G&P Parent Coffee Talk: Nov. 13th
Posted on 10/30/2015
By Lauren Morse, G&P Family Liaison
Each month, we gather on a Friday morning to exchange information, warm up over coffee and tea, and get to know other G&P parents and staff. Last month, a full room of new and returning parents came together for a presentation by Mary Grassi and Debbie Bonilla from Title 1, who gave us information about what it means now that G&P is a Title 1 school. Title I is a federally sponsored program that provides additional resources and instruction to improve the educational performance of low achieving children. Its goal is to help all children meet challenging state academic content and performance standards. There are 6 other Title 1 schools in Cambridge: King Open, Morse, Peabody, King, Kennedy-Longfellow and Fletcher Maynard. Title I has a threefold purpose: 1) to provide schools additional support in the areas of either reading or math; 2) to help support teachers in their professional development in the areas of either reading or math; and 3) to foster and engage parent involvement in their child's education. Since our schools are considered "schoolwide" projects; all students in a school are eligible to receive services. 1% of funding that goes into a building must be spent on parent involvement; activities that help parents support their children. In addition to supporting school based initiatives, Title I also offers a number of parent or parent/child activities throughout the year. The Title 1 Monthly Calendar helps strengthen the home/school connection with highlighting activities that are going on in our schools and across city agencies. Title 1 is looking for at least 1 parent from each Title 1 School to meet 2-3 times a year to discuss how Title 1 Family Involvement funds are being used and to review policies and procedures. Please contact G&P Family Liaison Lauren Morse if you are interested! We also talked about ideas for other Coffee Talk topics and parent workshops – keep those ideas flowing!
Our next G&P Coffee Talk on Friday, November 13th at 8:30am will focus on getting ready for Parent-Teacher Conferences and how best to communicate with your teacher, school and child. We are very lucky to have Anne Smith, a beloved retired G&P teacher to come walk us through some pointers. We will also talk about Family Engagement around the world and have breakout groups in many languages so please join us even if your English is limited! All are welcome – please join us if you can!