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
MAY 2010 Newsletter
In this issue:
***News for our GRACE Home School Community***
CATALOGS ARE READY FOR 2010-2011
FAMILY NIGHT THURSDAY, MAY 6th 6:00-8:30
General Information
SNOW DAYS & CLASS CANCELLATIONS
The GRACE Gazette
Yearbook
Graduation
IOWA BASICS SKILLS TESTING
Tuesday Class Schedule
Dates to Remember
HSB Home School Information Night
THE EVERYTHING SALE at the Home School Building
2010-2011 COURSE CATALOGS ARE NOW AVAILABLE
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 or call her at 204-4920 to have one mailed to them. They may also view the catalog on our website: www.gracehsaonline.org
END OF THE YEAR FAMILY NIGHT
GRACE is now in the process of organizing our annual FAMILY NIGHT, previously called PARENT’S NIGHT. It will be held at the HSB on Thursday, May 6th. Families are encouraged to come browse some of the classrooms with art, science and other displays anytime from 6:00-7:00 followed by a short program that may include some speeches from our Speech class, musical performances from our Choir class and more! Light refreshments will follow. Please come and bring friends and extended family members that are interested in what your children do in their GRACE classes!
SNOW DAYS & CLASS CANCELLATIONS
When classes are cancelled for inclement weather, you will 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 more! Each family is entitled to one.
YEARBOOK
It is now time to sign up for the 2009-2010 GRACE Home School Yearbook.
The price is $15.00. Order forms may be found on the hall table or in the HSB office on Fridays. Otherwise, you may send your check to GRACE Home School Association, 10128 Bennett SE, Lowell, MI 49331.
GRADUATION
The deadline for signing up for this year’s graduation has now passed. 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 student
Sign-up now while there’s still time!
ANY QUESTIONS???
Call Irene Hazenberg: 616-805-2939 or e-mail: events@gracehsaonline.org
*** GYM USAGE / CHANGES ***
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 will allow your children to play during the lunch hour under your own supervision and at your own risk. Signs are posted in the gym to that effect. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.
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.
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. 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, May 7th. 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 if
possible.
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 month’s 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 your 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:
April 6, 13, 20, 27
May 4, 11
May 18 (MAKE-UP SNOW DAY, for classes missed on Tuesday, Feb. 9th)
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
Next day for Monthly Hot Lunches Friday, May 7th
GRACE Registration Deadline for current GRACE families before NEW families can Register Apr. 24
2nd Graduation Meeting 7:00 p.m. April 19, 2010
Family Night Thursday, 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
Iowa Basic Skills Testing May 24-25
Graduation Rehearsal June 2
Graduation June 3
Report Cards to be mailed June 11, 2010
HOME SCHOOL INFORMATION NIGHT
This program is for those families considering the educational option of Home Schooling. If you know of anyone who may be interested in Home Schooling and has questions regarding this subject, let them know about the HOME SCHOOL INFORMATION NIGHT WORKSHOPS held at the Home School Building every month. All workshops start at 7:00 p.m., and last approximately 2 hours. They are led by experienced home educators. There is a small fee of $10.00/family for an information packet, which is payable at the door.
WORKSHOP DATES:
Tuesday, MAY 11, 2010
Tuesday, JUNE 8, 2010
WORKSHOP RSVP : Call the HSB at 616-532-9422
The Everything Sale – Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Everything Sale is back!! Why mess around with planning a garage sale? The Everything Sale will be held rain or shine, all of the advertising is done for you and you have a captive audience! This is a great opportunity to make some extra money during these hard economic times.
The Everything Sale will be held in the HSB gym from 9:00AM to 3:00PM.
HSB, Inc.
5625 Burlingame Ave. SW., Wyoming, MI 49509
(616) 532-9422 ext. 6
Resourcecenter@homeschoolbuilding.org