Rhea County High School Family Engagement Plan

Background:  Each spring, a family friendly schools survey is submitted to the parents of sophomores to assist us in formulating our family friendly schools family engagement plan.  The results are tabulated by the Family Friendly Schools service department and returned to us.  We then take the top five areas where parents indicate that we have challenges and meet with our school leadership team to prepare activities for improving these areas.  Our leadership team is composed of teachers, parents, and students; their names are on file in the R.C.H.S. office and with the central office.

The School Leadership Team met in September and brainstormed ideas for our plan. The minutes of the meeting and those who were in attendance are on file in the RCHS main office and with the system-wide family engagement coordinator. The following activities were determined to be our top priorities for this year:

1. Put a parent information collection in the library. 
   Send student grade updates to parents via email through integrade. 
2. We will be sending mass emails to parents with school information and important dates and events.  This e-newsletter will be sent on a monthly basis or more often if needed.
3. We are updating parent mailing information as we become aware of problems to insure that parents receive any ground mail that we send to them.
4. We are preparing new hallway signs for the academic building to assist with locating classrooms and departments.
5. We will have graphic arts to prepare a parent information pamphlet to distribute to parents and businesses. 
6. We will update our website with a monthly RCHS activities calendar.
7. We will have our newspaper class to prepare articles for the Herald on a monthly basis. 
8. We will provide a parent computer literacy class for our parents.
9. We will work with the new parent engagement coordinator to work with parents to provide an avenue for them to ask questions and get support.
10. We will install and utilize a new phone system by which announcements can be made for parents and parents can leave voice mail for teachers and administrators.

The above activities will be added to activities that we have previously been doing to include parents/guardians in the school process.

We will continue with the following activities to involve and provide for two-way communication with the parents and community:

• Guest speakers,
• Emails,
• Conferences,
• Phone calls,
• Inviting parents to freshmen orientation,
• College and career night for parents and students,
• Posting information on our new school sign which is on Highway 27,
• Distributing a student handbook at the beginning of the school year to parents and students.
• Parent teacher conferences to be held twice a year after school; parents will be notified of these dates on the school calendar, via email, and on the school sign
• Notifying parents of student progress via mid-six weeks progress reports, report cards, m-team meetings, s-team meetings, 504 meetings, and distribution of state test results,
• Informing parents of the school curriculum via yearly registration information,
• Parents and students will continue to be a part of our school leadership team.

     Evidence of these continuing activities is on file in our family engagement notebook.

 Rhea County School System's Family Engagement Information