TITLE I PROGRAMS

Title I

Title I is a federally-funded program that offers assistance to students in the area of Reading and/or Math. Title I funding is based on the poverty level within the school.  Our Title I programming utilizes highly qualified teachers and tutors to provide extra support in the areas of reading and math for students who score below the proficient levels on Ohio’s State Tests, classroom assessments, observational surveys, diagnostic assessments in reading and math, and/or teacher referral.

All Geneva Area City School buildings K-12 qualify for a Title I School-wide Program. The Geneva Area City Schools serve students in all buildings serving students K-8: Austinburg Elementary (K-5), Cork Elementary (K-5), Geneva Platt R. Spencer Elementary (K-5) and Geneva Middle School (6-8). We do not have Title I services in Geneva High School (9-12). This means that all students in these buildings of service, K-8, are considered Title I students. Since GACS follows the School-Wide Program model, this does not mean that all students will receive extra help, yet it does provide our staff increased flexibility in helping all students if and when a student may need help. Our staff still identifies the students most in need of help, and they will be given top priority, yet any student may receive an extra boost if needed.

Parent Involvement

The Geneva Area City Schools invite and welcome all parents to take an active part in their child’s education. The District has many opportunities for parents to engage with staff and for staff to engage with them. The District has regularly scheduled parent involvement meetings relevant to Title .  These include, yet are not limited to the following:  Annual Title I Parent Meeting; PTA/PTO Parent Meetings; Booster Club Meetings; Parent/Teacher Conferences (fall and winter).  Parents are also encouraged to obtain a “district “access key” for the school parent portal. This provides a real time look at your child’s grades and assignments for all scheduled classes. Parents may also communicate with their child’s teacher via this program, email or phone call. In addition, the School-Parent Compact documents provided at the beginning of each school year provides a cooperative plan for meeting your child’s educational goals. 

Parents needing special accommodations:  If you are disabled and require special accommodations to access your child’s building, communicate with the school staff, or complete documents, please contact your building principal and accommodations can be made to ensure your access.

School/Parent Compact

Each student and their parent/guardian at our 4 schools where Title I programs exist should sign a School/Parent Compact. The purpose of this document is to ensure that the school, parent/guardian and student all have an active role in the student’s education. This document will be kept on file by your student’s classroom teacher. 

Please take a few minutes to read your section of the compact, check all or any of the areas you feel comfortable doing at home with your child, sign, date and return this document to your child’s classroom teacher as soon as possible. We do send 2 copies of the compact home. Parents are to sign both copies and keep one copy at home for their records.

Please review the rest of the Title I page on our District's website that has additional information and links to resources that you can use at home with your child. You may also download copies of the grade and school building specific compacts from our website.

If you have any questions about the Compact, please contact your child’s classroom teacher. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

How We Serve Students In Reading and Math

K-8th grade students served by Title I programming receive both small group instruction in Reading and Math within small group instructional rooms and instruction by teachers and Title I funded tutors in their classroom depending on the specific identified needs of the student. Each student’s learning is regularly assessed in math and reading to better and more effectively guide our interventions with the student. The District utilizes researched-based strategies and best practices to better ensure student success in learning.

How We Gather Input To Guide The Title One Program

The Title I program gathers input from teachers, students and parents through our annual Parent Informational Night as well as during discussions that occur in PTA/PTO Parent meetings or Parent/Teacher Conference events.  In addition, parents annually should receive a Title I Compact and Program introduction letter. The purpose of this document is to build and foster the development of a school-parent partnership to help all children achieve the State's high standards. Responsibility for improved student achievement will be shared by parents, students, and teachers.

Parents Right to Know

As a Title I school we are required to notify every parent that they may at any time request from the principal information regarding the professional qualifications of their student’s classroom teachers. We are required to and will provide you a notice in a timely manner if, for some unforeseen reason, your child ever is assigned to be taught by a teacher who is not properly certified or licensed to teach the course. Under federal guidelines, this notification will occur if such a situation is longer than 4 weeks.

Principals:

  • Anthony Markijohn (Austinburg Elementary School)

  • Melissa Doherty (Cork Elementary School)

  • Amy Burzanko (Geneva Platt R. Spencer Elementary School)

  • Kent Polen (Geneva Middle School)


District Assessments

The school district utilizes the iREADY assessment and progress monitoring system in K-8 reading and math classes for all students. The iReady system is a benchmark and progress monitoring system based on direct, frequent and continuous student assessment reflecting the Board adopted Ohio Common CORE Standards. The results are reported to teachers and administrators via a web-based data management and reporting system to determine response to intervention.

Achievement tests aligned with the Ohio academic content standards and model curriculum, designed to measure a student's level of knowledge or skill in a specific subject area that is expected at the end of a designated grade and/or is required as part of the Ohio graduation requirement. These are referred to as the Ohio’s State Tests that include assessments in Grades 3-8 and End of Course Exams (EOC) at the high school level. These tests are required under ORC 3301.13.

In grades K-5, students may be given diagnostic tests in reading and math. The reading and math diagnostic assessment is aligned with Ohio academic content standards and model curriculum, designed to measure student comprehension of academic content and mastery of related skills for a relevant subject area at each grade level, kindergarten through three, as defined in ORC 3301.079. The results are utilized to plan instruction for students in those content areas. The assessment results are available to and shared with parents and students.

Parents may choose to have their child “opt-out of testing.”

Parent Notification of Assessments

The Geneva Area City School District receives Title I-Part A funds. It is required that the District notify the parents of each student attending a Title I-Part A school that the parents may request, and the District will provide to the parents on request (and in a timely manner), information regarding any State or district policy regarding student participation in any assessments mandated by section 1111(b)(2) and by the State or district, including a policy, procedure, or parental right to opt the child out of the assessment, where applicable.

The assessment schedule and information can be found by clicking the link below: