The Homeschool HUB
Your Homeschool Educational Resource
Program Description
This is a free program paid for by your tax dollars and generously provided and supported by Berrien Springs Public Schools (a school of choice). The Partnership is available to homeschool families from Berrien, Van Buren and Cass counties.
Students, grades 1-12, sign up as part-time Berrien Springs students. According to HSLDA, they retain their status as homeschool students as long as parents provide 51% of the students total education (including all core subjects: reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history and government). The school district receives tax dollars and in turn provides extremely valuable and fun non-core educational opportunities families might not otherwise be able to enjoy.
Please browse our pages for additional information on the benefits and requirements of the Partnership Program.
The novelty of our program is that you choose how you want to benefit from what the Partnership has to offer. Benefits of participating in the Partnership include:
-Fellowship with other homeschool families in educational and social pursuits
-Up to 2 degree based college courses free per semester for high school students (see dual enrollment)
-Up to 2 valuable and exciting community resource classes (CRC’s) per semester for all ages that may be too costly otherwise. (see Community Resource Classes)
-Free Rosetta Stone and k12 PowerSpeak foreign language access (see Rosetta Stone) (see k12 Power Speak)
-Free CTE …exceptional county-wide vocational programs for Juniors and Seniors (see CTE)
-Access to other exciting non-core virtual classes for all ages (see virtual classes link at left)
-Free (student admission) to exciting field trips (see 2011 field trips)
-Several non-core classes taught at the school that are usually more difficult to provide in a traditional homeschool setting (see Seated classes)
-Greater understanding of Berrien Springs Schools and the support and diversity in our community.
Requirements for Parent Partnership Program:
- Elementary/ middle school students: 1 seated class, 2 virtual classes
- High school students: 1 seated class, 1 virtual class
- High school students in CTE program: no other requirements (see CTE)
- ALL students must adhere to the attendance and virtual compliance policy given and signed at the time of registration: (see policy)
- ALL students must attend their chosen seated class within the semester's count day window. If the student's only seated class is the field trip class, at least one trip must be chosen and attended on or before count day. If the student attends before count day but does not attend the trip on count day, another must be attended within 30 calendar days from count day. If the student attends the count day trip, no other time requirements apply, simply be sure to attend a total of 4 or more for the semester. Every effort will be made to offer several trips in that timeframe from which to choose. Failure to attend within this count day window may result in the student not being included in the school's official enrollment count for the semester and the student will be denied participation in Partnership activities. If the student is actively participating in another seated class in addition to field trips, this rule does not apply.
- If a student does not attend their seated class before or on count day, they are not considered an active student and will therefore be dropped from all Partnership classes. In this case, parents may be required to pay for any fees incurred in Community Resource Classes that they attended up until that time.
Registration Requirements:
-Complete online registration form. Spring semester will begin Sunday, Nov. 27th at 5:00 p.m. and will be entirely online. Required forms will come as attachments on emailed registration confirmations. Online registration is required every semester for every student. Registration paperwork is required for every student in the fall. Students new to the Partnership spring semester (Jan.) need to submit paperwork at that time.
-Must be a homeschooled student in the State of Michigan in grades 1-12
-Students must be 5 yrs of age by Dec. 1st of the academic school year in which student is enrolling. Spring registration in January still requires that students are 5 by Dec. 1 of the previous calendar year.
- Must sign a Attendance and Virtual Policy Letter for each enrolled student
-Submit a copy of each student's birth certificate, not the hospital record
-Fill out and sign the Berrien Springs Schools enrollment form which must be mailed, faxed, or emailed back with signature. This form asks, but we do not require, SS# or vaccination information.
-For classes at the LMC campus (FabLab or Robotics), a completed LMC Community Ed form and picture consent form needs to be completed by the parent, signed by Sharon Haynes and turned into LMC's office. Once the forms are signed they will be given or faxed to LMC soon thereafter. Your seats in the classes you have chosen are not confirmed until these forms are received by LMC staff. Students will not be allowed to attend class until the signed forms are submitted.
Send completed forms to:
shaynes@homeoftheshamrocks.org OR
Parent Partnership, One Sylvester Ave., Berrien Springs, MI 49103 OR
Bring your forms in an envelope to BS Middle School, Central Office (not MS office) OR
Fax: 888-498-1848
When do classes begin?
Although our semester officially begins January 9th, not all classes begin at the same time.
- Seated classes: all begin the first week of school which begins Monday, Jan. 9th Experiencing Arts and Technology (field trips): date of your first chosen scheduled field trip (pick one on or before count day)
- Community Resource Classes: see class descriptions
- Virtual Classes: Classes begin as soon as you receive your username and password
Where are classes held?
