What is Title I?
CCA receives Title I, Part A funds. Title I is a federally funded program designed to improve educational opportunities by providing aid to elementary and secondary public schools. The intent of Title I is to expand learning opportunities and provide a supplemental well-rounded education to students. Title I ensures all children have a fair and equal opportunity to obtain a high-quality education.
How do schools qualify to receive Title I funds?
Schools qualify based on the number of low-income families in each district. More than 90 percent of school systems in the United States receive Title I funding to help supplement and improve regular education programs.
What is a Title I schoolwide program?
CCA operates a Title I schoolwide program. Schools with poverty rates of 40 percent or higher are eligible to implement a schoolwide program. The purpose of a schoolwide program is to improve student achievement throughout the entire school. All school staff focus on upgrading the entire educational program and improving the achievement of all students.
Parent and Family Engagement
Parent and Family engagement is a critical part of Title I legislation. When families, schools and the community work together in learning, children tend to do better in school, get better grades, and stay in school longer. Schools receiving Title I funding work with parents and families to implement programs, activities and procedures so families can participate in school-related programs. CCA has a group of parents called the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) who work together and with school staff to manage and evaluate the Title I programs. To be part of the PAC, contact the Federal Programs Manager at [email protected] As part of the Title I program, parents and the school collaborate to develop a written Parent and Family Engagement Policy that contains information required by section 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). This policy describes the school’s expectations for parent and family engagement and describes how the school will implement parent and family engagement activities.
Parent & Family Engagement Policy
CCA’s School Improvement Plan
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 is the latest authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965—a landmark civil rights reform aimed at improving educational opportunity and outcomes for historically underserved communities. For all the implementation challenges associated with No Child Left Behind, the last reauthorization of ESEA, the law ensured greater attention to the performance of individual student groups—and initiated critical conversations around the need to identify and close achievement and opportunity gaps.
Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA) has been chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to be a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school. This designation is based on CCA’s state test scores. CCA is ranked as the lowest-performing 5 percent of Pennsylvania’s Title I schools and/or any high school, Title I or not, with a combined four- and five-year adjusted cohort graduation rate of 67 percent or less. You can find information about CCA’s scores by visiting https://futurereadypa.org/Search/Charter.
Due to CCA’s CSI designation, CCA is required to create and implement a School Improvement Plan. This plan was formed with the input of multiple stakeholders and with help from PDE. You may see the plan at any time by clicking on the link below. The plan is created to have a continuous cycle of improvement where CCA is able to adjust the plan as needed in order to implement most effectively.
For questions regarding CCA’s School Improvement Plan, contact CCA’s Federal Programs Manager at [email protected].
View CCA’s School Improvement Plan
CCA’s ARP ESSER Health and Safety Plan
Section 2001(i)(1) of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act requires each local education agency (LEA) that receives funding under the ARP Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund to develop and make publicly available on the LEA’s website a Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan, or Health and Safety Plan.
View CCA’s Health and Safety Plan
