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Family and Community Engagement
Welcome to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS)! Our district has a strong commitment to family and community engagement, and we are excited about the opportunity to serve you and your family this school year. As the school district’s primary outreach division, the Family and Community Engagement department is responsible for coordinating family support and participation throughout CMS. Our goal is to educate and support the development of the whole child – academically, socially, and emotionally – so every student in CMS can experience success in school and in life. Your participation is crucial in achieving this goal.
This handbook is designed to give you an overview of what to expect from your experience in CMS, as well as to provide you with the information you will need to ensure that your child has a successful school year.
At CMS, we recognize that learning is a partnership between families and schools. Your input is extremely valuable to us, and we invite you to contact the Family and Community Engagement Department at familyengagement@cms.k12.nc.us with any questions or recommendations.
Opportunities to Get Involved In Your Child’s School
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Attend School Informational Events
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Beginners’ Day: Beginners’ Day events are hosted in elementary schools in April and May to give students and parents an idea of what to expect when school starts in August. During Beginners’ Days, kindergarten teachers and staff members provide parents with the expectations for kindergarten and ways to set routines for children including reading tips each day, practicing clean-up routines at home with their toys, and setting a regular bedtime. Parents also learn about the requirements for kindergarten, such as immunizations and physicals required before kindergarten entry.
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Open House: The purpose of an Open House is for parents and students to get acquainted with their teacher(s), visit classrooms, and get an overview of what students will be learning during the school year.
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Curriculum Night: These events provide parents with the opportunity to meet their child's teacher(s), learn about the curriculum, and discuss teacher expectations for the classroom, homework and student participation. Curriculum Nights are usually offered throughout the year by grade level.
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Register as a Volunteer
Share your talent, time, and treasure with CMS! Serve as a tutor, mentor, lunch buddy, or visit your child’s class to talk about your career or hobbies. The Strategic Partnerships Department works closely with other departments within CMS to make sure all volunteer programs meet the CMS academic and enrichment standards set by the school district and to make sure all organizations follow the partnership process and the volunteer clearance verification process. The CMS Engagement Program Manager works with individual schools, principals and school volunteer coordinators to provide support and assistance in managing their volunteer program.
In order to encourage parents and community involvement while assuring the safety of students, CMS has a volunteer screening policy. All volunteers are required to register and complete a criminal background check. We have three levels of volunteer approvals: supervised, unsupervised without driving, and unsupervised with driving. Supervised volunteers may not participate in field trips or field days. Supervised volunteers may work with students under the supervision of a CMS staff member at all times at a CMS school/campus Volunteers approved as “unsupervised without driving” may apply to obtain driving privileges by emailing a copy of their driver’s license and proof of insurance to keshaun.stevens@cmspolice.org. Parents can register to volunteer online at www.cmsvolunteers.com. Returning volunteers must activate their volunteer status yearly by accessing their registration page, making necessary updates and selecting “Submit.”
Each school is encouraged to provide quality volunteer experiences that will mutually benefit students and volunteers. Please contact your school and ask for the volunteer coordinator, or contact the CMS Engagement Program Manager at volunteers@cms.k12.nc.us for more information.
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Join or Attend School Improvement Teams
One of the most valuable opportunities for parent/family engagement is the School Improvement Team (SIT). The SIT serves in an advisory role by supporting the principal as the school’s instructional leader and advising the principal in the areas of planning, management, communication and evaluation.
Additionally, the SIT is also charged with setting the mission and goals at each school and monitoring student achievement. All teams meet once a month and these meetings are open to the public. The School Improvement Team is responsible for writing and overseeing the School Improvement Plan which provides strategies for creating school and student success. Members are selected by the school’s parent body and are appointed to serve on the teams.
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Join a Parent Leadership Organization
Each school has a number of committees for parents to help guide and support the school’s educational process such as the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) and PTO (Parent Teacher Organization). These organizations also support students by helping with activities such as curriculum nights, book fairs, and fundraising events. For information, contact your child’s school or contact the Mecklenburg PTA Council at www.meckpta.org.
Monitoring Your Child’s Academic Progress
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Monitoring Your Child’s Academic Progress
CMS offers a variety of tools to keep you informed about your child's academic journey. For students in grades 3-13, PowerSchool is the primary platform providing accurate, up-to-date information on grades and attendance. We encourage you to use PowerSchool to monitor your child's progress and address any concerns as they arise.
