How does N-Tech work?
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:
After ten 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.
When do we meet?
N-Tech meets 10 Monday's in the fall beginning the first Monday after Labor Day. We meet for 10 Monday's in the spring starting in late January/early February. You can get exact dates from the current calendar on the Home page.
What grades do we have?
N-Tech offers classes from Preschool - 12th grade. You have to have at least one child in Kindergarten or above to join. We offer childcare/structured class time for nursery - 3 years old.
How many families do we have?
We try to stay around 90 families. There is a big demand for co-op's but we don't want to get so big that we don't know each other.
What does N-Tech meet?
We currently meet at Greenville Oaks Church of Christ. You can click here for directions.
What is the financial cost?
Each family pays a $50 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 apply during March for the fall and October for the spring.
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 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 you allow them to take. Individual class prices can vary from $1 to more than $60. We have scholarships available for a few of our families if there is a need.
You will be expected to participate in Church Appreciation, a thank you to the staff of our host church, each semester by bringing a food item, gift, or monetary donation.
Other optional costs arise each semester for hot lunches, yearbooks, class pictures, t-shirts, lost name tags, Valentine sales, etc.
How much time will it take?
N-Tech is financially affordable because our families do all of N-Tech's work. Our parents work by:
What does it mean for the parents?
While your children are attending N-Tech classes, parents must stay on-site. It is not necessary for a parent to be in every classroom with each of their children, but they cannot leave the building if even one of their children is attending classes at N-Tech. The only exception to that is a Board member taking care of N-Tech business or the mom that coordinates our hot lunches. During co-op hours, the parents assist teachers in classroom while the children attend classes. In addition to assisting in the classes, each parent must contribute two credits to N-Tech. Moms or Dads can earn two credits in three ways:
You, the parent, will sign up at registration for a specific class every hour. 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 class 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 adult 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 hour. The floaters cover classes with absent assistants.
How do we decide which classes to teach?
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.
I would like to teach. How do I get my class ideas on the survey?
During the first two or three weeks of each semester, we have signs posted on the front doors. We encourage parents and students to write down new class ideas on those sheets. Parents are also able to give their class ideas directly to the Age Group Coordinators. We welcome fresh classes each fall but for the spring semester, we prefer to stick to classes that have been taught previously. Preparing lesson plans is a major task that is easily handled over the summer months, but it is too much work to expect of a homeschooling mom/dad over Christmas break. Therefore, we try to offer only repeat classes during the spring semester. After ten years, we have accumulated a large selection of prepared lesson plans, which are available for our teachers. We strongly recommend that new families join the cleaning team for the first semester at N-Tech.
How do we decide who joins N-Tech?
At this time, N-Tech will be limited to about 90 families in order to assure a family type atmosphere where everyone can get acquainted. Each summer, we normally experience some withdrawals from N-Tech as families move or make other schooling arrangements for their children. N-Tech is not for every family at every phase of their homeschooling journey. We will add families based upon N-Tech's need for a particular teacher or for a particular student age group. We try to have 20 students in each grade from 1st - 12th. 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 of which we are in need. Then, we reserve the right to admit a family ahead of those ahead of them on the waiting list.
N-Tech admits students of any race, color and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship, athletic and other school-administered programs.
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.
What about discipline?
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 restrooms, 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. 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.
How do we communicate?
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 check your folder each morning upon arriving and each afternoon before leaving. You will not have access to these folders except on Monday during our regular 10 week semester.
We have a mandatory assembly 3 times per semester on Monday from 12:45 - 1:00. At that time, you will hear any necessary information as well as participate in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. We communicate as much as possible via email and are not 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 ten years of co-oping 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.
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 ten 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.
When do we meet?
N-Tech meets 10 Monday's in the fall beginning the first Monday after Labor Day. We meet for 10 Monday's in the spring starting in late January/early February. You can get exact dates from the current calendar on the Home page.
What grades do we have?
N-Tech offers classes from Preschool - 12th grade. You have to have at least one child in Kindergarten or above to join. We offer childcare/structured class time for nursery - 3 years old.
How many families do we have?
