Our mission in Parent and Family Engagement is to engage, educate, and empower families, the community, and school staff with resources and partnerships that foster the academic and personal growth of ALL students.

Be sure to look for our PFE Newsletter at the end of each six weeks and subscribe to our newsletter for family resources, support, and information to help your family throughout our 2022-2023 school year.

It’s normal for two-year-olds to have tantrums. But if your child is five or older and still having meltdowns a lot, they may need help learning to control their emotions or behavior. This is called “self-regulation.”

Some kids are born having a harder time with self-regulation. Some don’t develop the skills if parents always jump in to solve problems or help them calm down. Children with ADHD or anxiety may also have this problem.

Self-regulation is a skill that children need to be taught and practice. The trick is not to avoid hard situations. Instead, parents can coach kids through tough situations. Breaking an activity into smaller, more doable parts can help. For instance, if your child has a hard time brushing their teeth, start with just putting toothpaste on the brush. Praise them a lot when they do it and slowly add steps.

When kids act out, encourage them to slow down and reflect. Kids can learn to ask themselves: What went wrong? Why? How can I fix that for next time?

Practicing mindfulness can help with self-regulation. Mindfulness teaches kids how to focus on the present instead of the past or the future. For some families, parent training programs may also be helpful.

Taken from an article from Child Mind Institute, October 27, 2022.

For the complete article, click here.

Books Beginning at Birth is a statewide program that provides young children from birth to age 4 and their families access to books and resources to support the development of early literacy skills and foster a love of reading.

All families can access an open library of hundreds of high-quality digital children’s books accompanied by videos and at-home literacy activities.

With a focus on young children residing in Texas Opportunity Zones, families may receive three FREE print books sent to their homes twice a year.

Your child is living in two worlds, between home and school. It is powerful for your child to know that you and your child’s teacher are in good contact, and that there is a good relationship. But sometimes that’s not so easy. There might be strong emotions at play or it’s just that we are busy and tired and not exactly sure how to handle a conversation about the things that matter the most to us. Here are some of quick tips to make the conversation go more easily with your child’s teacher:

1. Tell the story from the perspective of your child.

For example, “I observe that my child feels anxious about the assignment” or “I am noticing that Emmy is worried about the upcoming test.

2. Take time to say something positive.

Don’t only reach out when things aren’t going well. Create space for affirmations and appreciation in your interactions with your child’s teacher.

3. If you are worried, reach out.

Teachers do want to know if everything is alright and oftentimes your insights can be incredibly helpful to a teacher’s understanding about your child.

4. Start with open-ended questions.

When engaging in a conversation with a teacher about your child, begin with open-ended questions such as: “I’m wondering how you think things are going with Emmy?” Or “What are your thoughts on what we can do together to help Emmy feel more confident.”

5. Be a team.

Your teamwork is crucial for your child’s development. Any interaction you have with your child’s teacher can feel intentional and built on well-being if you think of the two of you as a team.

Taken from a Scholastic.com article; to read more, click here.

To access our Chapel Hill ISD Student Grading Portal, click on the image or here.

Parents are constantly asking for advice when it comes to monitoring their child’s grades through their online grade portal. Both parents and their children are frustrated with online access to grades and homework.

You want to know what is going on in your kid’s life academically, but you are tired of decoding what “fine” actually means, and being left in the dark. Naturally, you’re more than a little miffed and have no idea how to go about it without losing your temper.

On the flip side, students often feel hounded, stressed and overwhelmed that all of their zeroes are waiting for them at the click of a login to the online grade system.

Today, we offer you some tips and tricks to find out what is happening at school, without losing your mind or your relationship with your kiddo.

Be consistent when looking at grades...but not too consistent

To start off, when you’re looking through the grades parent portal, you need to be consistent. Don’t put off looking into the grades until a semester has already passed and you realize your kid is failing several classes. Even if it’s a once a month thing, try to keep up. Otherwise, when you are faced with a failing grade, you will panic, and with panic comes frustration and anger.

Become familiar with your child’s online grade portal

You need to be familiar with your child’s system so that you can pull up the information in a jiffy. If you don't know where all the information is, you will get frustrated quickly.

Set up a routine for checking grades and assignments

Let your teenager set up their system for checking homework first. Let them understand their own subjects, what classes they’re good at and what they’re lagging behind in. Most importantly, let them decide what they want to do about it. If you are lost on how to start monitoring your child’s progress, start by setting up a weekly plan. You can even talk to the other parents and teachers to see what they do

Consequences and Celebration for doing Homework and Studying

If you plan on keeping consequences for missed work, set it up for Friday. When you’re having the conversation about assignments prior, make it clear that if they don’t get the work done, or have missing assignments, these are the repercussions for those actions.

In Closing

We want our kiddos to be independent at school. Everyone expects kids to have certain habits at a certain age. However, everyone works in their own pace. You need to tackle it one at a time. You need to be in cahoots with the teacher too. Ask them where assignments are posted and when.

Lastly, take it easy. The best way to monitor your child’s grade is to keep tabs on it without making it the focus of your night and day.

Taken from Team Pasch Academic Coaching; to read more, click here.

Academic achievements, persistence, and community service are three simple requirements in exchange for the promise of opportunity for your student to begin their young adult life debt-free.

Starting in your student's 10th-grade year, students are required to complete five hours of community service. In your student's 11th-grade and 12th-grade years, students are required to complete ten hours of community service.

For more information on community service please click on the link below to learn more.

In November, Chapel Hill hosted our very first Family Financial Fun Night for our students in 1st grade-6th grade at Kissam Intermediate's cafeteria. Our community partners at Southside Bank brought an evening of fun, games, and prizes centered around families learning together.

Our community partners at Southside Bank have shared Financial Fun Packs for families to use together and learn about financial literacy and making great financial choices.

Thank you to our families and students that were able to join us at our first Family Financial Fun Night! If you were not able to join us this year, we will host our second Family Financial Fun Night in November of 2023.

A HUGE thank you to our partners at Southside Bank for investing you time and resources in our Chapel Hill Community!

Chapel Hill ISD appreciates all who are willing to commit their time and energy to help Chapel Hill students succeed and provide an excellent place for learning for all students. As they say, it takes a village to raise a child. We welcome volunteers to join our village and help us make our schools the best they can be.

Chapel Hill ISD offers volunteer opportunities to the following groups:

• Family Member
• Community Member
• Business Partner

Whether you serve as a parent or other family member, a community member, or a business partner, your participation as a volunteer is essential in developing our students.

Once approved as a volunteer, you can volunteer at any of our CHISD school campuses. Reach out to your students' home campus for volunteer information and opportunities.