General Info

MTS Board Notice

Meetings will be on the 4th Thursday of the month at 4:30PM in the Tech Site Board Room.

Dates and times are subject to change and will be posted.

April 23rd, May 28th, June 25th, July 23rd, August 27th, September 24th, October 22nd, November/December – TBD

View the MTS Board of Directors.

View the AYP Parent Notification letter here.

Parents, please take a moment to complete this survey below:

(Link below will redirect to a new page)

Minnesota Transitions Schools Survey

MTS Parent Involvement Plan 2008-2009:

Minnesota Transitions Charter School is committed to the goal of providing quality education for every child in this district. To this end, we want to establish partnerships with parents and with the community. Everyone gains if school and home work together to promote high achievement by our children. Neither home nor school can do the job alone. Parents play an extremely important role as children’s first teachers. Their support for their children and for the school is critical to their children’s success at every step along the way.

PART I.   DISTRICT EXPECTIONS

Each school district must establish the district’s expectations for parent involvement. [Section 1118(a)(2), ESEA.]

The Minnesota Transitions Charter School agrees to implement the following requirements:

• Minnesota Transitions Charter School will put into operation programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I programs. Those programs, activities, and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.
• Minnesota Transitions Charter School will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level Parent Involvement Plan meet the Title I requirements, and include, as a component, a school-parent compact.
• Minnesota Transitions Charter School will incorporate this district-wide Parent Involvement Plan into its district plan.
• In carrying out the Title I parent involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, the Minnesota Transitions Charter School and its schools will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with children with limited English proficiency, parents with children with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.
• If Minnesota Transitions Charter School plan for Title I is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to Minnesota Department of Education.
• Minnesota Transitions Charter School will involve the parents of children served in Title I schools in decisions about how the one percent of Title I funds reserved for parent involvement is spent, and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of the one percent reserved goes directly to the schools. (Only applicable for districts with Title I allocations greater than $500,000.)
• Minnesota Transitions Charter School will inform parents and parent organizations of the purpose and existence of the Parent Information and Resource Center in Minnesota (i.e., Minnesota Parent Center, Bloomington, MN).

PART II. DISTRICT PARENT INVOLVEMENT PLAN REQUIRED COMPONENTS

1. Minnesota Transitions Charter School will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development/revision of its district parent involvement plan:
   • How will parents be included in development/revising the parent involvement?

   All parents are asked to sign up for a planning meeting in the fall. Post cards are sent out and automated phone calls are made. We also have a family night at the schools for parents to fill out surveys for providing us feedback on what changes they recommend us doing.

2. Minnesota Transitions Charter School will involve parents in the joint development of district plan, review and   improvement [i.e. district plan, section 1112, schoolwide section 1114, and/or school improvement section 1116];
   • How will the district involve parents in the joint development of the Title I plan?At lease two parents must provide input on our title one plan. We meet in the fall with administration, title staff and parents to discuss issues relating to improving student learning, communication with parents.
   • How will the district inform parents of school report card?All parents are notified by mail, and a link is provided for them on our web site.
   • How will the district notify the parents that the district has been identified it needs improvement?
   • Parents are notified by mail about the AYP status of the district and the schools.
   • How will the district consult with parents about the district plan for improvement?
   • Parents are consulted during the parent teacher conferences scheduled in the fall.
   • How will the district conduct staff development for implementing effective strategies for parental involvement?
3. Minnesota Transitions Charter School will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance:
4. Minnesota Transitions Charter School will build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parent involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities specifically described below:
   • The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following, by undertaking the actions described in this paragraph –
     • the state’s academic content standards,
     • the state’s student academic achievement standards,
     • the state and local academic assessments including alternate assessments,
     • the requirements of Title I,
     • how to monitor their child’s progress, and
     • how to work with educators
   • All teachers have aligned their classroom objectives ( essential skills) to the standards, curriculum based measurements have been created in all grades for math and most for reading. NWEA is given to students in grades 3-12, including running records and QRI. Each teachers has a student monitoring sheet with the students scores from MCA, NWEA, Curriculum based measurements, running records, unit tests.
   • PLC’s are meeting every week to discuss student progress, and professional development is planned around the needs of the students.
   • WorkshopsBlock scheduling, differentiation , SIOP training, workshop on constructed response and sustained independent practice.  Middle school math teachers are participating in the science and math academy this year, Elementary teachers will attend Greg Tang’s workshop November 5 on math instruction.  Each group of teachers meets systematically with the curriculum director to develop strategies to use in the classroom.  MTS has implemented a pyramid of interventions for the elementary and middle school in reading and is currently working on a pyramid of interventions for math K-12.
   • The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I schools, provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parent involvement, by:Parents are invitied to two partent nights a year.  Supper is served to all who attend and programming and games are provided for the parents.  Suggestions are offered to parents to help their child be more successful at school.
   • The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I schools and parents, educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools, by:MTS provides an annual meeting where school board election takes place, classroom exhibits are displayed and children perform.  It is a night of celebration and information for our parents.
   • The school district will coordinate and integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers Program, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children, by:A brochure will be provided to all parents with the other resources available to parents such as Head Start, Reading first.
   • The school district will take the following actions to ensure that Title I information related to the school and parent- programs, meetings, and other activities, is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request, and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand:All mailings and phone calls understandable in the parents first language spoken.  Somolian parents receive information from our school written and spoken in their own language.
5. Minnesota Transitions Charter School will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parent involvement plan in improving the quality of its Title I schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in parent involvement activities (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background). The school district will use the findings of the evaluation about its parent involvement plan and activities to design strategies for more effective parent involvement, and to revise, if necessary (and with the involvement of parents) its parent involvement plan. MTS will conduct a survey given to all parents attending the annual meeting which allows for their input. At the parent nights there is always a short meeting asking parents to share their ideas on how the school can improve students experience and learning.
6. Minnesota Transitions Charter School will involve parents in the decisions regarding how funds reserved for parent involvement activities:Parent nights, annual meeting parent teacher conferences, title meetings

PART II. DISCRETIONARY DISTRICT PARENT INVOLVEMENT PLAN COMPONENTS

• Involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of that training.
• Provide necessary literacy training for parents from Title I, Part A funds, if the school district has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for that training.
• Pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parent involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions.
• Train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents.
• In order to maximize parent involvement and participation in their children’s education, arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend those conferences at school.
• Adopt and implement model approaches to improving parent involvement.
• Establish a district parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parent involvement in Title I, Part A programs.
• Develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in parent involvement activities.
• Provide other reasonable support for parent involvement activities under section 1118 as parents may request.

PART II. DISCRETIONARY DISTRICT PARENT INVOLVEMENT PLAN COMPONENTS

Minnesota Transitions Charter School) Parent Involvement Plan may include additional paragraphs listing and describing other discretionary activities that the school district, in consultation with its parents, chooses to undertake to build parents’ capacity for involvement in the school and school system to support their children’s academic achievement, such as the following discretionary activities:

Minnesota Transition Charter School Parental Involvement Plan has been developed/revised jointly with, and agreed on with, parents of children participating in Title I programs, as evidenced by meeting minutes.

This Parent Involvement Plan was developed/revised by Minnesota Transition Charter School 6/05/2009 and will be in effect for the period of school year. Minnesota Transition Charter School will distribute this policy/procedures to all parents of participating Title I children on or before October 3, 2008, parent teacher conferences.

Mary M. Funk