CHESS Forum News

On Friday, October 9, CHESS held a forum at the First United Methodist Church to address concerns that have recently been expressed to the Board.  The forum, open to all CHESS families, was attended by CHESS office staff and Board members.

Panel members included Leighton Mekeal, pastor of First United Methodist, Steve Ong, and Mike Brockmann.

Pastor Mekeal shared a brief slice of First United Methodist’s history.  The church was one of the first five original churches in Greeley, with a continuous presence since 1870, and has always had an active missional focus.  The Greeley church is an open facility, hosting various community activities nearly 7 days a week.  With respect to the GRC, the organization occupies the 3rd floor under a 5-year lease.  There are currently 2,200 east African refugees in Greeley, from 23 different countries, speaking 8 different languages.  50% of the refugees are from Somalia.  Approximately 120 students per week take ESL classes, along with classes designed to help with assimilation into a new culture.  There are no Syrian refugees.  The refugees at the GRC have jobs, are tax-paying members of the community, have kids in schools, and just need some help adjusting to a new life. CHESS students have excellent opportunities to learn about a different culture and language by volunteering in ESL classes or working on short-term internships.  GRC students are screened and accepted or rejected on the basis of that screening.  The church staff is aware of security issues and who comes in and out of the building.

The forum moved on to discuss issues of social media and how it affects CHESS students and families.  Pastor Mekeal noted that social media is a poor choice to express concerns because it can be so easily misinterpreted.

Pastor Brockmann urged parents to teach their children to speak carefully, training them in the use of social media.  He likened it to giving a child a sharp knife – it certainly can be a valuable tool, but can cut if the child is not properly trained in its use.  He added that social media can be a great outlet for homeschool moms to connect, but isn’t really the place for discussion of issues, which is much better-accomplished face-to-face.

There was a discussion of a chapel-type educational opportunity for students to teach them the proper use of social media.

Pastor Ong recounted part of a recent sermon – “perfect love casts out fear”, and suggested that we can’t use Jesus to ensure our family’s safety, as then the family becomes an idol.  

In conclusion, all those present recognized the need for parents to lead by example.  We also asserted that each of us has an individual responsibility to recognize concerns, address them, and then help remedy those concerns.  

Look for upcoming CHESS forums as issues arise, and periodically just to promote fellowship and good communication among all CHESS families.  Hope to see you there!

Firm Foundation

The alarm didn’t ring at the set time.  The previous morning the alarm rang at 5:30 a.m.   Yet, rather than my planned time of 5:30 a.m. I woke a few minutes past six to find the alarm was now set for 10:30 a.m.  In God’s providence that morning I slept in for a few more minutes.  It made life hectic, but also in God’s providence, all the tasks for the day were completed.

Life is full of seemingly small insignificant things.  The alarm clock fails to ring.  Or perhaps it rings too early.  Your shoelace breaks.  The car doesn’t start.   Sometimes it is easy to see God’s hand in the small insignificant things, like when you’re in a hurry and you are seemingly unnecessarily delayed a few minutes and you miss the twenty car pile up a minute in front of you.  Other times, it’s hard to see God’s hand working, but God is working.

The writer of Proverbs 30 observed God’s creation around him.   He noticed the small things in this world; ants, the rock badger, locusts, and lizards.  As he looked at these small seemingly insignificant creatures he noticed the wisdom of the Creator.  The writer demonstrates how we should teach our children about the world around us.  He takes notice of the small things and sees the hand of the great Creator showing us His wisdom through the small insignificant things. 

As parents, we can look at the small things in life and grumble about them.  Our neighbor eats steak while we have beans.  They have a nicer house, car, etc. than us.  Envy grips us.  However, the writer of Proverbs teaches us that all things in this world need to be looked at with an eye informed by Scripture.  Rather than coveting steak, he thanks God for the beans.  The Psalmist declared to us that God’s word molded his understanding of the world.  “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light” (Psalm 36:9).  

Because each of us are “formed in sin,” we don’t naturally look at things from a biblical perspective. This is where we, as parents, have to help our children see the hand of God in things around us.  We don’t want our children to simply look at the world around us and adopt its culture, we want them to look at the world about them informed by the lens of Scripture.  

