that explains the role and
expectation of the parents, students, and school. Parents, students, and the school director
each sign this document as part of the enrollment process to confirm understanding and
participation.
1