We try to stay around 90 families. There is a big demand for co-op's but we don't want to get so big that we don't know each other.
What does N-Tech meet?
We currently meet at Greenville Oaks Church of Christ. You can click here for directions.
What is the financial cost?
Each family pays a $50 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 apply during March for the fall and October for the spring.
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 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 you allow them to take. Individual class prices can vary from $1 to more than $60. We have scholarships available for a few of our families if there is a need.
You will be expected to participate in Church Appreciation, a thank you to the staff of our host church, each semester by bringing a food item, gift, or monetary donation.
Other optional costs arise each semester for hot lunches, yearbooks, class pictures, t-shirts, lost name tags, Valentine sales, etc.
How much time will it take?
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
What does it mean for the parents?
While your children are attending N-Tech classes, parents must stay on-site. It is not necessary for a parent to be in every classroom with each of their children, but they cannot leave the building if even one of their children is attending classes at N-Tech. The only exception to that is a Board member taking care of N-Tech business or the mom that coordinates our hot lunches. During co-op hours, the parents assist teachers in classroom while the children attend classes. In addition to assisting in the classes, each parent must contribute two credits to N-Tech. Moms or Dads can earn two credits in three ways:
- Cleaning every week after co-op ends at 3 p.m. is worth two credits.
- Setting up the classrooms every week on Sunday evening is worth two credits.
- Teaching classes - each ten-week class counts as one credit for the teacher.
- Co-teaching - each parent would earn 1/2 credit.
- Someone teaching one class can earn their second credit by helping the cleaning team five times during the semester. The Cleaning Coordinator will assign your cleaning dates before the semester begins.
You, the parent, will sign up at registration for a specific class every hour. 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 class 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 adult 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 hour. The floaters cover classes with absent assistants.
How do we decide which classes to teach?
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.
- During re-application time each semester, we will hand out a survey to find out what the most requested classes are for the upcoming semester.
- From that survey, each Age Group Coordinator will contact moms/dads that have expressed an interest in teaching a class to confirm their spot of service.
- There will always be moms whose classes are not chosen for the next semester. They can either become part of the cleaning team or volunteer to teach one of the requested classes that doesn't have a teacher.
- Some of the for-credit classes cover two semesters and many meet outside of standard co-op dates. The parents of students in these classes are required to stay involved with their children to assure that the homework is understood and completed for the co-op teacher, who is a volunteer. You will also be expected to serve as an assistant during the extra classes.
I would like to teach. How do I get my class ideas on the survey?
During the first two or three weeks of each semester, we have signs posted on the front doors. We encourage parents and students to write down new class ideas on those sheets. Parents are also able to give their class ideas directly to the Age Group Coordinators. We welcome fresh classes each fall but for the spring semester, we prefer to stick to classes that have been taught previously. Preparing lesson plans is a major task that is easily handled over the summer months, but it is too much work to expect of a homeschooling mom/dad over Christmas break. Therefore, we try to offer only repeat classes during the spring semester. After ten years, we have accumulated a large selection of prepared lesson plans, which are available for our teachers. We strongly recommend that new families join the cleaning team for the first semester at N-Tech.
How do we decide who joins N-Tech?
At this time, N-Tech will be limited to about 90 families in order to assure a family type atmosphere where everyone can get acquainted. Each summer, we normally experience some withdrawals from N-Tech as families move or make other schooling arrangements for their children. N-Tech is not for every family at every phase of their homeschooling journey. We will add families based upon N-Tech's need for a particular teacher or for a particular student age group. We try to have 20 students in each grade from 1st - 12th. 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 of which we are in need. Then, we reserve the right to admit a family ahead of those ahead of them on the waiting list.
N-Tech admits students of any race, color and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship, athletic and other school-administered programs.
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.
What about discipline?
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 restrooms, 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. 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.
How do we communicate?
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 check your folder each morning upon arriving and each afternoon before leaving. You will not have access to these folders except on Monday during our regular 10 week semester.
We have a mandatory assembly 3 times per semester on Monday from 12:45 - 1:00. At that time, you will hear any necessary information as well as participate in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. We communicate as much as possible via email and are not 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 ten years of co-oping 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.