GRACE Home School Association

The Grand Rapids Association for Christian Education & Excellence

10128 Bennett SE, Lowell, MI 49331, 616-204-4920

www.gracehsaonline.org

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

III John 4

October 2009 Newsletter

In this issue:

***News for our GRACE Home School Community***

Catalogs & Class Sign Ups for 2009-2010

First Day at Grace Sept. 18, 2009

Picture Day & Retakes

HSB Book Fair

Yearbook

Graduation

Tuesday Schedule

Dates to Remember

News for All GRACE Families

Our first day back to GRACE went very well. Many people offered praise and commendation regarding the atmosphere at GRACE and expressed their gratitude for the teachers and staff, and for the students as well! We are very thankful as members of the staff for the helpful spirit shown by students pitching in for on the spot cleaning of rooms and the gym.

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP NEEDED!!!

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. We will definitely need more volunteers for that task. A couple of families working together can complete the job in about an hour and a half. If we get enough people to work, we probably wouldn’t need one family more than once, maybe twice in the school year. There will be a sign-up sheet either on the hall monitor’s table or on the office window. Thank you so much for your help. WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!

GRACE HOME SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

2009-2010 COURSE CATALOGS ARE STILL AVAILABLE.

THERE IS STILL TIME TO REGISTER FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR!!! We will take late registrations for another week or two. We would really like to see more people sign up for our Choir class, which currently has only 6 students. We are excited about our new Choir director and what she has planned for the year.

Also, 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

******************* PICTURE DAY ******************

Pictures will be taken in the gym on October 16^th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We would like

to encourage all students to have their pictures taken, even if not planning to

purchase school pictures. Their pictures will still appear in the GRACE yearbook scheduled to

be printed in early to mid-May 2010. RETAKES for pictures will be taken on November

20^th from 10:00-2:00 p.m.

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.

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.

LUNCH TIME

We will keep you posted in reference to the plans for a hot lunch program on the first Friday of every month. The first planned dates are for Friday, October 2^nd,November 6^th, December 4^th, and January 8^th. 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!

GIRLS LEGGINGS POLICY

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. Split skirts, gaucho skirts and the like are not permitted as well.

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.

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.

LATE FEES

Monthly statements will be sent out for GRACE tuition about 1-1&1/2 weeks before the next payment due

date. October 2, 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.

Barnes & Noble Book Fair - Benefit for the Home School Building

BOOKFAIR FUND RAISER

To Benefit the Home School Building
at Barnes & Noble in Rivertown Crossings Mall
3700 Rivertown Parkway, Grandville, MI

Saturday October 17, 2009
from 10:00am - 8:30pm

From the Home School Building's BOOKFAIR held at Barnes & Noble in Grandville, a percentage of the sales* by HSB supporters will be donated to the building. This includes drinks and food from their cafeteria! Vouchers must be presented at the cash register. You may print them from our website homeschoolbuilding.org or pick one up from the HSB brochure rack, office, library, or bookstore.

Anyone using our book fair number 10015477 on October 17, 2009 AT ANY BARNES & NOBLE STORE in the U.S.A. will give credit to the Home School Building. Please let all your book loving friends and family know throughout the country! Thank you!

Remember this is part of educator appreciation days so there is a drawing going on that educators can take part in!

At 2:00pm a special story time will be going on in the children’s area! (The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body will be read, a take home craft will be done, and children will have the opportunity to use a stethoscope!!)

Also, Jeff Fenzel, a Michigan author, will be in the store at 2:00pm to sign his latest mystery novel set in the state of Michigan: Inherit All Things. His books will be available for purchase and will help support the Home School Building.

Make sure to come out, buy a coffee or snack to eat, and look at all the great art in the cafeteria from our different home school art groups!!

*The purchase of gift cards, Barnes & Noble memberships, textbooks and magazine subscriptions are not included in book fair totals. Our discount purchasing program may not be applied to book fair purchases.

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 Holly Veurink. Her contact information is as follows:

Home Phone: (616)-534-9902

E-mail: veurinks@comcast.net

Celebration Through History Party

October 6, 2009