Title I & School Improvement

This page contains information related to our designation as a Title I school.

Title I is a federally funded program through the Elementary & Secondary Act (ESEA) designed to provide support to students who are performing below grade level in reading and/or math. The goal is to emphasize high academic standards in an effort to help students succeed in the regular classroom and reach grade level performance.

What are some typical Title I services?

At Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), we offer Title I programs to meet the needs of students at individual schools. At some buildings, this may mean a ‘targeted’ program where selected students receive additional academic instruction or other types of assistance to support them in school. The majority of schools in MPS have a ‘school-wide’ Tile I program which means additional services are available to address the needs of all the students at that school. Typically services focus on providing additional help in reading and/or math instruction, but services could include social skills instruction, attendance support, health services, etc.

Do all MPS schools have a Title I program?

No. The Federal law requires that Title I programs are available in schools with the greatest concentration of low-income families. Once a school qualifies, academic need – not economic status – determines the school programming and whether students receive extra instruction. Contact your child’s school for more information about its Title I program and ask when the school’s annual Title I meeting for families will be held.

Who are Title I students?

Typically students identified as needing Title I services are those who are having academic difficulties or other concerns that are affecting their academic achievement in school. Usually students’ needs are identified by their classroom teachers based on their test scores and other measures of academic performance. Those who show the greatest educational need and are not already receiving special education services are served first.

How are parents/guardians involved?

In ‘school-wide’ and ‘targeted’ programs, parents are invited to attend the school’s annual Title I Meeting
In ‘targeted’ school programs, parents are notified of their child’s eligibility for and participation in Title I
Parents, staff and students may participate in the development and carrying out of a compact that spells out the goals and shared responsibilities of the child, school and parents for student success
Parents are encouraged to participate in Title I meetings and learning opportunities

As a parent/guardian, you have the right...

to know the qualifications of your child’s teacher
to know when your child has a substitute teacher for more than four weeks and the qualifications of the substitute teacher
to know how your child’s school is rated on its state test scores
to expect regular communication with your school in a language that you can understand
to work with other parents and staff to develop a school-level parent compact between the school and its families
to help plan how money for family involvement should be spent
to work with teachers, parents and the school principal to develop your school’s family involvement plan
to ask for a meeting with your school principal or your child’s teacher at any time

Mission & Vision

Introduction

Folwell Community School grows innovative scholars and engaged global citizens

Folwell Community School offers a high quality community school experience. Folwell is located in the South Minneapolis Standish neighborhood and serves families in the Ventura Village, Phillips, Corcoran and Standish communities. Students in pre-K to grade 5 actively participate in relevant curriculum and instruction that is reflective of the diverse cultures in our building. Families can expect a caring community with compassionate staff. We believe in the beauty, brilliance and strength of our students and their potential for academic growth.

School Mission Statement

School Vision Statement

Programs & Community Partners

School Improvement Plan Goals

Strategic Plan Goal 1: Academic Achievement

Every student achieves their full potential through equal access to programming that is academically rigorous and connects learning with student experiences.

25-26 School Year SMART Goal

"By June 2026, the percent of students in grades 2-5 meeting or exceeding expected growth from fall to spring will increase on the FAST aMath assessment from 38% (Spring 2025) to 43% (Spring 2026).

By June 2026, the percent of students in grades 2-5 meeting or exceeding expected growth from fall to spring will increase on the FAST aReading assessment from 35% (Spring 2025) to 40% (Spring 2026)."

Strategies

MTSS (multi-tiered system of support) that includes strong core instruction, collaborative teams, and intervention that provides multi-layered support

Strategic Plan Goal 2: Student Well-being

Every student’s physical and mental well-being is addressed as an integral part of their education.

25-26 School Year SMART Goal

By June 2026, the percentage of 3rd-5th grade students who agree with the statement “I feel respected by students at Folwell” will increase from a baseline of 74% (Spring 2024) to 90% (Spring 2026), as measured by the YPE group.

Strategies

Implement restorative practices within Folwell, including within classroom practices

Strategic Plan Goal 3: Effective Staff

School and district staff approach all work centered on students and equity.

25-26 School Year SMART Goal

All grade levels will engage in weekly co-planning and co-teaching between grade level teams, collaborating with EL, Special Education, and/or data-based decision-making support.

Strategies

Ongoing training and coaching around co-planning and co-teaching, including use of co-planning framework

Strategic Plan Goal 4: School and District Climate

MPS is known by our community as welcoming, responsive, and connected.