Most Christian parents really desire to give their children a good education.  Some choose to place their children in elite private schools.   Some parents fret about finding the perfect curriculum to give their children the best education possible.  Some parents spend a lot of time calculating class schedules and studying college catalogs in order to give their child an edge.  Others concentrate on a “classical” education to give their children a superior education.   These efforts alone, however, won’t produce a home with a Christian culture.  Charles Bridges described it this way:

To expand, without soundly enlightening, the mind [in the word of God], is but to increase its power for evil. Far better to consign it to total ignorance, inasmuch as the uninstructed savage is less responsible, less dangerous, than the well-furnished infidel. (Rev. Charles Bridges 1850, 97)

As parents, we need to impart more than just conservative economic, social, and political beliefs. It takes parents modeling a devout Christian faith to teach a child to view the world through the lens of faith.  The Psalmist declared:

Psalm 78:4-8, NIV, “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep His commands”

Recently the headlines in the Christian Examiner read:  “Parental faith, not homeschooling, indicative of homeschoolers’ religion, analyst says.”  The article went on to state that the most important factor in developing faith in a child is the parent’s personal devotional life.  The faithful devotion of both parents to Christ is the one critical factor.  The second is that this devotion must be delivered in a loving home. 

Our children are observing the small, insignificant things in life.  Are you showing your children that grumbling, envy, and complaining are the way to live?  Or are we as parents showing them the hand of God in these things?  Are we speaking about what God has done for us? Are we speaking of how we came to Christ?  Are we recalling the great things Christ has done for us?

Let us provide a firm foundation for our children’s education, the solid foundation of God’s Word lived out in our lives.

Housekeeping

Streamlining

In order to help us in helping you to educate your children, please make sure that all of your required paperwork is submitted on time.  This will allow us to put more focus on creating and maintaining a quality learning environment for our students.

Independent School Application and Enrollment process: After applications have been accepted, you will receive an email with two forms that are necessary for you to fill out and return to us in order for us to finish your enrollment process:

1.      Enrollment Form - thoroughly complete, return to office

2.      Vaccination Form (or your own records), and return to office

In this same email you will also receive two forms that are your responsibility to handle:

3.      Withdrawal Form - for you to turn into your previous school (if your child was enrolled in a school just prior to your application with Colorado Heritage)

4.      Calendar - keep track of your educating hours

Some families still have not sent in the Enrollment Form that we need to finish the enrollment process.  Please get these into us!

Independent School Re-enrollment: In an effort to ensure smooth Independent School re-enrollment, beginning January 1, 2016, all families re-enrolling in the Independent School must have their payment in by July 31st.  All re-enrollments received after that date will be subject to a $20 late fee. Please also wait for your re-enrollment forms which are generated from our database and mailed to you (first week in June).  The application form on the website under Independent School is only for first-time enrollment.

Diploma Program: Diploma program students who desire an extension for homework submission will be given a one-month extension for a charge of $25 per student. In addition, diploma program students who submit their paperwork after the deadline will be charged $20 for the expediting of transcripts.

Scholarship Applications: Thank you to all of the families who have so graciously given monetarily to help those who wish to participate in the Enrichment Program but who are financially unable to do so.  For families seeking a scholarship, all scholarship applications must be submitted by the early enrollment date of the semester in which they are applying.  For example, spring semester’s early enrollment deadline is December 1.  All registrations and paperwork must be up-to-date in order to qualify for the scholarship.

Contacting Your Student During School Hours: In order to be respectful to our teachers, please be sure to contact the CHESS office at 970-346-0099 when you need to reach your student during school hours.  Students are not allowed to have their phones on during class time (see Policies & Procedures).

Policies and Procedures: Below is a reminder of some important information from our Policies and Procedures that help Colorado Heritage and our families experience a successful semester. Please also take the time to review our Policies and Procedures in total for other pertinent information.

Add/Drop Forms: Whenever you need to add or drop a class, either print the form out from our website, fill it out, and bring it into the office, or you can come by the office, fill it out, and leave it with us.  These forms are important for accurate class rosters and record keeping.

Withdrawing from a Class & Refund Policy

CHESS’s Enrichment Academy reaches maximum capacity every semester and typically has a waiting list for several of the classes. In order to allow as many families and students to participate as possible in the classes, we have instituted the following policy regarding withdrawing from classes:

1.      Dropping a class prior to the start of classes: Any classes that are dropped within one week of the start of classes will receive a full refund for tuition, the refund will not include lab fees or textbook fees unless there is someone on a waiting list who can use the materials.

