The concept of a parent-taught co-op may be new to you. This information was prepared by category to help you understand the logistics of our organization—before you join. This information does not contradict or restate our rules and guidelines which should be read in full by each member or potential member and their children.
Our goal is to communicate about N-Tech in as clear a fashion as possible in order to
Save our inquiring families time in their decision making process
Save our volunteer board members time--adding a new family is a timely process for us
Save both N-Tech families and inquiring families from negative situations in the future. After five years in operation, we have learned that negative situations arise when someone joins N-Tech without understanding what is expected of both them and their children.
Each family pays a $40 registration fee every semester to cover N-Tech’s copy costs, postage, building rental and supplies. This fee is paid when you turn in your application each semester. Normally we will have application during March for the fall or October for the spring semester.
Application fees and registration fees are not refundable if you choose to withdraw from N-Tech before the semester starts. Please read our admission policy at this same web address for details.
While you are on our waiting list, we will not cash your application check. We cash application checks when we have accepted your application and are sure that we have a spot for your family for the upcoming semester.
Immediately following registration, you pay for the classes which your children will be taking. This amount will vary per family depending on the number of children you have and the cost of the classes that you allow them to take. Individual class prices can vary from $1 per semester to more than $75 per semester. We have scholarships available for a few of our families, as needed.
You will be expected to participate in Church Appreciation day one time each semester by bringing a food item or gift item.
Other optional costs arise each semester for hot lunches, yearbooks, class pictures, t-shirts, lost nametags, Valentine sales, etc.
N-Tech is financially affordable because our families do all of N-Tech’s work.
Our parents work by
Teaching,
Cleaning our rented Church facility from 3-4:30 on Monday afternoons
Setting up the classrooms on Sunday evenings from 8:15-9:45.
If our parents didn’t teach, then N-Tech class prices would increase because of the cost of paid teachers.
Without a building to use, we wouldn’t have a co-op at all. The Church will not allow us to use their facility if we do not clean it and care for it with a grateful spirit of good stewardship. N-Tech expects you to take better care of our host church than you do your own home. If you see trash, pick it up; if you see a child sitting on a table, tell them to get down.
You, the parent, will sign up at registration for a specific class every hour. If you teach third hour, you are then free to decide which classes you would like to assist in during first, second, fourth and fifth hours. Assistants are placed according to their preference but also according to co-op need. Each teacher will request a certain number of assistants for her/his classes depending on the class subject.
Every class will have a minimum of two adults in the classroom at all times. At no time, will one parent be alone with one or more children.
Four to six floaters are also needed every hour. Those moms/dads report to the lobby at the beginning of the hour. The front desk crew will assign each floater a classroom to assist in for that week. The floaters cover classes with absent assistants.
Our goal is to offer the classes that are most requested and needed by our families. N-Tech demands a lot of time and energy from homeschooling parents and students, and it will only be worth that time and energy if we are meeting the students needs.
At this time, N-Tech will be limited to about 90 families in order to assure a family type atmosphere where everyone can be acquainted with each other.
Each summer we normally experience some withdrawals from N-Tech as families move or make other schooling arrangements for their children. On occasion, families have withdrawn from N-Tech because the time-cost was too high for the benefit they were receiving.
N-Tech is not for every family at every phase of their homeschooling journey.
We will add to N-Tech based upon N-Tech’s need for a particular teacher or for a particular student age group. At this time, we try to have 20 students in each grade from 1-12th grade. Our goal is to limit each age group to 60 students, which means that we cannot truly accommodate 20 students in each of 9th-12th grades.
As we have openings, we add families on a first-come, first-serve basis unless there is a family who has a particular skill in which we are in need of. Then, we reserve the right to admit a family ahead of those ahead of them in the waiting list.
However, we reserve the right to accept only those Christian families with obedient children and helpful parents who have a good understanding of N-Tech’s goals and responsibilities. The workload of N-Tech is squarely placed on the shoulders of our parents. It is more work for the other families if your child does not understand how to obey and treat others with respect. It is more work for the other families if you do not understand how to share in the workload with us.
Each child at N-Tech now has 90 moms with 180 eyes watching them.
As a member of N-Tech, we do not want you to speak to the children harshly, but please watch out and stop children from running in the halls, playing in the bathrooms, or doing any other type of inappropriate behavior.
Discipline notices are sent home for those students who are not following our rules and guidelines.
Please read the rules and guidelines to your children, so that they can know what is expected of them on Mondays. They cannot obey if they do not know what is expected.
Use discretion when giving a discipline notice out. However, use these forms if you are having trouble with any child, including the director’s children. Parents cannot correct what they do not know is happening!
Attending N-Tech is a privilege. Many families on our waiting list would love to have participated in N-Tech this semester, but they were not able to because of size limitations. We expect obedient, prepared and responsive students who have come to learn and have fun in a classroom setting. Please do not attend N-Tech if you are not able to bring children who are prepared to learn and if you are not willing to work—each and every hour.
We will not tolerate disruptive behavior in our classrooms, nor will we allow children to speak disrespectfully to our parents/volunteers.
We have file folders on a cabinet in the Church foyer each Monday. Each family has a folder marked with their name. We will place discipline notices and other matters of written communication in these folders. Please try to check your folder each morning upon arriving and each afternoon before leaving.
We have a mandatory assembly time each Monday from 12:50-1:00. At that time, you will hear any necessary information as well as participate in saying the pledge of allegiance and singing a worship song.
We communicate as much as possible via email and no longer are open to families without email service.
Please make sure that our communication is glorifying to the Lord. We are a Christian organization for the whole family, and we want to be a blessing to each other. Grumbling, gossiping and critical comments will not be allowed by anyone!
Thank you for reading this lengthy list of “how we work.”
It was written with the prayer that it helps you decide if N-Tech is a fit for your family. After five years of co-op-ing together, we have learned that N-Tech is not for every family. We want our communication to be crystal clear in order to save you time as you consider whether your family needs a co-op and as you decide which co-op is best for you.
Blessings to you,
Terri Threadgill