Norwich School, Family Engagement Plan 2025-2026

School, Family Engagement Plan

Norwich Elementary – Principal: Whitney Jeckavich

2025-2026

Revision Date:  November 12, 2025

In support of strengthening student academic achievement, Norwich Elementary receives Title I, Part A funds and must jointly develop with, agree upon with, and distribute to parents and family members of participating children, a written parent and family engagement policy that contains information required by section 1116(b) and (c) of the “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA). The policy establishes the school’s expectations for parent and family engagement and describes how the school will implement a number of specific parent and family engagement activities, and it is incorporated into the school’s plan submitted to the district.

Norwich Elementary agrees to implement the following requirements as outlined by Section 1116:

• Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing and timely way, in the planning, review and improvement of programs under Title I, Part A, including the planning, review and improvement of the school parent and family engagement policy and the joint development of the targeted assistance program plan.

• Update the school parent and family engagement policy periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school, distribute it to the parents of participating children and make the parent and family engagement policy available to the local community.

• Provide full opportunities, to the extent practicable, for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under Section 1111 of ESSA in an understandable and uniform format including alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in a language parents understand.

• Be governed by the following statutory definition of parent and family engagement and carry out programs, activities and procedures in accordance with this definition:

• Parent and family engagement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring:

• Parents play an integral role in assisting their children’s learning;

• Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their children’s education at school;

• Parents are full partners in their children’s education and are included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their children; and

• Other activities are carried out, such as those described in Section 1116 of ESSA.

Required School Parent and Family Engagement Policy Components

The school parent and family engagement policy includes a description of how the school will implement or accomplish each of the following components:

• Jointly Developed

Norwich Elementary will take the following actions to involve parents in an organized, ongoing 

and timely manner in the planning, review and improvement of Title I programs, including  

opportunities for regular meetings, if requested by parents, to formulate suggestions and participate, as 

appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and respond to any such suggestions 

as soon as practicably possible.

In October of the 2025-2026  school year, Norwich Elementary will establish a Title I parent committee that will meet throughout the school year.  The purpose of the committee will be to plan, review and improve parent and family engagement programs.  Norwich will hold meetings in-person.  The meetings are scheduled for

In addition to members of the Norwich Elementary Staff, a list of parent committee members will be supplied upon request. 

• Norwich Elementary Staff Members

• Whitney Jeckavitch -Principal

• Patricia Gast – Title I Teacher ■   Kay Richardson – Title l Teacher

Parents – *The Norwich Elementary school and staff strives to partner with parents and is

grateful for the parents that have volunteered to be a part of this committee.  New members are  

always welcome. 

• Annual Title I Meeting

Norwich Elementary will take the following actions to conduct an annual meeting, at a 

convenient time, and encourage and invite all parents of participating children to attend to inform

them about the school’s Title I program, the nature of the Title I program, parents’ requirements, 

the school parent and family engagement policy, and the school-parent compact.

Norwich Elementary will hold its Annual Title I Meeting face-to-face on October 10, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.  A paper invitation will be sent home to each student receiving Title I services and Title I teachers will follow up with phone calls to parents.  The purpose of the meeting will be to disseminate information about the Title I program specifically offered at Norwich Elementary School. Norwich Elementary provides an agenda for their presentation and interpreters for Arabic and Spanish speaking families.  The purpose of the meeting will be to disseminate information about the Title I program specifically offered at Norwich Elementary School.  

• Communications

Norwich Elementary will take the following actions to provide parents of participating children 

the following:

• Timely information about the Title I programs;
• Flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening, and may provide with Title I funds, transportation, child care or home visits, as such services relate to parent and family engagement; and
• 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.

At Norwich Elementary we use many means of communication to connect with parents. Face-to-face, written correspondence, phone calls, and special invitations sent by Title I teachers   An interpreter is used to communicate with non-English speaking parents, and documents sent home are often translated into other languages.

