Purpose Statement

The purposes of Kashmere High School PTSA are:

1.       to promote the welfare of children and youth in home, school, community and place of worship;

2.       to raise the standards of home life;

3.       to secure adequate laws for the care and protection of children and youth;

4.       to bring into closer relation the home and the school, that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of children and youth; and 

5.       to develop between educators and the general public such united efforts as will secure for all children and youth the highest advantages in physical, mental, social, and spiritual education.

The purposes of Kashmere High PTSA are promoted through advocacy and educational programming directed toward parents, teachers and the general public; developed through conferences, committees, projects and programs; and governed and qualified by the basic policies of non-profit organizations. The Kashmere High School PTSA, since its reorganization (March 2004), has been thoroughly involved in the redesign of Kashmere High School’s total educational program through parent/community recruitment; program writing; collaborative efforts with the school, municipal, county, and state entities; and advocacy activities. The Kashmere PTSA programs were designed using Joyce Epstein's model of parent involvement as the organizing paradigm. They provide for the meaningful involvement of parents and the local community in planning, implementing, and evaluating school improvement activities. Yearly, the parents are asked to complete Parent/Family Involvement/Interest Survey, which assesses the parent involvement needs of students and their families enrolled at Kashmere. The survey is in both Spanish and English.

The PTSA has recommended the adoption of The Parental Empowerment Pact (PEP), written in the parents’ home language, to the school's administration, that outlines strategies for parents, teachers, and students, to support children's Individual Graduation Plan IGP (Trusty 1999; Kellaghan, T. et al 1993).  The PEP guides parents through setting high expectations regarding career or college readiness (Keith et. al. 1998) and setting high goals for the mastery of each class that their students are enrolled (Hickman 1995). The PEP requires parental signatures on six weeks progress reports accessed via the web or in paper format (Ames 1995) and parental involvement with the core team instructors in recognizing and remedying this child's failure early in the semester (Rich 1993). The PEP promotes parental involvement and accountability in decreasing student absenteeism and dropout rates (Henderson & Berla 1994) and encourages parents to attend events celebrating their children's achievements (Zodzinski 1996).

Using Epstein’s Model, Kashmere will focus on parental involvement using six guiding principals:

1.       Parenting

a.    Research findings suggest participation of students’ fathers increases academic achievement (Nord 1998).  In response, the PTSA Fathers’ Initiative will use culturally competent strategies to involve fathers in their child’s educational experience;

b.    Promote a “safe” school by reminding parents and students of the "zero tolerance" policy for violence and drugs at school;

2.       Communication

a.    The PTSA will train and promote the use of Technology Integration for Parents (TIPs) and facilitate parents contacting teachers regarding any concerns;

b.    Additionally, the PTSA will generate a quarterly newsletter to keep parents, students, teachers, and the community aware of school related issues.

3.       Volunteering -The PTSA will help to bring more energy to our extra-curricular experience by organizing booster clubs for the smaller learning communities and student extracurricular organizations and promoting parent attendance of school events.

4.       Learning at Home

a.    The Parent Center will train parents in the utilization of the HISD Technology Applications Department chosen software application that will integrate on-line grade books and TIPs.

b.    The Parent Center will offer classes in parent literacy emphasizing Epstein’s model, Adult Basic Education, GED basic computing skills, Internet, and E-mail Epstein 1986);

c.     The PTSA will emphasize the importance of coordinating with teachers concerning assignments, including homework, and studies for upcoming assessments.

5.       Decision Making

a.    Through the PTSA and the SDMC, parents will participate in the development of the course offerings for the school (Note: The first iteration of this effort has already been accomplished and is outlined in the Curriculum Reform section) (Henderson & Berla 1994);

b.    Kashmere will work to include parent representation in the process of analyzing performance data for identifying patterns of failure, diagnosing problems, and matching concrete solutions to educational needs (Fan & Chen 2001)

c.     Participating in the drafting of the academy-specific dress code.

6.       Collaborating

a.    The PTSA will assist in raising standards by exercising the parents' rights to hold the administrator and instructors accountable for hard work and quality instruction (Christenson & Christenson 1998);

b.    The PTSA will participate in VITAL (Vertical Integration Team for All Learners) by meeting with the feeder pattern school parents to spread information regarding our redesign; 

c.     Volunteers will collaborate the planning and implementing of Ninth Grade orientation;

d.    PTSA will assist in establishing partnerships with the school and the businesses (both small and large in the community (Journal of School Improvement 2001a), with social service and faith-based organizations, and with Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University, University of Houston, and Houston Community College System (Journal of School Improvement 2001b).

The personnel and strategies are in place to ensure that the parents at Kashmere are thoroughly involved in the daily operation of Kashmere.