Title I Parent Involvement Policy
Ocean Avenue Elementary School (OAES) strives to partner with our parents and families to shape the future of our community by inspiring and supporting today’s learners. We understand that students, families and educators share a unique bond and that by working together we are better able to support and encourage our children for success in school and beyond. The purpose of this policy is to provide valuable information to you about how we strive to engage our families and what opportunities exist for you to join our school community. We encourage you to become as involved in our school community as your time permits. We welcome and value your thoughts and insights. Your contributions are critical to the success of our children.
As a Title I school, OAES is required to assess and monitor the performance of all learners, to improve student performance, to assure that teachers are highly qualified, and to keep parents and families informed on school performance. OAES conducts classroom level assessments on student academic growth and participates in annual ACCESS and NWEA testing. OAES will post on their website and in the school newsletters school level performance data, and will host one forum each year to report on progress. It is Portland Public School district policy to only hire highly qualified teachers this information is updated annually and can be requested from the district Human Resources Department
One of our school-wide goals is: to create a school to home connection through authentic engagement opportunities with all families. As the school year begins we have many ways for you to join with our school community:
Watermelon Welcome – school-wide celebration before the start of the school year.
- Learn about Your Child’s Learning Night – In October, we have an evening where families can hear about the learning for the year from the grade level teams.
- Parent /teacher conferences – each fall and spring we host student/parent/teacher conferences to meet with and discuss the progress your child is making in school, how you can support your child at home, and answer your questions/concerns. Teachers will also provide information and feedback on all assessments and testing to help parents understand their child’s performance and growth. There is a virtual option, if that is easier for your family to participate.
- Kindergarten Open House – A chance for incoming kindergarten students and their families to meet kindergarten teachers and other school staff, learn about the transition to school and opportunities to get involved, hear from community partners, and tour kindergarten classrooms in the spring before starting school in the fall.
- Family Nights – our goal is to host 3-4 informational nights for families focused on Literacy, Math, and other key academic topics, and our annual potluck dinner. These events are designed to help you understand the instructional programs being used at the school and to discuss ways to support and encourage learning. Here is our list for this school year.
- Celebrations – OAES hosts various performances, graduations, and celebrations to recognize our students and their accomplishments throughout the year and welcome and encourage families to join us for these events!
Other Ways to be Involved:
- Volunteering – OAES provides opportunities for parents to become involved with their child's education. Parents and family members can greatly enrich the lives of students by serving as tutors, classroom helpers and library helpers. Volunteering at OAES can fit your schedule, can be in an area of interest to you, and can be mutually beneficial for both you and your child. When volunteering, we ask you to sign in and out in the Main office, and wear your tag while you are in school. All volunteers must complete a volunteer application form. We do perform a background check, per district policy, for all volunteers in our school. Here is the direct link to start the process.
- Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) – At OAES we have an active and engaged PTO. To find out more please see our school’s weekly Friday Update, as we include the PTO information in our school newsletter each week.
- Communication
- OAES has a school website which has contact information and other information to help guide you in learning more about our school community.
- We also have a Facebook page, please like us.
- Our school sends out a weekly newsletter called the Friday Update, it is emailed directly to families on Friday afternoon. Past Friday Updates can be found on our website.
- Classroom teachers send home a newsletter every two weeks. The purpose of this newsletter is to keep families informed of the learning happening in the classroom. This allows family members to talk to your child(ren) about their learning. This type of parental involvement is critical to student learning.
- OAES Principal, Assistant Principal, teachers and other staff are available for our families you may reach us at 874-8180 or use the district’s Reach My Teach to email.
- OAES is committed to communicating with all families and has access to interpreters and translators as needed to assure clear communication.
- Family Handbook – for further details about the ongoing workings of our school and how to become involved please see the Family Handbook on our school webpage. We also send the link to all families through our welcome to school letter.
We also ask for your assistance in providing updated contact information for your family each year so that we are able to communicate with each child’s family. If any of this information changes throughout the year, please notify the office immediately, so we will be able to reach you as needed.
This policy is also posted on our website. Annually parents are sent a survey to evaluate the effectiveness of our communication. The information gathered is used to evaluate and design new strategies for more effective programs and policies.