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McKissick Academy of Science and Technology

Annual Title I Parent Meeting

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August 2025

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What is Title One?

  • A federally funded program designed to benefit ALL students attending a Title I school.
  • Promotes school-wide reform through supplemental programs that
    • increase the amount of instructional time,
    • upgrade the quality of instruction by providing professional learning opportunities and
    • provide opportunities for parents to participate in their child’s education.

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Which SDPC schools are Title I in 2025-2026?

8 Elementary Schools

  • Crosswell Elementary
  • Dacusville Elementary
  • Hagood Elementary
  • Liberty Elementary
  • Liberty Primary
  • MAST
  • Pickens Elementary
  • West End Elementary

3 Middle Schools

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  • Dacusville Middle
  • Liberty Middle
  • Pickens Middle

 

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The Goals of Our Title I Program Are To…

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increase student achievement,

provide meaningful professional development, and

build parent capacity to better support their child’s educational attainment.

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How Does Title I Help Our School?

  • Family Engagement Opportunities
  • Smaller Class Sizes
  • Intervention Services
  • Professional Development
  • Instructional Supplies and Materials
  • Tutoring & Enrichment Programs

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Family Engagement Opportunities

  • Parent Resource Center
  • Family Nights: Literacy Holiday Spectacular, STEM Festival, Sweetheart Dance (not TI funded)
  • Parent/Teacher Conferences
  • Open House
  • Ongoing communication from the school to families - monthly newsletters, online Fins Up Newsletter
  • Volunteer Opportunities
  • Participation on SIC, PTO, Title I Planning Team

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  • Parent Workshops: Raise a Reader, Power of Play, SISU and State Testing
  • Pup Tales
  • Dive into K5 Night

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Parent Workshop Topics

  • Grade Level Learning Targets
  • How to help your child succeed in school (become a better reader, study skills, help with homework, etc.)
  • Technology (Schoology, Class Dojo, how to keep your child safe online, etc.)
  • Understanding state academic standards & assessments
  • How to monitor your child’s progress & work with educators to improve the achievement of your child
  • The Importance of Regular School Attendance

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Parents’ right to know

Federal law allows parents to ask these questions:

  • Is the teacher certified to teach the subject and/or grade levels the teacher is teaching?
  • Is the teacher’s certificate a waiver or substandard certificate?
  • What are the teacher’s academic major or graduate degrees?
  • What is the teacher’s certification area?

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The following will be provided to you in a timely manner…

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  • Your child’s individual student assessment results,
  • An explanation of your child’s assessment results,
  • A description of the curriculum and assessments used, and
  • Information about your child’s progress toward meeting grade level academic standards (school report cards).

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***Please sign up for your child’s conference with their teacher. All of this information will be shared with you during that time.

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Curriculum & Assessments

  • South Carolina College and Career Ready Standards for ELA, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies
  • iReady (K5-8th grade)
  • KRA (kindergarten)
  • SC Ready (grades 3-8)
  • Iowa/CogAT (2nd graders)
  • ACCESS for ELLs (ML students)
  • Common Formative Assessments: MasteryConnect, HMH for Reading, iReady for Math
  • Digital Portfolios

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Title I Planning Team Members

Lauren Phillips, Heather Touchberry, Danny Hall, Whitney Moore, Fran Carden, Caroline Stephens, Meghan Garcia, Emily Wilkey, Abbi Ramey, Donna Mansell, Courtney Winn, Rachel Slykhouse, Andrea Atkins, Leah Pangel, Anna Spatafora

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This team works together to develop a Title I plan that addresses the needs of our students, teachers, and families.

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If you would like to serve on this team, please make note of that on the survey at the end of this presentation.

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Opportunities to Provide Input

  • Parent & Family Engagement Policy
  • Parent/School Compact
  • District Parent/Family Engagement Policy
  • Surveys

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We value your feedback! Please complete this survey.

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For More Information

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  • https://mast.pickens.k12.sc.us/
  • Lauren Phillips, TI Curriculum Specialist
    • laurenphillips@pickens.k12.sc.us
    • 864.397.2254

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Thank you for your participation!

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SDPC Federal Programs