Title I (One) is a federal program that funds public schools based on the percentage of students who qualify for lunch tickets. 

According to the U.S. Department of Education website, the purpose of Title I  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.” 

Title I money provides us with educational opportunities to better our students’ experience at school. Basically, Title I is additional money for our school that we can spend educationally toward our students. This  money has provided schools with textbooks, SSR books, computers, salaries of certain staff  members, etc. More money comes from the applications that are received for the lunch tickets. Last year, $857,731 was received from the federal government for our title one savings. The money that we received this year goes toward the next school year. Title I started in 1965, when the United States federal government decided to improve our school environments to better our students’ educations. 

In 2001, it was revised to “No Child Left Behind.”  It is the federal support for pre-kindergarten to all high school. 

By applying, you get free meals at school, free admission to the SAT, ACT college entrance tests, free tutoring services, reduced prices on AP tests, and free college applications. And students could help their schools get $800,000 in the Title I funds. This information that students fill out will be kept confidential, and the school will never contact students about this matter again.

Title I is vital to our school. It helps purchase equipment for our teachers and students. Turning in the lunch meal applications helps us qualify so students need to make sure they get the lunch applications filled out and signed by a parent and returned to their Period 2 teachers. 

Ed. Note: Since the story was published, Fairfax has received the required number of applications and will receive Title I funds for the next school year.