All seated classes are held on BS Schools' campus. The Partnership classroom is located on the west side rear entrance to Sylvester Elementary, though a couple of classes may be held elsewhere on campus. All field trips, unless otherwise specified on the trip's itinerary, originate in the Middle School cafeteria. Consult the Community Resource Class links for individual class locations and details.
All these classes are free?
Yes, there are no class fees for any of our seated, virtual or community resource classes. The only expenditures are for adult and/or non-enrolled sibling discounted admission fees for field trips (if that class is chosen), and expected items that may need to be purchased as a natural consequence of participating in a particular class. For example, if your student begins guitar lessons or ballet, you will need to borrow or buy a guitar or ballet shoes. Dual enrollment college classes: tuition, regularly assessed fees and books (if you choose to turn them in to BSPS) are paid for by BSPS.
*Please note: it is important to make as informed a decision as possible when choosing your student's Community Resource classes. Most locations will allow a student to drop a class after one meeting, at no charge, if it wasn't a good fit for the student, but not all. Some classes plan ahead based on the number that have signed up and have purchased materials, hired teachers, etc. and there might be a fee for class time or materials given to the student if the student drops after one or two sessions. The school cannot pay for classes that students do not complete, so there might be a rare instance that a family would be asked to pay for the class time prior to dropping the class.
Are grades given for any classes?
Traditional grades or credits are not given for any class, it is either pass/fail or complete/incomplete as appropriate. Attendance for field trips is kept by partnership staff as parents sign in on the morning of each trip. Sarah Counsellor, our field trip teacher, keeps a log of who has turned in assignments, but she doesn't grade them. We need an overall excellent rate of completion of classes taken by our students. Each CRC (Community Resource Class) teacher takes their own form of attendance; if a student consistently doesn't show, then we will drop them from that class, not the partnership. Failure to consistently attend any of the classes chosen jeopardizes continuation in the Partnership for the following semester. Academic achievement in each class is ultimately determined by the parent, with feedback and/or tangible evidence from teachers and projects in CRC's.
**If the student does not participate in their seated class before count day, they are not considered an active student and will therefore be dropped from all Partnership classes. See requirements section above.
2012 Spring Program Description
Class descriptions:
Seated Classes
Virtual (online) Classes
Community Resource Classes
This is a free program paid for by your tax dollars and generously provided and supported by Berrien Springs Public Schools (a school of choice). The Partnership is available to homeschool families from Berrien, Van Buren and Cass counties.
Students, grades 1-12, sign up as part-time Berrien Springs students. According to HSLDA, they retain their status as homeschool students as long as parents provide 51% of the students total education (including all core subjects: reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history and government). The school district receives tax dollars and in turn provides extremely valuable and fun non-core educational opportunities families might not otherwise be able to enjoy.
Please browse our pages for additional information on the benefits and requirements of the Partnership Program.
The novelty of our program is that you choose how you want to benefit from what the Partnership has to offer. Benefits of participating in the Partnership include:
-Fellowship with other homeschool families in educational and social pursuits
-Up to 2 degree based college courses free per semester for high school students (see dual enrollment)
-Up to 2 valuable and exciting community resource classes (CRC’s) per semester for all ages that may be too costly otherwise. (see Community Resource Classes)
-Free Rosetta Stone and k12 PowerSpeak foreign language access (see Rosetta Stone) (see k12 Power Speak)
-Free CTE …exceptional county-wide vocational programs for Juniors and Seniors (see CTE)
-Access to other exciting non-core virtual classes for all ages (see virtual classes link at left)
-Free (student admission) to exciting field trips (see 2011 field trips)
-Several non-core classes taught at the school that are usually more difficult to provide in a traditional homeschool setting (see Seated classes)
-Greater understanding of Berrien Springs Schools and the support and diversity in our community.
Requirements for Parent Partnership Program:
- Elementary/ middle school students: 1 seated class, 2 virtual classes
- High school students: 1 seated class, 1 virtual class
- High school students in CTE program: no other requirements (see CTE)
- ALL students must adhere to the attendance and virtual compliance policy given and signed at the time of registration: (see policy)
- ALL students must attend their chosen seated class within the semester's count day window. If the student's only seated class is the field trip class, at least one trip must be chosen and attended on or before count day. If the student attends before count day but does not attend the trip on count day, another must be attended within 30 calendar days from count day. If the student attends the count day trip, no other time requirements apply, simply be sure to attend a total of 4 or more for the semester. Every effort will be made to offer several trips in that timeframe from which to choose. Failure to attend within this count day window may result in the student not being included in the school's official enrollment count for the semester and the student will be denied participation in Partnership activities. If the student is actively participating in another seated class in addition to field trips, this rule does not apply.
- If a student does not attend their seated class before or on count day, they are not considered an active student and will therefore be dropped from all Partnership classes. In this case, parents may be required to pay for any fees incurred in Community Resource Classes that they attended up until that time.
