Get Involved

John Overton High School Parent Involvement Policy 2025-2026 

If you’re a Parent, you’re a Partner

Parents and families are active participants in the life of the school.  At John Overton High School, parent participation is welcome and valued.  Parents are important influences in helping their children achieve high academic standards, and we believe it is essential that parents remain connected to the staff and to what students are doing and learning in class. We believe that schools, families, and community groups working together must engage in meaningful, two-way communication about student learning.

You, as a parent, are a full partner in your child’s education and are encouraged to be actively involved in the leadership and school improvement decisions at John Overton High School. Our parent involvement policy was developed jointly with and distributed to parents and stakeholders in John Overton High School. For the purpose of this document, the words parents/family represent individuals within the extended family of the student or persons with a legitimate interest in the student who are the student’s legal guardians. 

All parents have access to many types and levels of involvement, with no person excluded based on race, religion, creed, gender, socio-economic status, physical impairment, or age. 

John Overton High School will:  

• Offer a flexible number of meetings to include as many parents as possible, including early mornings, evenings, and/or weekends, in-person, and virtual. 
• Provide multiple opportunities for parents to voice concerns and make suggestions related to the school improvement plan strategies.  Parent input will be considered by John Overton High School faculty for improvements needed.  Opportunities to provide parent input include Possip surveys, school newsletters, parent input sessions, and conferences. 
• Conduct an annual meeting with parents for the purpose of discussing the school’s participation in Title I programs such as SES and Free and Reduced Lunch, and the rights of parents involved in those programs. 
• Provide multiple opportunities for parents to provide input for developing and revising policies relating to parent involvement, including the use of school and district level Parent Involvement funds, and on policies at the school level.  Parents will be asked to share suggestions for improving target participation in student learning.   
• Conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the John Overton High School parent involvement policy, including identification of barriers to greater participation by parents of diverse backgrounds. Such findings will be used to design more effective strategies for parent involvement. 

Parents and teachers have shared responsibilities for high student academic achievement. 

John Overton High School will: 

• Provide parents with a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at school, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet.   
• Invite parents to provide suggestions for removing barriers to student learning or voice concerns.  Strategies to achieve this will include parent participation on each School Improvement Plan committee, teacher-parent conferences, school newsletters, parent surveys, school website, and parent input sessions. 
• Jointly develop, with parents, a parent-student-teacher compact that outlines how parents, students, and school faculty will share responsibility for improved student academic achievement.  The following information will be included: 
  • How the school provided high quality curriculum and instruction.
  • How the parent will support their student’s learning at home and at school with recommendations such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, positive use of extracurricular time, volunteering, observation in the classroom, and involvement in educational decisions concerning their children. 
  • The importance of meaningful, two-way on-going communication between teachers and parents through meetings, phone calls, conferences, and progress reports. 

Parents will have the opportunity to build capacity for involvement. 

John Overton High School will: 

• Notify parents of parent input sessions, advisory board meetings, and other parent involvement meetings in a timely manner.  
• Provide access to curriculum materials to help parents work with their students to improve their academic achievement in reading and math, literacy training, technology use, and sessions focused on transition to and from high school. 
• Coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with community organizations such as Community Achieves.   

Parents have the right to access resources and information from our school. 

John Overton High School will: 

• Provide opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children. 
• Information and school reports will be provided in a language that parents can understand whenever possible. 
• Hold parent meetings at varied times and dates throughout the school year and offer both virtual and in-person events. Invitations for such opportunities will be provided in an understandable language and will be sent in a timely manner.   
• School information will be shared through the John Overton website, recorded callouts, school newsletters, and all socials. 
• Provide translators for parent involvement activities where applicable and where funds permit. 

School Improvement Team: Dr. Tocarra Cecil, Hurley Thompson

Academy Advisory Board: Sally Spear