2.      Withdrawing after the first class: (Must notify in writing by the Friday after the first day of class to qualify for a refund.) A student may withdraw from a class after the first week of class and receive a 50% refund of the course tuition fee, but the refund will not include lab fees or textbook fees unless there is someone on a waiting list who can use the materials.

3.      Withdrawing from a class after 2 to 4 sessions: A student may withdraw from a class after attending 2 to 4 sessions, but will not receive a refund. The course will be removed from the transcript/report card. (At this point it is too late for us to put someone from the waiting list into the class).

4.      Withdrawing from a class after 5+ sessions: A student who withdraws from a class after attending 5 or more sessions will not receive a refund and will have the course show as a withdraw or a fail on the report card/transcript.

Attendance Policy

The following is a review of our attendance policy:

1.      Excused absences: If you know prior to a class day that your student will be absent, please contact the teachers and CHESS office to notify them of the absence no later than 8 AM the day of class. You may also receive an excused absence in the event weather conditions prevent you from coming. You and your student are responsible for making contact with the teacher and making arrangements to deliver assignments and obtain homework assignments. Teacher contact information is available on the syllabus for the course as well as the CHESS website: www.coloradoheritage.org.

2.      Absence due to an emergency: If your student misses a class due to illness or a family emergency, please contact the CHESS office at your earliest convenience. You will then be responsible for contacting teachers for homework information. Teacher contact information is provided with the registration information and is also available on the CHESS website: www.coloradoheritage.org.

3.      Unexcused absences: Absences that were not communicated prior to a class day or due to an emergency will be noted as an unexcused absence and will count against the student. Please make sure you notify the CHESS office and teachers of absences in a timely fashion.

4.      Tardiness: Junior high and high school students who are tardy 6 or more times will not receive credit for the course.

5.      Junior high and high school students who miss more than 3 classes will only receive a PASS/FAIL grade for the course.

6.      Students who miss 4 or more classes will not receive credit for the course. Because there are only 12 weeks in a semester, each week has vital information. It sets teachers and the rest of the class back when students miss several weeks.

Introducing Celeste Gregorio

We moved to Greeley, Colorado, from Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 2011. After much research, we had felt that the Lord called us to Greeley so that I could be home full-time with our son, Caleb. Doors kept opening for us as the Lord led us to Calvary Chapel where we found the love and support of many homeschool families.

After serving as a nursery volunteer for several months at Calvary Chapel, the opportunity to serve as the Nursery Director came open. Upon praying about this, my family and I knew we were exactly where God wanted us to be - as I had previously served as the Nursery Director at our church in Cheyenne. I gratefully volunteered for the position, and for the past 3 years, I have been serving as the Nursery Director of Calvary Chapel, Greeley. 

My husband, Josh and I have been married for 11 years. Josh has worked for 17 years with Union Pacific Railroad. Before moving, I worked 17 years in Accounting with 5 of those years also working seasonally - preparing income taxes. I have 4 children, 3 stepchildren, and between all of them we have 4 grandchildren! 

I grew up in a predominantly Catholic home, where I also attended Catholic school. It wasn't until 2007 that I committed my life to Christ and was baptized along with my husband who had re-dedicated his life to Christ. 

I truly believe in teaching our young ones of the love of Christ and of the biblical truths they need in order to start building their Christian foundation. I feel honored to have been asked to teach Christian Worldview K-1 and 2-3 at CHESS, and I'm excited to partner with you in teaching your child this semester. I have learned a lot through our children, and I'm excited to see what God has for all of us!

Introducing Charity Brown

My name is Charity Brown and I will be teaching the Character for Kids (K-1) class this fall. I have been blessed to be raised in a Christian home with Christian parents and wonderful churches. I graduated from CHESS in May, 2014, and absolutely loved my time there! I am starting my Associates of Arts in Elementary Education at Aims here in Greeley this fall. After I get my AA, I will, Lord willing, stay in NoCo and transfer to UNC to get my Bachelor's in Elementary Ed. I love reading, playing the piano, singing in the Greeley Chorale, shopping, traveling, and spending time with my family and friends. I am thrilled to be teaching at CHESS and can't wait for the fun to begin!