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PowerSchool
PowerSchool is a web-based program that assists parents in tracking their child’s progress in school. Parents can see attendance, assignments, grades, and other data from any computer web browser or in the PowerSchool mobile app for students in grades 3-13.
Parents can create their own PowerSchool parent account and link their students to their account with the provided student’s Access ID and Access Password unique to each child. Student Access IDs and Access Passwords can be obtained only from your child’s school.
PowerSchool Parent Account Instructions:
- Go to https://cms.powerschool.com/public/home.html
- Click the Create Account tab
- Click the Create Account button
- Follow the instructions and enter your account information.
- To link one or more students to your PowerSchool account, obtain the student's Access ID and Access Password from your student's school.
Video step by step instructions can be found by scanning the QR code or navigating to cmsk12.org/powerschool
CMS Structure and School Staff Roles
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Learning Communities
Our district has ten learning communities with each having its own learning community assistant superintendent. Our eleventh learning community, the division of Enrichment and Academic Support, is led by our Chief Administrator, Jaron Carson. Organizing our district’s learning communities by grade-level ensures an intentional instructional focus in addition to a focus for our students, staff, and families to have access to resources within their communities. If you have questions or concerns, it is always best to contact your child’s teacher and/or principal first. The learning community structure also allows for district level support and intervention. To find out what learning community your school is assigned to, please visit https://charmeckschools.org/learningcommunities or call 980-343-3000
School Contacts
Your child’s school has a variety of support resources that are available to you. The most important person to know is your child’s classroom teacher. You can contact your child’s teacher by writing a note, sending an email, calling the school or visiting the classroom. In addition to the teacher, there are many other staff members who help families and students succeed in education, including:
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The principal is the lead school administrator. S/he serves as the instructional leader of the school and is responsible for student grade level placement and overall school operations.
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The assistant principal supports the principal as a member of the school’s administrative team and often manages different areas such as student discipline, scheduling, transportation and other support services.
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The school counselor provides leadership for the implementation of the North Carolina Guidance curriculum, counseling for students, and consultation for parents and staff.
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Resource teachers and literacy and math facilitators are trained in special strategies to help students overcome learning challenges in reading and math.
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Multilingual Learner (ML) teachers work with students and families who are identified as ML based on the state-identified English Language Proficiency tests (WIDA Screener and ACCESS).
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Speech therapists help children improve their written and spoken language communication.
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The school nurse assists with student health and medical needs.
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The school psychologist provides mental health support, consultative services and evaluations for students.
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The school social worker helps assess various student needs and connects students and families with critical school and community services.
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School family advocates provide support and resources to parents and students in most Title I schools.
Every school is supported by a team of people with different areas of expertise who are dedicated to ensuring that your child receives a quality education. Additional information regarding the different roles of student support staff is included in this handbook. Please feel free to reach out to the appropriate staff member with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your child’s educational experience.
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Other Tips For Student Success
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Below are a few educational habits that you can adopt to support your child’s academic success.
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Visit your child’s school regularly
Don’t wait for a special occasion. Get to know your child’s teacher and principal. Come for lunch. Visit the classroom and media center. Quality learning requires meaningful two-way communication between parents and school staff. Please contact the school principal to arrange a visit.
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Create learning opportunities at home
Did you know that your home can be a classroom too? In addition to learning at school, there are many wonderful opportunities for learning at home and in the community.
- Offer your child different types of reading materials such as magazines, newspapers and books.
- Take time to read with your child every day.
- Talk to your child often as you work around the house, run errands and shop to build vocabulary and develop critical thinking skills.
- Also, be sure to set aside time each day for your child to do his/her homework and take the time to talk about what your child is learning in school.
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Advocate for your child
Make sure the teacher, principal and school staff are aware of any special needs your child may have. Contact school staff by telephone, email or in person whenever you have a question or concern, and please be sure to keep the school informed of any changes at home.
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Have family fun!
Spend a few minutes each day enjoying each other’s company. Listen to your child. Let your child pick an activity to do with you like playing a game or taking a walk. Family time is important!
