Welcome to CHECCS!
We are the Christian Home Educators of Carroll, Columbiana, and Stark counties (Ohio). (Others outside those counties are welcome as well, if you're willing to make the drive. We have/had members from Tuscarawas, Harrison, Jefferson, Mahoning, Trumball, etc.). Please read this entire page carefully to learn more about our group and how to join. There are two main sections: Information about Educating at Home in Ohio and General Information about the CHECCS group. Please read both! Do not request membership to this site without first reading this page in its entirety!
Information about Educating at Home in Ohio
There are two common ways of educating your child in a home environment in the state of Ohio: traditional home education and on-line public community schools (e-schools).
According to the Ohio Department of Education,
Home Education is education that is directed by the parent or guardian of a child who has been excused from attending school. The parent or guardian selects the curriculum and educational materials and takes responsibility for educating the child. There is no state financial assistance for families who choose this option.
The Ohio Department of Education says this about on-line community schools,
Ohio also has several online community schools, or E-schools, that provide education to students largely electronically through the use of a computer and related materials. These community schools are state chartered and state funded. While students enrolled in online community schools do typically work from home, enrollment in an online community school differs from Home Education because the online school is responsible for providing the curriculum and educational resources. Additionally, state funded community schools may not provide religious instruction.
As you can see, these two methods are not the same at all. They are covered under different areas of Ohio's laws, and are very different in terms of what is required by law.
If you use either of these methods, you should make yourself very familiar with the laws so you know how to be in compliance with your method of choice. Traditional home education is defined and controlled by Ohio Administrative Code 3301-34 or 3301-35-08 and Ohio Revised Code 3321.04. On-line public community schooling is defined and controlled by Ohio Administrative Code 3301-35 and Ohio Revised Code 3314.
General Information about the CHECCS Group
CHECCS is a group of about 40 conservative Christian families who educate our children at home as we feel led by God to do so. Most families traditionally home educate. However, we do have a few using on-line public e-schools. We offer co-op classes, field trips, special events, moms nights out, summer get togethers, and more.
Our constitutional purpose is to promote and facilitate Christian home education and to train and nurture our children according to Biblical guidelines.
Before requesting membership to this website, you must become a member of CHECCS.
Joining CHECCS is a multi-step process. The first step is to complete the Potential New Member Questionnaire. This completed on-line and is accessed from the menu on the left.
Once that step is completed, and if there are openings, you must then complete several forms (Registration, Statement of Faith, Member Requirements, & Statement of Purpose), complete the (on-line) New Member Questionnaire, complete an interview process, pay our annual membership dues (currently $15 per family), and our annual building use fee (currently $25) per family. (Links to these forms are available in the Schedule/Forms section on the menu to the right.)
Only after you have become a member of CHECCS by doing the aforementioned, you will be granted access to the private, members-only section of this website. Then, if you traditionally home educate, you will then need to provide a copy of your students' letter of excuse from compulsory attendance which you will receive from your school district when you notify them of your intent to home educate. If you use an on-line public community school, you will then need to provide a copy of your student's account information which shows the current school year as well as the student's name. This document is due to the CHECCS Administrator by October 31st of each year (or at the time you join).
If your students are in the weekly co-op classes, you will also need to commit to providing a weekly service to the co-op. (Usually this service is a commitment to cleaning a particular area of the church we use for co-op.) We cannot operate the co-op without everyone's help each week.
During the traditional school year, we have weekly co-ops (science, art, gym, etc.) for the children. The co-op classes vary each year. See the Newsletter/Schedule/Forms section on the menu to the right for a list of classes and/or a schedule of classes.
Our co-op year is divided into three sessions. The first session starts in October and goes into December. Then we break for CHRISTmas and New Year's. Session 2 is January and February. The last session is March and April. The second session has less offerings due to the winter weather, but allows the older students to continue work in their classes. See the Newsletter/Schedule/Forms section on the menu to the right for schedules of each section.
We also have various field trips and events during the co-op year. During the summer months, we get together for swim days and park days a couple times each month. We also have private, "members-only" pages on this website for additional support. (Once we receive your forms and payment of all fees, then you will be able to request membership at this site to have access to the members-only area.)
Our Sign Up Day for the coming co-op year is in early May each year. It is a tiered sign-up process, meaning those who are teaching classes for and leading the CHECCS group, sign up for classes first, followed by current members who are not teaching, followed by any newly joining members.
If you have missed the Sign Up Day, some teachers may take additional students past that day. If you wish to join the group after the early May Sign Up and there are no (or few) openings in the classes, then you can still join and your students may participate in gym class, field trips, and special CHECCS events. As a member, you will then have the opportunity to sign up for the following year's co-op classes at the May Sign Up Day before any one who is not currently a member.
The CHECCS group is limited in size. If the group does not have any openings when you contact us, you may contact the Administrator up to twice each year to see if there are any openings. (Suggested times to do this would be around April 15 to May 1 and November 1 to December 31.) You may also be asked to be put on a waiting list.
If you have questions, please e-mail the CHECCS Administrator:
checcs "at" DustBunniesAndBooks "dot" com
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