Registration Requirements:
-Complete online registration form. Spring semester will begin Sunday, Nov. 27th at 5:00 p.m. and will be entirely online. Required forms will come as attachments on emailed registration confirmations. Online registration is required every semester for every student. Registration paperwork is required for every student in the fall. Students new to the Partnership spring semester (Jan.) need to submit paperwork at that time.
-Must be a homeschooled student in the State of Michigan in grades 1-12
-Students must be 5 yrs of age by Dec. 1st of the academic school year in which student is enrolling. Spring registration in January still requires that students are 5 by Dec. 1 of the previous calendar year.
- Must sign a Attendance and Virtual Policy Letter for each enrolled student
-Submit a copy of each student's birth certificate, not the hospital record
-Fill out and sign the Berrien Springs Schools enrollment form which must be mailed, faxed, or emailed back with signature. This form asks, but we do not require, SS# or vaccination information.
-For classes at the LMC campus (FabLab or Robotics), a completed LMC Community Ed form and picture consent form needs to be completed by the parent, signed by Sharon Haynes and turned into LMC's office. Once the forms are signed they will be given or faxed to LMC soon thereafter. Your seats in the classes you have chosen are not confirmed until these forms are received by LMC staff. Students will not be allowed to attend class until the signed forms are submitted.
Send completed forms to:
shaynes@homeoftheshamrocks.org OR
Parent Partnership, One Sylvester Ave., Berrien Springs, MI 49103 OR
Bring your forms in an envelope to BS Middle School, Central Office (not MS office) OR
Fax: 888-498-1848
When do classes begin?
Although our semester officially begins January 9th, not all classes begin at the same time.
- Seated classes: all begin the first week of school which begins Monday, Jan. 9th Experiencing Arts and Technology (field trips): date of your first chosen scheduled field trip (pick one on or before count day)
- Community Resource Classes: see class descriptions
- Virtual Classes: Classes begin as soon as you receive your username and password
Where are classes held?
All seated classes are held on BS Schools' campus. The Partnership classroom is located on the west side rear entrance to Sylvester Elementary, though a couple of classes may be held elsewhere on campus. All field trips, unless otherwise specified on the trip's itinerary, originate in the Middle School cafeteria. Consult the Community Resource Class links for individual class locations and details.
All these classes are free?
Yes, there are no class fees for any of our seated, virtual or community resource classes. The only expenditures are for adult and/or non-enrolled sibling discounted admission fees for field trips (if that class is chosen), and expected items that may need to be purchased as a natural consequence of participating in a particular class. For example, if your student begins guitar lessons or ballet, you will need to borrow or buy a guitar or ballet shoes. Dual enrollment college classes: tuition, regularly assessed fees and books (if you choose to turn them in to BSPS) are paid for by BSPS.
*Please note: it is important to make as informed a decision as possible when choosing your student's Community Resource classes. Most locations will allow a student to drop a class after one meeting, at no charge, if it wasn't a good fit for the student, but not all. Some classes plan ahead based on the number that have signed up and have purchased materials, hired teachers, etc. and there might be a fee for class time or materials given to the student if the student drops after one or two sessions. The school cannot pay for classes that students do not complete, so there might be a rare instance that a family would be asked to pay for the class time prior to dropping the class.
Are grades given for any classes?
Traditional grades or credits are not given for any class, it is either pass/fail or complete/incomplete as appropriate. Attendance for field trips is kept by partnership staff as parents sign in on the morning of each trip. Sarah Counsellor, our field trip teacher, keeps a log of who has turned in assignments, but she doesn't grade them. We need an overall excellent rate of completion of classes taken by our students. Each CRC (Community Resource Class) teacher takes their own form of attendance; if a student consistently doesn't show, then we will drop them from that class, not the partnership. Failure to consistently attend any of the classes chosen jeopardizes continuation in the Partnership for the following semester. Academic achievement in each class is ultimately determined by the parent, with feedback and/or tangible evidence from teachers and projects in CRC's.
**If the student does not participate in their seated class before count day, they are not considered an active student and will therefore be dropped from all Partnership classes. See requirements section above.
2012 Spring Program Description
Class descriptions:
Seated Classes
Virtual (online) Classes
Community Resource Classes
Berrien Springs Parent Partnership
Your home and our schools;
working together to offer the best
educational opportunities for all.
Your home and our schools;
working together to offer the best
educational opportunities for all.
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See the latest program updates and registration link here.
If you are interested in more information, visit www.homeoftheshamrocks.org and/or send an email to shaynes@homeoftheshamrocks.org to be added to my contacts list.
If you are interested in more information, visit www.homeoftheshamrocks.org and/or send an email to shaynes@homeoftheshamrocks.org to be added to my contacts list.
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The Homeschool HUB
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webmaster@hshub.org
The Homeschool HUB
All Rights reserved
webmaster@hshub.org