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
November 2009 Newsletter
In this issue:
***News for our GRACE Home School Community***
Catalogs for 2009-2010
Home School Information Nights
Picture Retakes November 20th
The GRACE Gazette
Yearbook
Graduation
Tuesday Schedule
Dates to Remember
News for All GRACE Families
GRACE HOME SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
2009-2010 COURSE CATALOGS ARE STILL 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 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 updated catalog on our website: www.gracehsaonline.org.
Your friends may also want to look into coming to the monthly HOME SCHOOL INFORMATION NIGHT WORKSHOPS offered by experienced home educators. The next scheduled date for the workshops are Tuesday, December 8, 2009. All workshops start at 7:00 p.m. at the Home School Building. There is a fee of $10/family for an information packet, which is payable at the door. If you or anyone you know may be interested, you may RSVP by calling the Home School Building at 616-532-9422.
GRACE CLEANING ~ NO MORE VOLUNTEERS NECESSARY !!!
Many thanks to the families that were able and willing to sign up for a time slot to help clean the classrooms, rest rooms and halls on Friday afternoons. Recently the Board of GRACE made a decision to hire a young lady that we’ve had do the cleaning in years past. Thank you so much for your help up to this point. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed!!
******************* PICTURE DAY RETAKES ******************
If your child was unable to
have his/her picture taken in October, they may have it done on November 20th, at the Home School
Building from 10:00-2:00 pm. in the Gym. Their pictures will still appear in the GRACE yearbook which is
to be printed in early to mid-May 2010. If you have any family friends that wish
to have their photos taken, they may come as well. This service is for anyone in the
community with children who would like to purchase school pictures.
THE GRACE GAZETTE
Our Journalism class has taken on a class newspaper, entitled THE GRACE GAZETTE that is full of interesting
historical and current facts, a crossword puzzle, various articles written by the GRACE students, and much
more! Each family is entitled to one GRACE GAZETTE which can be picked up on the Hall Monitor table.
Please take one home and enjoy!!
YEARBOOK
Yearbooks should be ready in early to mid-May. More information to come!!
GRADUATION
More information will be coming in the near future. Please direct any and all questions to Waverly Gentry at 616-204-4920, or by e-mail office@gracehsaonline.org for the time being.
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.
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, December 4, 2009. January 8th will be the next planned date. 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 Tuesdays that GRACE will meet:
November 24
December 1, 8 / December 15 (MAKE-UP SNOW DAY, only If needed)
January 5, 12, 19, 26
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, only If needed)
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
Next day for Monthly Hot Lunches December 4
Picture Retake Day Nov. 20 (10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.)
Thanksgiving Break Nov. 27 (Friday only)
Tuesday MAKE-UP SNOW DAY (if snow day falls before Christmas Break) Dec. 15
Friday MAKE-UP SNOW DAY (if snow day falls before Christmas Break) Dec. 18
Christmas Break Dec. 15-Jan. 1
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. 19
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 13
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