Parent Handbook
Welcome to Covenant’s 2017-2018 year of supplemental classes!
We truly appreciate you entrusting your children to Covenant as your family takes advantage of some of our supplemental classes.
If you have an elementary-age student, on our website you will find the schedules of classes for your child(ren)’s age group. Please mark your calendars with the class dates! Each year as we prepare our class schedules, we make sure that each class has the correct number of total classes for the entire school year. Due to holidays, Spring Break and other scheduling conflicts, during some months the class dates may not follow the normal pattern. Due to time constraints, it is nearly impossible for our office staff to send reminders when the schedule doesn’t follow the normal scheduling patterns. We thank you in advance for your understanding, and again, please mark your calendars for the entire school year!
We do not provide grades for most of our elementary classes. Children will start having their work graded in the 5th-6th grade level for science classes.
If you would like a student to join classes above their grade level, CHSRC requires the permission of the instructor before signing up your student. If students are registered to classes above their grade level without the permission of our instructors, CHSRC has the authority to withdraw the student in question if it becomes apparent the class is above their skill or maturity level.
If a child has needs that may affect class interaction or require special accommodations, as requested in the registration form, it is your responsibility to inform CHSRC before registering your student for classes. If you choose to not communicate to CHSRC about any special needs your child may have, CHSRC has the authority to withdraw your student if it becomes apparent the class set up for instruction isn’t beneficial to your child.
Additional Important Information:
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Please remind your kids that each day they come to Covenant, they not only come to an educational institution, they also come to a church. Students are not allowed to run in our church building. All are expected to behave with respect for each other and all adults they encounter at Covenant.
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Constant supervision for students pre-school through 6th grade: The safety of each child attending classes at Covenant is of utmost priority. With the exception of the afternoon 5/6 science class, children registered in classes up to the 5th-6th grade level will be supervised at ALL times. Please bring your elementary age child to his classroom about 5 minutes before class starts. When class is over, if you have signed up for another class, a staff member will walk your child to the next class. Elementary age kids will take bathroom breaks as a group with the teacher taking them, or individually taken by one of our office staff. Between art and the afternoon 5/6 science class there is a break of 45 minutes. Our staff isn’t able to supervise students taking this class as they have other obligations. As a result, parents of students that register for 5/6 art and afternoon science are required to supervise their own children during this 45 minute break.
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Supervision for middle-school and high-school: Teachers are ONLY responsible for supervising middle-school and high-school students during class time. For time periods before or after class, it is the parents’ responsibility to make sure their child follows safe and appropriate behavior. We encourage “older” students to stay in the grass area or in the bookstore building during downtime. Students are welcome to bring their lunch and eat on-site. The church building will be locked after the last class in that building ends. At that point, students will have access to a key to the rest rooms upon request. Restrooms are located in the church building. Our staff is trained to keep an eye on older students and make sure the environment here at Covenant is safe and welcoming, but we do not have the staff to be able to supervise 7th-12th graders at all times.
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Parents supervising active 7th-12th graders: We welcome parents of students at all grade levels to stay at Covenant during their child’s class(es) if they so desire. While we make sure elementary-age kids are supervised at all times, we do not have the staff to be able to supervise older students at all times. As a result, parents will need to evaluate their own comfort level, their children’s behavior and maturity as they decide if they need to stay on-site while their child attends classes here at Covenant.
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Drop-off and pick-up: For elementary-age students you may take your child into his or her class 5 minutes before class start time. At the end of each class, elementary-age students will not be allowed to leave their classrooms without a parent or a teacher. Please pick up your child promptly. If you will be running late, please notify the office, and we’ll make sure your child stays near our office staff if the teacher can’t stay with the child. Mature middle-school and high-school students are welcome to come slightly earlier before their class time. We have a small table in the bookstore where they can quietly do reading or homework.
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Homework: All students are expected to complete all homework and come prepared to perform well in tests and class-participation projects.
For Mrs. Borg's classes only:
Parents are responsible for postage fees for homework that needs to be mailed to students for classes missed. If you would rather pick up the homework, contact CHSRC before the missed class and it won't be mailed.
