Title 1 Annual Meeting

What is Title 1?

How does Title 1 help my child?

How does the school spend Title 1 money?

If you would like to know the answer to these questions and others like them,

then this newsletter is for you!

We will be reviewing and discussing our school's Title 1 program and how it benefits

every single student at our school! We will cover the following topics:

2. What are our school's Title 1 requirements?

3. How does our school spend Title 1 money?

4. Who is elibible for Ringgold Elementary's Schoolwide Program?

5. What curriculum does our school use? What tests will my student take?

6. What are our schoolwide goals?

7. What is the state's grade report for our school?

8. What is required by law for Parent & Family Engagement?

9. Does my child's teacher meet professional qualifcations?

10. What opportunities does the school provide for family engagement?

11. How to contact the school when I have questions or feedback?

12. Title 1 Handouts and Helpful Links

After viewing the RES Title 1 Annual meeting, please take a moment to sign in & complete this brief evaluation. Your feedback is vital to the success of our Title 1 program. Your child will recieve a special treat if you complete the evaluation by August 27th!

As a Title 1 school, the goal is to provide instructional services and activities which support students in meeting the state's challenging performance standards.

Title 1 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides financial assistance to state and local education agencies to meet the needs of at-risk students.

The purpose of schoolwide Title 1 programs is to improve the entire educational program at RES. This should result in improving the academic achievement of all students, particularly the lowest achieving students. By law, the school system will ensure that strong strategies are in place to build capacity in parents as partners, and to support parents in attaining high student achievement in class, and at home. See the handout on Schoolwide Components for more information.

Title I funding is provided based upon the percentage of students participating in the free and reduced-price lunch program. Title I funds can be used for additional personnel, technology, and various teaching resources. We welcome parent input regarding decisions on how Title I funds are spent.

This year at Ringgold Elementary our Title 1 funds will be used to:

• Employ the services of two part time Acacemic Coaches and a part time Parent Involvement Coordianator, as well as a portion of the STEAM teacher's salary
• Provide online intervention programs for the students. (Some of these include: Write Score, iReady & Lexia)
• Purchase supplies and materials to: maintain the Family Resource Room, host Family Curriculum Nights such as STEAM Night and Math/Reading Game Night, and send home flyers and at-home activities for parents and students.

See the graph below for a more detailed breakdown how we plan to spend our Title 1 money this year at RES.

*As a District in conjunction with federal guidelines, a small percentage (1% set aside) of our Title 1 money is allocated to have a District level Parent and Family Engagement (PFE) Liaison.

RES is a Title 1 schoolwide program. This means that all enrolled students are eligible for and benefit from Title 1 services, not just the ones who qualify for Free & Reduced lunch.

Catoosa County Schools use the state adopted standards as the basis of curriculum. Currently, the adopted curriculum is the new Georgia ELA standards. These standards provide clear expectations for instruction, assessment, and student work. Teachers are encouraged to use instructional frameworks which include an opening, work session, and closing for delivery of instruction. Pacing guides and curriculum units called “frameworks” are some of the resources used to support the implementation of these standards. These standards provide a consistent framework to prepare students for success in college and/or the 21st century workplace..

At Ringgold Elementary, our students are assessed several times a year to ensure they are learning the state adopted standards from the new Georgia ELA standards. Results from the various assessments are used to identify those students who are not mastering the standards and to provide teachers with feedback about instruction. As a whole, the data gathered from these tests help our school identify our strengths and our weaknesses so that we can establish priorities and goals in planning our educational programs.

Our curriculum and instruction supports evidence-based instructional practices and strategies for differentiated, innovative, and effective teaching and learning based on the state-adopted standards in support of a balanced curriculum for the whole child.

• This year we are using Benchmark Advance for our Reading curriculum.
• This year in Math we are using GADOE learning plans supplemented with Happy Numbers, an online math program.

Currently, RES administers the following assessments:

Three times a year, the students will take the MAP Growth Assessment:

Grades 3-5 will take MAP Math and MAP Reading

For more information on NWEA MAP Growth Assessment, click here

Grades 3-5 will also be assessed using Amira, a universal reading screener three times a year.