Whitney Jeckavitch, principal of Norwich states, “Communication is extremely important and I encourage all staff members to make a positive phone call home to parents within the first week of school and throughout the school year. We continue to send positive hand-written notes and communication via phone and email throughout the year.  We ask parents what the best way is for us to communicate with them and I encourage staff to use the forms of communication that parents request.  We also have an Arabic speaking and a Spanish speaking family liaison who work at the school.  The liaisons help us make phone calls, translate documents and are a bridge between parents and the school”

• School-Parent Compact

Norwich Elementary will take the following actions to jointly develop with parents of 

participating children, a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff 

and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and how

the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the state’s 

high standards.

As soon as students are assessed at Norwich Elementary and a rank order list of eligible students is created, the classroom teacher and the Title teacher call parents and explain how Title services work.  Parents are advised of the upcoming Annual Title I informational meeting.  During that meeting each parent receives a School/Parent Compact and a detailed explanation.  Parents are asked to return the compact to their child’s Title reading teacher. Title I teachers are responsible for the collection of all compacts and must follow up with parents who do not return them.   

• Reservation of Funds (applicable to districts with Title I allocations of $500,000 or more)

Norwich Elementary will take the following actions to involve the parents of children served in

Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for 

parent and family engagement is spent.

Whitney Jeckavitch, principal of Norwich ,is aware that the Hilliard City School District is a district that is allocated $500,000 or more in funding and must reserve 1 percent of their funding for parent and family engagement. At the January 13th, 2026 Parent & Family Engagement Committee meeting, “Reservation of Funds” is an agenda item.  Michael will explain “Reservation of Funds” and share a list of how Norwich currently uses this money for parent and family engagement activities and programs, as well as, gather input into how the funds might be used in other ways. 

• Coordination of Services

Norwich Elementary will, to the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement programs and activities with other federal, state, and local programs, including public preschool 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.

Norwich Elementary on the BNLC Campus works closely with our community partners, including the Columbus Public Library, Columbus Zoo, Norwich Township Fire, and Hilliard Police to provide students with opportunities for engagement that extends beyond the classroom and school. We also partner with Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State Mobile Dentist to provide on-going wellness opportunities to parents and students. We work closely with our Syntero partners to provide on-going mental health support and counseling. 

• Building Capacity of Parents

Norwich Elementary will build the parents’ capacity for strong parent and family engagement

to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school and the

community to improve student academic achievement through the following:

• Provide parents with a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessments used to measure student progress and the achievement levels of the challenging state academic standards;
• Provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy), as appropriate, to foster parent and family engagement; and
• Provide assistance to parents of participating children, as appropriate, in understanding topics such as the following:
  • The challenging state’s academic standards;
  • The state and local academic assessments, including alternate assessments;
  • How to monitor their children’s progress; and
  • How to work with educators to improve the achievement of their children.

At Norwich Elementary we hold events such as Family Engagement Nights, Literacy Nights, “Lenny Breakfasts” and parent-teacher conferences to involve parents in learning opportunities. Our first Lenny Breakfast will be held on October 3rd from 8-8:45 am with coffee and refreshments provided by Aramark. Lenny Breakfasts will be held on the first Friday of each month. During this time, families are encouraged to visit with teachers and visit classrooms. During each Lenny Breakfast, Hilliard values and expectations are discussed as well as time for a Q&A session among Norwich staff and families. 

Building Capacity of Parents – Calendar of Events

• Building Capacity of School Staff

                Norwich Elementary will provide training to educate teachers, specialized instructional support

personnel, principals and other school leaders, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents and in how to reach out to, communicate with and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school.

The faculty and staff of Norwich Elementary are provided yearly professional development, both intentional and embedded, in ways to appropriately engage with students and/or parents to build capacity, student self-efficacy and enhance the self-esteem of such children. The faculty and staff of Norwich Elementary supports learning for all

students in a nurturing, caring environment and a belief that all students can learn.