For Parents & PACs

PACplus is the place where parents connect with CPS approved vendors and resources to enhance the school to home connection.

Parent Education and Training

PACplus is an easy-to-use tool for PAC members to find approved CPS vendors for workshops. Our searchable database tags vendors based on their program offering. This allows PACs to easily find the right vendors and make sure their activities are aligned with school goals and priorities.

Leadership Development

PACplus makes it easier to build parent engagement and leadership in the community. PACplus helps parents and administrators lead by providing a platform for communication and finding resources more easily..

Equity in Education

The original Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) became law during the Civil Rights era in 1965. The purpose of the Act is “to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments.”

Parent Involvement

A child’s first teacher is their parent. Parent engagement in schools maximize academic achievement and success for students. Each year, federal Title 1 monies are given to school districts across the country. Parent education and training is mandated by the Act, and the goal of PACplus is to help connect parents, educators, and vendors in order to make it easy to use these funds effectively and efficiently.

The Parent Involvement Policy

The Parent Involvement Policy (Section 1118) of ESSA requires that local educational agencies (a): “(1) IN GENERAL- A local educational agency may receive funds under this part only if such agency implements programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents in programs assisted under this part consistent with this section. Such programs, activities, and procedures shall be planned and implemented with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.

(2) WRITTEN POLICY- Each local educational agency that receives funds under this part shall develop jointly with, agree on with, and distribute to, parents of participating children a written parent involvement policy. The policy shall be incorporated into the local educational agency’s plan developed under section 1112, establish the agency’s expectations for parent involvement, and describe how the agency will —

(A) involve parents in the joint development of the plan under section 1112, and the process of school review and improvement under section 1116;

(B) provide the coordination, technical assistance, and other support necessary to assist participating schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance;

(D) coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies under this part with parental involvement strategies under other programs, such as the Head Start program, Reading First program, Early Reading First program, Even Start program, Parents as Teachers program, and Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters, and State-run preschool programs;

(E) conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parental involvement policy in improving the academic quality of the schools served under this part, including identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in activities authorized by this section (with particular attention to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background), and use the findings of such evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement, and to revise, if necessary, the parental involvement policies described in this section; and

(F) involve parents in the activities of the schools served under this part.