Please note, we do not mail out packets for 1st-4th grade classes. They can be picked up in the office.
For all other classes:
Have your student contact the teacher directly for missed homework assignments.
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First aid: We have a fully stocked first-aid kit on site. Our teachers or office staff will administer first-aid for minor scrapes. We will only administer Tylenol to students age 12 an older with direct permission of the parent. Parents will be notified immediately if health issues or accidents occur. If your elementary-age child is treated for minor scrapes, you will receive a “Boo Boo Report” upon picking up your child.
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Cell Phones: No cell phone use is allowed in class (including texting, and any other cell phone features.) Please instruct your child, if he or she has a cell phone, to turn it off during class and keep it in his or her purse/backpack. We have a “cell phone basket” in each classroom, some teachers may choose to collect cell phones at the beginning of class and place this in the cell phone basket for the entire class period. If your child needs to be contacted during class for any reason, please call the office at (602) 277-3497, as students will NOT be allowed to answer texts or calls during class.
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Covenant does not make any money from the classes we provide. Tuition fees go directly to teacher salaries; lab and supply fees are used by the teachers as they purchase what is needed to teach each class, and the registration fees aim to cover some of our operating costs such as: office staff, insurance costs, utilities, etc. As a non-profit organization, we see ourselves as a ministry to the homeschooling community.
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Free money for tuition: We are very happy to be able to participate in Bashas’ programs for non-profit organizations. If you shop at Bashas’, you have the opportunity to apply a percentage of the money you already spend in groceries toward your student tuition or book purchases. Please see the insert about the grocery store program, and let us know if you have any questions.
Ways you can help Covenant
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Volunteer positions: If you would like to volunteer while your child takes a class (or at any other time) please contact us as we greatly appreciate any help we can get!
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Box Tops: We also greatly appreciate all parents who save Box Tops for us. For each Box Top we collect, we receive 10 cents. It may not seem like much, but every little bit helps! With a number of homeschooling families bringing Box Tops to Covenant, it REALLY makes a difference!
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Donations: As with most non-profit corporations, our budget is extremely tight. We appreciate all the help we can get! We accept cash donations, donations of used curriculum, Box Tops for Education, used ink cartridges! We also accept donations on our website CHSRC.ORG
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Fry’s new program for non-profit organizations: The Fry's Community Rewards Program began September 1, 2013, To sign up, create an online Fry's account (if you don't already have one). Go to Fry's website. Select "Create an Account" and follow the prompts. Enter "Cov" for the organization name or the number 80231.
We want to encourage all families to please sign up for the program. It is free to sign up! And since Covenant operates on an extremely tight budget, we can use all the help that we can get! If you have any questions about signing up or to get help with the signup process ask one of our office staff. This is a program that you have to sign up for yearly.
Fry's will send a portion of the amount spent from each Fry's V.I.P. card to Covenant. All proceeds will go to our general fund where they will be used toward continuing our ministry and services to bless the homeschooling community. Thank you so much!
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Shop at Amazon? Covenant is now eligible to participate in AmazonSmile!
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization.
How do I select a charitable organization to support when shopping on AmazonSmile?
On your first visit to AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), you need to select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. Type our complete name “Covenant Home School Resource Center” and select us as the organization you would like Amazon to benefit on your behalf. Amazon will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation.
We would like to thank First Reformed Presbyterian Church for hosting us. FRPC has a strong desire to support Christian education and parent-led education. Covenant is able to stay open mainly by the generosity of First Reformed Presbyterian Church as they allow us to use their building for a nominal fee. Bookstore profits and donations of used curriculum also help us stay open. Even so, without the cash donation of generous friends of Covenant we would not be able to stay afloat.
We thank you again for entrusting us with playing a role in your child(ren)’s education. Covenant has been serving the homeschool community since 2000. Every year we marvel at the creativity, ingenuity, and uniqueness of each of the families and students that God has brought to Covenant. We are here to serve you in any way we can as you follow your homeschool journey.
Welcome to Covenant!