GRACE Home School Association
The Grand Rapids Association for Christian Education & Excellence
10128 Bennett SE, Lowell, MI 49331, 616-204-4920
office@gracehsaonline.org
www.gracehsaonline.org
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
III John 4
MARCH 2010 Newsletter
In this issue:
***News for our GRACE Home School Community***
Catalogs for 2009-2010 still available
SNOW DAYS / GRACE CLASS CANCELLATIONS
The GRACE Gazette
Yearbook
Graduation
IOWA BASICS SKILLS TESTING
General Information
Tuesday Class Schedule
Dates to Remember
2009-2010 COURSE CATALOGS ARE STILL AVAILABLE TO VIEW
2010-2011 COURSE CATALOGS WILL BE COMING OUT IN EARLY to MID
APRIL
If you know of anyone is interested in considering GRACE for the 2010-2011 school year, now is a good time to check out our current catalog to get an idea of what we have to offer here at GRACE! Please tell your friends who are interested in home schooling that they may pick up a catalog at the HSB office or e-mail Waverly Gentry at office@gracehsaonline.org to have one mailed to them. They may also view the catalog on our website: www.gracehsaonline.org which would save time and money!
SNOW DAYS & CLASS CANCELLATIONS
When classes are cancelled for inclement weather, you should be able to find the cancellation
notice listed on TV Channels 8 & 13 and their corresponding websites by 7:00 a.m. PLEASE NOTE
that the cancellation notice will refer to us as THE HOME SCHOOL BUILDING and not as GRACE. In
the catalog and on all monthly newsletters, you will find a list of dates that include the
make-up days in the event we close for a snow day. We had a snow day for those students with
Tuesday classes on Feb. 9th. The make-up date for this class is Tuesday, May 18th.
THE GRACE GAZETTE
Our Journalism class just released the latest issue of their class newspaper, entitled THE GRACE GAZETTE.
It is full of interesting, historical facts as well as current information, a crossword puzzle, various
articles written by the GRACE students, and much, much more! Each family is entitled to one copy of the
GRACE GAZETTE which will be handed out by the teachers in class.
The February issue was handed out on Feb. 12th. If you didn’t get yours, please ask Waverly at
the Home School Building office on Friday, and we’ll make sure to get one in your hands!
YEARBOOK
Yearbooks should be ready in early to mid-May. More information to come!!
GRADUATION
Those of you who are seniors this year should have received your information packets regarding this year’s graduation by now. Please direct any and all questions to Irene Hazenberg at events@gracehsaonline.org or call her at 616-805-2939.
IOWA BASICS SKILLS TEST
GRACE offers the COMPLETE IOWA BASIC SKILLS TEST which includes BOTH the core test consisting of Reading, Grammar and Math
PLUS
Science, Social Studies, Maps & Diagrams and Reference Materials
For Students in Grades 3-12
This test, the (ITED) Iowa Test of Educational Development is the only test that most insurance companies recognize for home educators as qualifying them for the GOOD STUDENT AUTO INSURANCE DISCOUNT. Please note the difference between the test we are offering and the CORE TEST ONLY offered by others for school children in grades 3 – 9, which also does NOT include the high school test.
TESTING DATES: May 24th & 25th
TIME: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Bring a sack lunch)
PLACE: HSB
COST: $55 per studen
ANY QUESTIONS???
Call Irene Hazenberg: 616-805-2939 or e-mail: events@gracehsaonline.org
STUDENT DROP OFF AND PICK UP
Please be on time when dropping your children off for classes and when picking them up after class. If they have to wait in the hall for their ride for more than a very short time, we may have to ask them to sit in study hall until their ride arrives as we do not want students waiting in the halls between classes. Keep in mind that there is a fee for use of study hall. It is very important that students having classes during the last hour of the day be picked up immediately after class is over. Otherwise, someone from our staff must wait at the building until the student has left with a parent or responsible party. We cannot allow students to stay at the building after the GRACE staff has gone home for the day.
GYM USAGE
Unfortunately, GRACE does not carry insurance that would cover injuries resulting from playing games in the HSB gym, such as basketball and the like. We must ask that the children refrain from playing with the equipment during lunch hour, or between classes. We are looking into the possibility of carrying some insurance for the short time during the lunch hour and will let you all know as soon as we have arrived at a decision. Thank you for your patience.