In the spring, the students will take the Georgia Milestones Assessment

Grades 3-5 take the ELA Writing, Reading and Math portions

Grade 5 also takes the Science portion

For more information on the Georgia Milestones Assessment, click here

You can find more information about curriculum & assessments at http://case.georgiastandards.org/

Students whose native language is not English are given the WIDA screener to identify English Learners and to measure their progress in English language proficiency. WIDA ACCESS and WIDA Alternate ACCESS are administered annually to all identified English Learner (ELs) students. These assessments meet federal requirements and measure ELs’ progress and proficiency levels and to determine whether they should exit or be reclassified as ELs

• Mean MAP RIT Reading and Math scores will increase on the MAP Growth Assessment from Fall 2025 to Spring 2026

(More specific 2025-2026 Math & English Language Arts school goals will be determined based on Spring Georgia Milestones testing results in the next few weeks.)

Click this link to view the state's grade report. Once there, search Ringgold Elementary School to view our school's grade.

School systems must ensure that strong strategies are in place to:

• · Build capacity in parents as partners
• · Share and support parents in attaining high student achievement

• Parents play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning
• Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education
• Parents are full partners in their child’s education and are included, when appropriate, in decision-making as well as being a part of the advisory committees to assist in the education of their child.

SCHOOL-FAMILY COMPACT

Each Title 1 school jointly develops, through meaningful consultation with parents, a family-school compact that outlines how families and schools will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the state’s high standards. (This agreement is now included in the school's Parent and Family Engagement Policy on pages 2-3.)

As a Title 1 school, in compliance with the requirements of the Every Students Succeeds Act, Ringgold Elementary School would like to inform you that you may request information about the professional qualifications of your student's teacher(s) and/ or paraprofessional(s). The following information may be requested:

• has met State qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction;

• is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which State qualification or licensing criteria have been waived;

• is teaching in the field of discipline of the certification of the teacher.

You may also inquire whether your child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications

If you wish to request information concerning your child's teacher's and/ or paraprofessional's qualifications, please contact Kristian Edgeman, Principal, at 706-935-2912. A paper copy of this Right to Know Letter was sent home in early August.

• Volunteer in the Family Resource Room anytime during school hours. Help make copies, laminate items, and assist the teachers in various ways.
• Sign up to help at a special school events such as the APEX fundraiser and the Scholastic Book Fair.
• Plan to attend the Title 1 events held by the Parent Involvement Coordinator such as Volunteer Orientation, Parent Advisory Council meetings, FAST meetings, and Parent Workshops.
• Participate in our school Fall & Spring Title 1 surveys.
• Stay connected to Class Dojo for invites, information, and sign ups.
• Watch for the monthly school newsletter that is sent digitally at the beginning of every month.
• Watch for a calendar of events to come home in your child's Tuesday folder every 2 months. Hang this on you fridge or in another central location for easy reminders of school events.
• Attend school curriculum nights such as STEAM Night in the Fall and Math & Reading Game Night in the Spring.

• Stay up to date with your teacher's Class Dojo and classroom newsletter.
• Attend parent-teacher conferences.
• Check your student's Tuesday folder every week so you don't miss important information.

Find out more ways to get involved at our school by contacting the Parent Involvement Coordinator, Cathy Cooper, at ccooper.res@catoosa.k12.ga.us or visit the Family Resource Room 203!

Parents are always welcome to contact their child's teacher or administrators through the school website (www.res.catoosa.k12.ga.us), email, written notes, and Class Dojo.

Parents should bring Title 1 complaints to Gina Hayes, CCPS Title 1 Coordinator at 706-965-2297 or ghayes@catoosa.k12.ga.us

School questions, concerns, and complaints can be brought to RES administration:

Dr. Kristian Edgeman, Principal: kedgeman@catoosa.k12.ga.us

Daniel McMurry, Vice Principal: dmcmurry@catoosa.k12.ga.us

Alicia Webb, Reading Academic Coach: awebb.res@catoosa.k12.ga.us

Carla McCrary, Math Academic Coach: cmccrary.res@catoosa.k12.ga.us

Ringgold Elementary School

322 Evitt Lane, Ringgold, GA 30736

PH: 706-935-2912