Row 1: Dr. Mildred Sexton, Chanda Epps (NNPS Key Contact), Helema Vandivier, Stephanie Taylor, and Stacy Dabney. Row 2: Jerrl Bailey, Dr. Patrick Russo (Superintendent) William Shackleford, and Becky Betz. Row 3: Angela Rabie, Tamera Crosby, and Adrienne Woods. Row 4: David Washington, Lakitta Hicks-White, and James Hill. Row 5: Betsy Taylor, and Wanda Adams.
District-Level Leadership for Partnerships
The district leaders for partnerships in Hampton City Schools conducted Discovering the Past...Exploring the Future. The event, held at the Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton, was free for Title I families and Title I school staff. Guests enjoyed exhibits, interactive activity stations, and received information on community events, community services, and family-friendly instructional strategies linked to Hampton’s curriculum.
The Title I Coordinator formed a committee of community partners, district departments, community members, and school personnel to conduct the event. The group split into three subcommittees: School Promotion, Business Sponsorship, and Marketing to plan and implement the bi-annual event. This collaborative effort emphasized the importance of parent and community involvement and its impact on student success and offered important resources to Title I families and their children.
Facilitation of Schools’ ATPs
Hampton City Schools has developed a comprehensive Parent Involvement Program which directly facilitates Action Teams for Partnerships in 14 Title I schools. A Parent Resource Center in each school is managed by a full-time Parent Involvement Facilitator (PIFs), who also serves as the ATP chairperson. The ATP, then, provides leadership for the parent and community involvement program and activities in the schools. The district’s Title I Department employs a Coordinator of Parent Involvement, who guides all schools to use the NNPS framework and to comply with district strategic goals, NCLB, and Title I regulations.
PIFs attend monthly meetings to increase their knowledge and skills for developing their partnership programs and to obtain new NNPS information. At these meetings, community and business partners also share information about resources they offer. This year, the Title I Leadership Conference included professional development workshops by NNPS Facilitators to help all Title I schools use research-based strategies to link their parent and community involvement programs with student achievement and success. Information sessions also spurred some non-Title I schools to join NNPS. The Title I department assisted these schools to form Action Teams and receive team training as NNPS members. The district’s partnership leader also distributes a quarterly newsletter, entitled Connect for Success, to highlight successful family and community partnership activities that are being conducted across schools.
See activities from Hampton City Schools in Promising Partnership Practices atwww.partnershipschools.org, in the section Success Stories. Visit the district at: http://www.sbo.hampton.k12.va.us/.