GIRLS LEGGINGS POLICY / DRESS CODE
Leggings WILL BE permitted, providing the length of the skirt/dress still meets the requirements as stated in
the dress code, covering the whole knee. We have seen a few girls wearing leggings with skirts way above the
knee. Please make sure your daughter is following the dress code for GRACE. Split skirts, gaucho skirts and
the like are not permitted as well. We are also concerned about the young ladies dressing modestly, so tight-
fitting clothing, and low necklines are strongly discouraged.
COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS & TEACHERS
Remember to touch base with teachers if you have ANY questions or concerns about your child’s class,
homework assignments, or anything that you feel is important to discuss with them. Please go to the person or
persons directly involved with your situation first. Most things can be worked out easily if you communicate
with each other. If there are other concerns that need attention, please contact a board member or talk to
Waverly in the GRACE office. You may call her at 616-204-4920, or e-mail her at office@gracehsaonline.org.
LUNCH TIME
We will keep you posted in reference to the plans for a hot lunch program on the first Friday of every month. Our next planned lunch is for Friday, February 5th. Also, just a reminder to have your children stay in the gym every week for lunch, until the scheduled lunch time is over, unless they are leaving the premises for lunch with parental approval. Keep in mind that we want to have students supervised while on GRACE property and if they leave the lunchroom to go to their next classroom early, it causes a problem since there are usually no teachers in the classrooms during the lunch break. If the teacher does happen to be in the classroom, they are often trying to get some things done in the quiet time they have to use during the lunch hour and may not wish to be disturbed. Please mention this to your children so that they will stay in the lunch room until just before their next class time is scheduled to start, that being 12:45. Thank you!
CELL PHONES
While we are not going to forbid the use of cell phones to contact parents, we are going to limit their use for
other purposes. There have been instances where there is a lot of text-messaging occurring. Please let your
child(ren) know that they may be asked to shut off their phone unless they need to contact their parents.
ABSENT POLICY
If you know your child(ren) will be tardy or absent, please notify the teachers ahead of time if possible—or call
the HSB office to let us know early in the morning. Notifying the teacher if you know ahead of time that your
child will be absent from class enables the teacher prepare homework and have it sent out for the student to
complete before next class time. And remember, ONE DAY at GRACE “equals” ONE WEEK of school, so it
is very important to make every effort to assure that your child is in class every week, unless sickness or other
important matters come up.
HOMEWORK POLICY
Most teachers will be handing out weekly assignment sheets, so make sure that your child(ren) obtain those
lesson sheets as available. Please make sure that your children are completing their weekly assignments by
working on them a bit each day, and turning them in at the specified time.
LATE FEES
Monthly statements will be sent out for GRACE tuition about 1-1&1/2 weeks before the next payment due
date. December 4, 2009 is the next upcoming statement due date. Please keep in mind that a late fee of $5.00
will be applied to your account if the current months payment is not paid by the second Friday of every month.
Thank you.
***SUGGESTIONS ***
We welcome any and all suggestions for making our program run more smoothly, to improve communication
between families and to help us grow into a better organization all around. We not only want to provide quality
education for our families’ children, but we would like to know about other opportunities to minister to those in
the community.
TUESDAY CLASS SCHEDULE
The following is a list of the remaining Tuesdays that GRACE will meet:
February 2, 9, 16, 23
March 2, 9, 16, 23 (no classes on Mar. 30-Spring Break Week)
April 6, 13, 20, 27
May 4, 11 / May 18 (MAKE-UP SNOW DAY, for missed Tuesday, Feb. 9th)
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
Next day for Monthly Hot Lunches Friday, March 5th
Graduation Sign-up Deadline Jan. 21
End of 1st Semester Jan. 22
Beginning of 2nd Semester Jan. 26
1st Graduation Meeting 7:00 p.m. Jan. 28
Report Cards to be distributed Feb. 12th
Iowa Basic Skills Testing Sign-up Deadline Apr. 1
Easter Break ~ Tuesday, March 30 & Friday, April 2
Registration Deadline for current GRACE families before NEW families Register Apr. 26
2nd Graduation Meeting 7:00 p.m. May 3
Parent’s Night May 6th *** CHANGED FROM ORIGINAL DATE
Last Day of Classes & End of 2nd Semester May 14
Tuesday MAKE-UP SNOW DAY (if snow day falls after Christmas Break) May 18
Friday MAKE-UP SNOW DAY (if snow day falls after Christmas Break) May 21
Iowa Basic Skills Testing May 24-25
Graduation Rehearsal June 2
Graduation June 3
Report Cards to be mailed June 11, 2010