25-26 School Year SMART Goal

By June 2026, Folwell will grow the number of family and community members who attend and consistently engage in Folwell events by 50%, particularly focusing on our American Indian families and Black/African American families. This group includes: alumni, students, staff, families and community members.

Strategies

Continued inclusion of families and caregivers through Site Council
Focus on community partnerships

Family & Community Voice & Engagement

How family and community voices are gathered at our school

The primary challenges/areas of need identified by families and community members at our school

Communication and how they as family members and guardians can be part of the school and learning of their students. We have a large number of new comer students, and as a building we are working with the Multilingual Department and our EL Team to support classroom teachers. We have been allocated a 0.5 EL New comer teacher that we have dedicated to support our new comer scholars. However, there is a need for more communication from school to the families, and so we will have a Home School Parent Meeting every other month to update our families accordingly. We have also implemented this year a Bar Code so our families can scan and get all the latest and previous newsletters so that they are aware of events, meetings, food distribution etc.

The primary hopes and aspirations identified by families and community members at our school

Family Engagement Goals & Strategies

Goal: All families feel welcome in our school and have equal access to opportunities to be involved in their students' education.

Strategies

We will host the following community-based and cultural events this year:

Meet Your Teacher Night at the beginning of school in August
Hispanic Heritage Month
Native Heritage Month
Coffee with the Principal
Movie Night: Nov. 9 and Feb. 8
Math Night: March 14
Heritage/Carnival Night
Every other month Home School Connection Parent Meeting
monthly Site Council
literacy night

We will notify families of how to get involved in the events listed on our FEP, how to access school staff, and how to volunteer through the following methods:

Folwell Facebook page
robocalls
teacher communications via email
schoolwide newsletters
text and phone calls from teachers and school
classroom/grade level letters
Folwell webpage
SeeSaw pages
Talking Points app

We will ensure all families can participate by providing the following:

Access to interpreters in their native language (flyers, robocalls, pamphlets, etc.)
Child care during parent meetings
Transportation/taxis

Goal: All families are informed of the steps our school is taking to improve student outcomes and achieve equity.

Strategies

We will host our annual State of the School (Title I) meeting on Conference days October 16 and 17. We also posted our State of the School Title 1 presentation on our webpage and had the slides up and running as families came to Site Council so they could stop and ask further questions.

We will inform families of the steps our school is taking to improve student outcomes and achieve equity through Site Council, every other month Home School Family Meetings, Curriculum/Math Night, regular communication between school and families through calls, texts etc.

Goal: Families will play an important role in developing our School Improvement and Family Engagement plans, and will provide valued input on how we spend our resources.

Strategies

We will get family input on our School Improvement Plan for next year during Site Council, Home School Connection Family Meetings and Parent Conferences.
We will get family input on our Family Engagement Plan for next year during Site Council, Home School Connection Family Meetings.
We will get family input on how we'll use our resources next year to support student achievement and engage families.
We will host regular Site Council meetings on first Tuesday of every month from 4:30-6 p.m.

Goal: All school staff members, family members, and students understand the important role they each play in making sure students achieve success at our school.

Goal: All families understand how to support their students’ academic achievement.

Strategies

At the following events, we will help families understand our school curriculum, state standards, assessments their students take, and how we measure student achievement and success:

Curriculum Night/Math Night
Literacy Night
Site Council Night
EL/ML Night

In addition to the events above, we will also help families understand our school curriculum, state standards, assessments their students will take, and how we will measure student achievement and success in the following ways:

We will help our families/caregivers/guardians understand the curriculum at the different grade levels, state standards, and the assessments utilized at the grade bands communicated by the teachers and and administration and TOSAs.
We will measure our scholars' achievements and successes through FAST assessments, ACCESS, as well as teacher created grade level assessments.

We will host the following academically-focused family events:

Meet Your Teacher Night: Aug. 29
Movie Nights: Nov. 14
Arts Department Spotlight
Native American Heritage Month and activities and invite of guests and cultural dance
Math Curriculum Night
EL Night
Heritage/Carnival Night: May

Goal: All staff will be trained on how to effectively partner with families.

Strategies

We will provide professional development on family engagement to our staff on the following topics this year:

All-staff building-led PD on working with our diverse communities and families at the start of school
Regular family-centered topics intentionally designed for the staff and families during a portion of our Site Council Meetings
Mini PD with staff before conferences on how to work with families
Building-led PD on working with newcomer families and their students -- will continue quarterly

Title I & School Improvement

Related Content