What is the process for joining CHC?
All families seeking to join CHC must fill out a registration form. Upon receipt of this registration form the director will contact new families to set up a time to meet and discuss co-op in more detail. We ask that your best efforts be made to have your children attend the meeting, too. This is especially important to us if you have middle school and high school aged children. However, all children are welcome at meetings so there is no need to get childcare for your younger ones. In addition, only one parent needs to attend. This is typically the mother as she usually is the one doing the homeschooling and also will be the one attending co-op with the children. So, no need to try and arrange dad's schedule. Although, if dad is available we welcome his attendance at this meeting.
Before this meeting takes place you will receive a copy of our Family Handbook via email. We ask that you take time to read through this so that you are aware of our history, policies, expectations and procedures before we meet. This will allow our time together to well spent getting to know each other and answer any specific questions you may have about our co-op.
At that meeting we would also ask that you provide the name and email of someone who can fill out a reference form on your family/children. This is just one more way that we try to get to know you and your children. The form will take less than 10 minutes for the person to fill out so just come prepared to share their name when we meet.
The last item required is a non-refundable registration fee for the family. This can be paid via cash or check at the time of the meeting. This is the only way to ensure that a spot is held for your family in the upcoming year.
Why do you meet with new families?
We meet with all new families as a way to ensure that the goals and expectations of co-op are fully understood. We realize that our co-op may not be a good fit for all families, so in our meeting we do our best to share details about co-op that will really aid in making the final determination about participation in co-op. In addition, we realize that many times there are questions that may not be answered on our website so we want to give you an opportunity to ask questions.
What role does the teaching parent play at co-op?
Most of our families have one main teaching parent (and usually that is the mother) that will be involved at co-op every other week. The involvement will vary depending on gifts, talents, and desires of the mother (or father if that is the teaching parent helping at co-op).
Most mothers are what we call "room mothers." This means that they are in a classroom for the entire co-op day, 8:55am-1:50pm. During this time, they are there to assist the core teachers (science, history, music, pe, etc) that will rotate throughout the day. When there is not a core teacher, the room mother(s) will prepare activities for the children that will change based on the age class they are in. The younger classes usually require more planning from the room mothers than the older classes do. All room mothers will supervise their class during lunch time.
Our goal is to have at least 2 room mothers in each classroom so that they can share the load throughout the day. In addition, we try to place new mothers with mothers that have done co-op before so that you can see what types of activities and such are planned.
Lastly, we try to place mothers In a classroom that they will feel comfortable in. If you love to hug babies and change diapers then we will try to put you in the nursery. If you prefer to be with older students then that is where we will try to place you. It isn't always possible, but we try to do our very best.
Hopefully, you noticed it said that you are to be involved every other week. This means that you will stay at co-op to work just every other week. The others are your free days. You can drop your children off that day and then come back at 2:00pm to pick them up. If you want to be on the schedule more than the usual every other week please let Mindy know that in your meeting. There is a slight adjustment in semester fees if you opt to work more.
What expectations do you have for students?
Ideally, we want all students to participate fully in co-op and all the classes provided for their age group. However, we realize that different families have different needs. If you have a particular question regarding your child and their academic needs please let Mindy know so that we can determine the best way to move forward and make their teachers aware of the needs. In addition, there will be a form sent out at the beginning of the school year so that we can be sure all concerns can be addressed by the teachers.
What expectations do you have for the mothers/fathers?
A few of our expectations include: fulfilling your role by participating at co-op every other week, meeting the financial obligations by paying your semester fees in a timely manner, be punctual and present when you are assigned to work at co-op, make sure to fulfill your cleaning obligation (both on the weeks you work and the two times per semester when you are assigned a slightly larger task), be punctual in picking your children up on the weeks when you have a free Friday. These expectations and a few more will be shared with new families at our meeting and are also included in our Family Handbook.
What is the cost for co-op?
We try our very best to make co-op affordable to families while also ensuring that we are able to meet our annual budget. One way we are able to keep the cost lower than other classes in the area is that we do require parents to participate in a larger degree than others. If that level of participation is a problem please be sure and discuss that with Mindy. In addition, please speak with Mindy if you find that the fees make co-op difficult for your family to participate. There are adjustments that can be made for both if we are made aware of them.
For all families there is a non-refundable registration fee paid annually. This registration fee should be paid by new families at the meeting with Mindy. For families that are returning to co-op this fee should be mailed in after registration is submitted. The registration fee will be used to do a background check, purchase insurance as required by our hosting facility, and cover the cost of miscellaneous supplies throughout the year. (If more than one parent may be working at co-op then an additional $20 will be needed to cover the cost of a 2nd background check.)
For information on semester fees, please visit the "Semester Fees" page.
How is bad weather handled?
School Closings: We will typically follow Catoosa County for school closings due to weather (snow, extreme storms, or icy conditions).
School Delays or Early Closings: There are instances where Catoosa County will delay the start of school in order to not lose a day, but also to make sure students are transported safely. This is a more difficult decision for us to make and a slightly more confusing one.
Co-op begins an hour behind Catoosa County already, so we will only delay with them if it is longer than a one hour delay. And that delay will be decreased by an hour for us. So, if Catoosa County is delayed for 2 hours then our delay will only be 1 hour.
There may be times when Catoosa County decides to close early in order to make sure that students arrive home safely before bad weather arrives. We will follow suit and close early with them. Usually when they close it is with a specific time, so we will follow that time. In times past we have contacted parents in order to ensure everyone was aware and on their way.
In both instances, we will send out this information via text, email, and on our Facebook page.
When do you meet?
Our nursery - 8th grade students currently meet on Fridays from 9am to 2pm. This provides time for each class to have a chapel/devotional time, core classes (science, history, and writing (4th grade and up)), lunch, free time, and elective classes based on grade (art, pe, music, etc).
The high school classes also meet during those hours on Friday, but they also meet on Wednesday. The times vary based on their class schedule.
You can check out the Co-op Calendar page for the dates of the upcoming/current school year.
Where do you meet?
We currently meet at Burning Bush Baptist Church in Ringgold, GA.