On June 19th, we had our year end full board meeting. In addition to the delicious food and wonderful company, we also had ideas. With approval from an overwhelming majority, we decided to restructure the co-op day. I know it sounds like a huge upheaval, and maybe your toured before and you're thinking, "Great, now what?" 

We totally get it.

In an effort to make the understanding of the restructure clearer, I've got some information to share here. Take a look at this graphic below.

As you can see, the morning classes look pretty similar to what we already have. There are a few exceptions. One being that we added in an "Advanced Learners" Class. We did this as a precaution. We've got a few kiddos hitting into their high school years, and before our big kid class used to be 11-13 on average. If we have our older kids we'd be separating them into their own group for the purpose of keeping all of our kids engaged in the content of their classes. The next change is that the morning classes go until 12:05. This is to conform the schedule to the 4 morning classes we'd be offering. 

The morning session will still have our "Core Four" classes. These are the primarily STEAM based classes that our co-op is focused on. There will always be Science, Building/Lab, and Art as these are our baseline for the hive. We have also always offered an elective of sorts each session. We've done life skills before, but as life has so much to teach all of us, the membership voted to bring it back again this session. For this session, life skills will have two units: Emotional Health and Health & Nutrition. Each unit will be 5 weeks and all age groups will learn about both. In the schedule above, you are seeing which unit each age group will start with.

Now, let's talk about 12:45-2:30.

As of today, July 9th, this is our afternoon elective schedule. We are taking an interesting approach this session by allowing the members to teach what they want to teach. We've asked our members what they want to see in the hive, and we've asked them what they are willing to offer. In addition to helping out and leading/aiding classes in the morning, some of the parents wish to engage further with the community and offer other special classes. All of those empty spaces you see are opportunities. Empty classrooms to fill with our members' unique skills. 

While these electives are running, we will have the gym open with gym equipment, the playground is outside, and we'll have LEGO table and coloring table set up for the kiddos. Parents will be responsible for their own kids during this time, and us parents can relax while the kids get out their energy or engage in the electives offered. 

Effectively, the second half of the day, even if you sign up for full day, is not mandatory unless you committed to teaching a class during that time. You are free to stay and enjoy the opportunities, or you may leave after clean up. 

We are very excited about the changes made for the upcoming session, and we hope you are too! If you're a member and interested in offering a unique class, please reach out and let us know!