FAQs
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What is a cooperative Community? |
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We are a group of homeschool families that come together in cooperation to provide educational and social activities for our children. We are an entirely volunteer ran group that depends on the group for the flow. NKHC is a cooperative organization.
It is integral to the success of the program for all individual family members to participate in order to meet our goals. The classes offered will be those chosen from a list of child requested classes that parents are willing to teach. Parents also do the planning, newsletters, communication, and creation of all co-op activities, field trips, parties, meetings, etc. All board members and committee members are parents. We need our parents to fill these roles to help ensure the success our co-op! Many hands make light work!
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Are you secular? |
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Yes, we are a secular group, meaning that we do not teach from religious curriculum and are not bound by religious rule. We have many members of differing beliefs and everyone is respected! We are inclusive and accepting of all! |
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Do you require a statement of faith? |
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No, we do not. We are a secular group, and members of all faiths and beliefs are welcome. The only adherence we require is our CARE policy We Speak with CARE • We learn with CARE • We play with CARE
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How do we join? |
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Click here to go to our request membership page. Membership approval is based on availability and class sizes. There is a three step process. 1. When you request to join the Community Outreach Coordinator will email you a few questions. This is also a good time to ask any questions that you have as well. Once you have emailed us back your answers then the board will review and decide if we have space or not. You will receive an email telling you what to do next. 2. Families that have completed the application paperwork will be invited for a tour or a meet and greet. 3. The admin team and you are ready to get you enrolled a board member will reach out to you and help you get started please contact us anytime with any questions |
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Can I schedule a tour? |
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Tours are available throughout the Sep-May school year. Please reach out to nkhc.co.op@gmail.com if you would like to schedule a tour or have any questions. If you are ready to join our community, please fill out the application at the top right hand side of the main page. |
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Can I drop my child off? Do I (the parent) have to stay the whole time? |
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No, we do not allow drop-offs. We are a parent-run organization and can only flourish with active weekly parent participation from all families. You are required to be on site at all times, and volunteer jobs are required to make the day run smoothly. The responsible adult must stay the whole time. |
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Do we need to attend the whole day? Every week? |
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Classes are best when there is participation, however, we realize that there are emergencies and unforseeable circumstances in those cases we just request that you ensure that any volunteer jobs you sign up for are fulfilled before you leave. If you only plan to participate alternating weeks or half the day on a regular basis then this would not be the co-op for you. Planned absences should be rare, and we schedule break weeks to help families minimize their time away from co-op. Please see our handbook for specific guidelines to handle planned and unforseen absences. |
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Do you do field trips? |
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To enhance the learning experience, we go on several field trips each year. We have a fabulous social committee that plans great field trips and parties. Parents are responsible for providing transportation and supervision. |
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What ages do you serve? |
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We offer classes and groups for all school-age children from Pre-K and up. In September of the academic year, every family must have a child who is 5 years old or older. Groups are based on the child's age on SEPTEMBER 1st: Butterflies: ages 0-4 Orcas: ages 5-7 Woodpeckers: ages 8-10 Bears: ages 11-12 Eagles ages 13-17 |
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Do you have a preschool? |
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While our program is primarily a K-12 program if there are enough preschoolers or toddlers we will create a class. If there are enough 3 or 4 year olds we can set up preschool program for thoses families that also have older children (at least kindergarten enrolled). If there are not enough students to hold a class we will decide if it's worth having a class or if we should have parents keep their preschoolers with them during the day. |
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How long is each term? |
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Classes run on a school year schedule (September-June) with a break every 5-6 weeks. There is a long winter break December-January. Exact dates are planned and posted on the main page. Currently fall runs for 13 weeks and spring runs for 14 weeks with the 14th week being a project fair. We also have a field day the week after our project fair! Current members will still gather and get together during summer months. |
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What classes do you offer? |
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We offer a wide variety of new and exciting classes each term. Please visit our classes and registration page for more information on our current classes. Some of our favorite past classes have been Lego Robotics, Eating Your Way across the USA, Shakespeare, Art, Dinosaurs Rock!, and Vegetarian Cooking. We offer a mix of semester and year-long classes. |
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What is the cost? |
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*FAMILY FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE AND DO NOT INCLUDE CLASSROOM FEES WHICH ARE CALCULATED AT EACH SESSION* Primary Membership Family Fees: $300/family (This is a full membership for Tuesday classes and includes access to our social Mondays plus all events and field trips!) Social Membership Family Fees: $150/family (This is for Mondays social meetups and includes access to all events and field trips!) Classroom fees: Dependent on the class. We aim for fewer than $ 5 per day of class but there are many free and less expensive options as well. Class fees are set by our teachers and the amount they need for materials and supplies. |
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Do you require fundraising? |
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We do have planned fundraisers throughout the year. Our goal is to make them FUN and have full participation!
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When do you meet? |
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We meet once a week on Tuesdays from 9:45am-2:15pm in Bremerton, WA. We also offer a Social Membership which meets on Mondays from 12:00-2:00pm. Mondays are open to social members and our primary Tuesday members. Our Social Membership offers a chance for families that cannot commit to Tuesdays to still be part of our lovely little community! We also often gather during the week for optional playdates, field trips, clubs, and other gatherings.
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When is class registration? |
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Open registration dates for new member families are announced approximately 6 weeks prior to the start of the term. In-house/returning member families are given priority status and are eligible for early registration, once returning families are registered then we will see where and if there is space before we open up membership to new members |
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What is my job as a parent? |
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All parents will be asked to teach, co-teach, and/or TA a class. New families are given a semester to ease into the teaching requirement if needed! Parents will also be asked to choose a committee that they would like to work with (each committee meets during the co-op day to be accessible to everyone).
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