Anoka-Hennepin District 11 pre-school and elementary sites have various ways of communicating with families to promote literacy awareness, provide information on student progress, and ways to accelerate student’s progress in literacy at home. This connection between the home and school is essential to ensure all students are readers by the end of 3rd grade. Anoka-Hennepin provides the following opportunities for parents to be a partner in literacy:

• Curricu-links provides families with digital resources aligned to report card indicators and the student’s learning level
• Report cards on student progress are sent home at the end of each trimester
• Parent Tips for working with students at home are provided on TIP cards and in the Elementary Handbook
• Family-Teacher conferences held twice a year provide communication on student progress and reading assessment information to deepen families understanding of student progress and grade level expectations. Interpreters are provided to families as needed.
• Curriculum nights held for families provide opportunities to learn about the curriculum and home-school connections
• Title I parent/family events are held several times per year providing engaging activities for students and their families
• I Love to Read in February focuses on literacy activities to engage families and motivate students to read
• Parent/classroom newsletters provide on-going connections between home and school
• Grade level curriculum documents detailing literacy focus for each unit (comprehension, vocabulary, major concepts, at-home suggestions) provided on parent website
• The FOCUS, a district publication, provides communication on district assessment data and curriculum development
• Collaborative professional development between Early Childhood and kindergarten programs facilitates the transition for students from Early Childhood to kindergarten
• Systems Accountability Committee provides information to and gathers feedback from Parent Teacher Associations, Parent Teacher Organizations, Partnership Teams, and Parent Advisory Committees in each building regarding curriculum, assessment and instructional programming