High Quality PK Family Engagement Plan

Introduction/Vision of Purpose 

Vega ISD, in accordance with the House Bill 3 High-Quality Prekindergarten guidelines, created a High-Quality Prekindergarten Family Engagement Plan to promote partnership between our school, families, and community to ensure the successful outcomes for our youngest learners in prekindergarten programs. Collaboratively, we all share the responsibility to encourage and support initiatives, activities, and practices that enhance the success of student learning and achievement. 

Contact person for families: Meredith Porton, PreK-6th  Principal 

The family engagement plan includes the following components:

Facilitating Family-to-Family Support 

Vega ISD values the relationships between school and home. The district's Prekindergarten Program will create a safe and respectful environment where families and educators can collaborate, and share their educational experiences, and ensure opportunities for participation in events designed for families. 

Strategies Include: 

  • PreK/Kindergarten Round-Up 

  • Pre-Registration Opportunities 

  • Open House/Meet the Teacher event

  • Campus Family Nights 

  • Classroom and campus volunteer opportunities: room mom, field trip chaperone, etc. 

  • Campus Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)

  • District committee parent involvement: Site Base

Establishing a Network of Community Resources 

Vega ISD’s Prekindergarten Program will build strategic partnerships with stakeholders to monitor and evaluate policies and practices. VISD will establish and maintain partnerships with stakeholders and identify support from various agencies.  VISD will  provide and facilitate referrals to family support; provide translators and culturally relevant resources reflective of home language. 

Strategies Include: 

  • Partnerships with community-based organizations 

  • Child nutrition resources 

  • Student health services 

  • Translation services 

  • TEA Family Resources/Parent Guides

  • Snack-Pak-4-Kids

  • FAYSE

Increase Family Participation in Decision Making 

The Vega ISD Prekindergarten program, in collaboration with early childhood families, will; develop, adopt, and implement identified goals within the annual campus/school improvement plan targeting family engagement. VISD will provide opportunities for families to advocate for their children/families. VISD will cultivate the expectation that information must flow in both directions to reflect two-way communication; provide each family with an opportunity to review and provide input to gather family feedback. 

Strategies Include: 

  • Opportunities for families to serve as advocates and leaders on various campus and district committees

  • Campus Improvement Plan Committee 

  • Language Proficiency Assessment Committees 

  • Parent Teacher Organizations  

  • Parent conferences 

  • Title I Campuses Parent/Teacher Compact 

  • Volunteer opportunities 

  • Surveys

Equip Families with Tools to Enhance and Extend Learning 

The Vega ISD Prekindergarten Program will provide ongoing achievement through educational resources to support learning at home while strengthening the family/school partnership; offering opportunities for families and children to visit the school in advance of the prekindergarten school year; provide home learning activities for families to engage in at home. Provide families with information, best practices, and training related to age-appropriate developmental expectations; collaborate with families to appropriately respond to children's behavior in a supportive way. 

Strategies Include: 

  • Provide families with student progress updates every 3 weeks 

  • Class DOJO/social media 

  • Weekly/Monthly Newsletters, Calendars and Emails 

  • Social Emotional Learning Connection and Activities 

  • Teacher provided materials for at home skill development-Notebooks 

  • Social Emotional Connection and Activities 

  • Technology 

Develop Staff Skills in Evidence-Based Practices that Support Families in Meeting Their Children’s Learning Benchmarks 

Vega ISD’s Prekindergarten Program will provide essential professional development for educators in understanding communication and engagement with families, and develop staff skills to support and use culturally diverse, relevant, and responsive family engagement strategies. 

Strategies Include:

  • Ongoing early childhood professional development 

  • Prekindergarten Guidelines training 

  • CIRCLE assessment teacher training 

  • Positive Behavior Support Systems 

  • Technology 

Evaluate Family Engagement Efforts and Use Evaluations for Continuous Improvement 

Vega ISD will monitor family engagement and use data to ensure alignment between family engagement activities and district/school teaching and learning goals. VISD will use evaluation tools to guide and ensure teachers and parents play a role in the family engagement evaluation process. 

Strategies Include: 

  • Participation data collection at family engagement events 

  • Progress monitoring data using CIRCLE Assessment (3 times per year) 

  • Parent surveys 

  • Social media tools 

  • District website 

  • Title 1 Survey 

Transition Activities 

  • Provide visits with the community to encourage smooth transitions to PreK and Kindergarten 

Conclusion 

The Vega ISD Family Engagement Plan is one of the strategies our district uses to guide collaborative success. The positive relationships between staff and families that the district promotes through the plan help build a shared understanding of how we can work together to ensure every child will reach their full potential, from birth to kindergarten and beyond.

Contact Information

Meredith Porton, Elementary Principal

mporton@vegalonghorn.net

806-267-2123