About GRACE Co-op

GRACE Co-op

1. GRACE stands for Georgetown Regional Area Christian Educators.
2. GRACE Co-op is a combination of a support group and home school classes.
3. GRACE Co-op is non-profit, self-funded, and solely volunteer run by the families of the members of GRACE Co-op only.
4. GRACE Co-op enriches and supports the home-education of parents by providing:
   • Academic enrichment of home schooled students and/or enhancement of curriculum being taught at home,
   • Social opportunities and life-long friendships for both parents and children,
   • Spiritual support and growth with other homeschool families,
   • The opportunity to exchange teaching ideas, curriculum advice, and information about local home schooling events,
   • Extracurricular activities for home schooled students and families.

GRACE Co-op Activities: Grace Co-op tries to provide the following activities, but activities may vary from year to year.

1. Classes: Academic and Elective
2. Field Trips
3. Park Days
4. Nature Studies
5. Moms’ Night Out
6. Junior High/High School Socials
7. Curriculum Sales
8. Book Orders
9. Holiday, Back to School & End of Year Parties
10. Science Fairs/ Spelling Bees/ End of year fairs, Etc.
11. Field Day
12. Teen or Family Service Projects
13. Dances

Membership:

1. Application: GRACE Co-op requires any homeschool family seeking membership to complete an application and go through an interview process with the SALT. New members are accepted based on a number of factors including, but not limited to: prayer, available classroom space, ratios in grade levels, the limited number of families in our group, the needs and well-being of the co-op as well as the needs of the applicants. GRACE Co-op membership is limited. 
2. Criteria: Members of GRACE Co-op are like-minded, Christian homeschooling families who seek to be a part of an active community, supporting each other and growing together in their homeschooling journeys. Members agree with GRACE’s Mission Statement and Statement of Faith as well as the Statement on Marriage, Gender and Sexuality. Families of GRACE educate their children at home according to Texas homeschooling laws. Students who are involved in a Public, Private, University Model or Charter school are not be eligible for membership in GRACE.
3. Size: Membership will not exceed 45-50 families. The size of the group is determined yearly based on space availability and the needs of the co-op.

Servant and Leadership Team (SALT):

1. Team: GRACE Co-op has a team of five to seven couples who help make decisions for and oversee the co-op. Each member of the team has certain areas which they oversee (i.e. membership, scheduling, website, social events, etc.).
2. Co-Directors: GRACE Co-op has two co-directors who are the main contacts and make executive decisions together, but include and consult the rest of the SALT often and when necessary.  The SALT team votes on decisions when needed.

Members’ Responsibilities:

1. Teaching: Each mother or father is asked to pray about teaching and is required to offer to teach at least one class each year.  This class may or may not be chosen for the co-op classes that year, but there should at least be one submission per family.  This can be anything from a Chemistry class to a Pre-K class – whatever the parent feels led to teach.  GRACE Co-op will not work if  there are not enough teachers.
2. Work: Each parent is required to work 2 hours out of 3 hours.  This includes either teaching or being a room helper in a class. The parent has one "on-call" hour where they may visit with other moms who are also off, but is also available to fill in as a substitute in any class when needed. This is necessary for the co-op to function well.
3. Volunteer as Coordinators: Each member is asked to pray about and volunteer to lead or organize events such as field trips, parties, mom’s nights, Scholastic book orders, park days, etc. Coordinators of these events can either plan each even themselves or enlist other volunteers to organize monthly events.  Each member is required to volunteer for at least one activity. If there are not coordinators for certain events or activities, GRACE Co-op not have them.

Classes:

1. Grade Levels:  Most years the classes are broken up as follows, but it may vary and change slightly from year to year:
   1. Nursery (for families with students in Kinder or older)
   2. Pre-k (for families with students in Kinder or older)
   3. Kinder-2nd
   4. 3rd-5th
   5. 6th-8th
   6. 9th-12th
2. Length: There are 3 hour-long classes held on Monday mornings.  At a minimum, we have 2 offerings per hour for the K-2 through high school grade levels. 
3. Type: GRACE Co-op tries to have a good mix of academic and elective classes.  For high school, GRACE tries to have offerings that meet some graduation credit needs.  

Cost:

1. Admin/Registration Fees: There is a registration & administration fee per family, per year.
   1. The administration and operating fees are $100 per year and pays for all parties, paperwork, website fees, supplies, insurance, cleaning supplies, and anything else needed to run the co-op.  Any leftover funds at the end of the school year are donated to the church in some form. 
   2. The registration fee is $50, and goes to the church as a payment for hosting our group. 
2. Class Fees: Teachers set their own class fees and all fees are paid directly to the teacher.  Teachers do not make any profit from the classes. The fees cover supplies only. Typical class fees are between $5-25 per semester, but some may be slightly higher depending on the supplies for the class.  Any large supplies purchased with class fees remain with the co-op and are used from year to year, as needed. 
3. Extras: Events such as field trips and teen socials usually have additional charges, as they are scheduled. 

Website:

1. Purpose: The GRACE Co-op website is used to manage registration, membership, classes, calendars, group emails and discussions, event sign-ups, etc.
2. Address: The website address is: www.gtgrace.com

Contact Information: grace@gtgrace.com