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PATCH is a collective group of homeschooling families that meets once a week. We offer several enrichment classes from 11am to 2:30pm taught by parent volunteers. We also offer field trips and parent support meetings. 

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PATCH was founded in the spring of 2014 by Mechelle Gilbert and Becky Owen. They were neighbors and homeschool moms looking for a group that wouldn't exclude them based on their beliefs. At the time, there was no local co-op they could find that fit that requirement so they decided to form one. Mechelle's background in business and Becky's background with co-ops both resulted in PATCH. 

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You can request membership through this website by filling out a registration request and submitting it for review.  You need to be aware of the responsibility of volunteering as part of your membership. 

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You must have at least one school age child age 5 by Sept 1st. Exceptions to this policy are made on a case by case basis. 

Nursery is for siblings of active participating children only.

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PATCH has a $75/session membership fee which pays building rent and administrative costs such as website hosting, cleaning supplies, printing costs and alike.  There is also a $7.50 cent charge for insurance each session for each regularly attending child and parent, including infants.

Class costs vary depending on how large your family is and what classes you choose. The cost of the classes are generally between 0.00 and 25.00 per class per person. We offer several classes per age group each week. Please check the current class schedule to see what we are offering. The classes run for 10 to 12 weeks per sessoion. The class fees are for the entire session they are NOT weekly fees. If you're on a budget you have great flexibility to keep your costs down by choosing low cost classes. 

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Yes we try to offer two field trips during the school year. These field trips may have their own costs attached to them. They are completley optional. We also will offer parties throught the year for the kids to just socialize and have fun. Additionally we like to have a moms meetup on occaion outside of the weekly group meetings. 

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The short answer is NO. You need to be aware of the fact that all families must volunteer in two positions each session in order to participate in PATCH. This is one way we keep costs down and keep parents involved. This is not a drop off site for your kids. A parent must be on site with their children or have a designated adult responsible for their children at the site. 

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We require every family to volunteer in two positions. It can be a class leader, class helper, admin, or on site position. We need leaders and helpers for the group to function and to keep costs down. Its that simple. In order to offer classes, we need leaders. In order to use the building we need to pick up after our group. In a nut shell without volunteers we would have to pay others to do these things and the cost would push many families out of being able to afford PATCH. 

So here are the volunteer guidelines

Each Family must volunteer in at least two positions.

** Starting January 2015, each participating family MUST be willing to Lead at least one class, and hold at least one other position.

Your volunteer requirement can be met in a few ways.

1) Lead 1 Class and Volunteer in a Helper Position

2) Lead 2 Classes

3) Lead 1 Class with Mentor Support and Volunteer in a Helper Position

We offer the third option for parents that are still finding their way in leading a class. If you feel you need guidance in leading please let Admin know so that you can be paired with a Mentor to help you find your way through your first lead experience. 

** All Nursery Positions count as a Helper Positions, they do not count as Lead Positions. Other support positions such as hall monitor, and of course class room helper counts as 1 Helper Position.  Admin counts as 1 Leader Position. 

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As of now PATCH is not participating in fundraisers. If you would like to organize a fundraiser it will be proposed to the general membership and if voted in it would be offered as optional participation. 

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On occasion we add questions or find there is missing information that the administration needs to better serve the members. If we add a question we set the system to force you to update your profile so we can have the most up to date information in offering classes, field trips and social events. 

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PATCH meets on Tuesdays from 11-2:30. Our current location is in Tacoma about a mile east of the Tacoma Mall. We do not publish our exact meeting site for safety and security reasons. 

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No, PATCH is an all inclusive group.  

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PATCH does not use any specified curriculum. Our classes are thought up, organized and planned by the volunteering parents and based on the interests of the children and parents. The volunteers can utilize many resources in their classes. There is no curriculum or standard achievement measurement used or given for the volunteers. These classes are meant to enhance and enrichment homeschool education not replace it. Each class is approved by the PATCH Administration but curriculum is not specifically reviewed. It is the parents job to inquire with the teacher volunteer for information on class resources being used. 

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Refund Policy, In an effort to keep costs down we only charge fees that are directly related to our costs and therefore we do not offer refunds. 

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PATCH is run by volunteers, and as such, we understand that we do not have control of sickness that may affect a number of members causing us to cancel classes. Inclement weather is another factor that may result in cancelled classes. We try to have two extra days available to extend the session to make up for these lost days. There are no refunds given for these losses, this is part of being run by volunteers and at such a low cost. We do not collect extra funds for "just in case" refunds. By doing so we would have to raise the fees by almost double, which many groups do. We feel the cost savings is worth the risk or losing a day or two each session, and that the activities that we plan in addition to class days also helps to negate this loss.