Home education can be a wonderful experience. Let us help!

Parental Responsibilities

Word of Life Christian Academy believes that parents and guardians have a God-given responsibility to raise and educate their children according to biblical principles. Word of Life Christian Academy is available to support that responsibility. It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to organize, plan, teach, and direct the education of their child.

You must choose and obtain the curriculum your child will be using. You will choose the curriculum that is appropriate for your child. Word of Life Christian Academy can order a curriculum for you but full advanced payment must be made before the order will be placed. The fee for curriculum orders is $500-$800 for the year per child based upon grade level. WOLCA can administer a placement test for Ace PACES through Ace School of Tomorrow in order to help you decide what level of curriculum is best suited for your child. PACES will be the elementary and middle school curriculum that WOLCA orders if you need our assistance. High school curriculum may vary based upon the credits needed for graduation. You are not required to use Word of Life Christian Academy’s choice of curriculum if you obtain your curriculum elsewhere.

          Curriculum choices that are available
                        (non-exhaustive list)

1. Abeka
2. Bob Jones
3. Shurley English
4. Saxon math
5. Khan Academy
6. Sonlight
7. Alpha Omega
8. Apologia
9. Math-U-See
10. Time4Learning
11. Ace PACES
12. Freedom Homeschooling

Websites for purchasing that are available
                   (non-exhaustive list)

1. Curriculum company’s website
2. Christianbooks
3. Curriculum Express
4. Amazon
5. Walmart (especially extra workbooks for younger students)
6. Rainbow Resource

You must be administrator of your home school program. That means you have to plan school days and evaluate any progress your child makes. Planning the school year (180 days), the hours per day (4 hours minimum), testing, grading, and extracurricular activities are your responsibility. Parent/Guardian must encourage hard work, mastery, and diligence. Parents must preserver and be determined to be successful in this process, as well as the student.

Parent/Guardian must submit registration, fees, grades, and any needed paperwork in a timely manner as discussed later in this document according to our policies. Meeting the deadlines for submitted documents is crucial in assuring students do not become truant and assuring graduation of seniors is possible. It is your responsibility to maintain compliance with state laws as well as the laws of God. High school students must comply with Tennessee requirements for graduation. The link for the state laws is located at https://www.tn.gov/education/families/school-options/home-schooling-in-tn.html. Additional information may be found at www.hslda.org.

If you are purchasing curriculum through Word of Life Christian Academy, you are responsible for checking the curriculum you pick up in order to ensure it is adequate for your needs before leaving the premises. Once you leave the premises, there may be an additional fee to change any curriculum or purchase additional needed material. You will be required to sign a curriculum pickup form which lists all curriculum you are receiving.

WOLCA requires assessment testing of all students every other year starting in the 3^rd grade up to the 9^th grade. We encourage you to have your child start taking the ACT (or SAT) in the 10^th grade.  Higher ACT scores mean more scholarship opportunities for college. You are responsible for registering your child for all these tests and submitting the scores to Word of Life.

Homeschooling should be fun. You can expand on lessons by incorporating field trips, outdoor projects, home economics, and many other extracurricular activities. Direct your child’s education in a way that fosters a love for learning.

Word of Life Christian Academy’s Responsibilities

Word of Life Christian Academy is recognized by the Tennessee Department of Education as a Category IV church-related school. We assist parents and guardians with home education through advice, paperwork, administration, and record keeping.

WOLCA must approve curriculum, grades, and credits. We will ensure that state standards are met through our evaluation of submitted information. Word of Life Christian Academy will maintain a permanent record of your child’s school progress as mandated by the government. We reserve the right to dismiss students when necessary.

If you use WOLCA for curriculum purchases, the staff will work in a timely manner to ensure there are no delays in you being able to start your home education. However, we are not in control of delays from our suppliers. You will be notified as soon as your purchased curriculum has arrived for pick-up.  We do not assist with curriculum for families who live too far away for curriculum pick-up. We do not ship curriculum. Curriculum must be picked up during regular school hours. For possible weather closings or delays, we follow the Sequatchie County schools recommendation.

Sometimes life happens, and you have emergencies. Word of Life Christian Academy’s campus may be used for an emergency day when you need someone to help educate your child on short notice. For a $50 fee, you can bring your student to us while you deal with your emergency. Our days of operation are M-F 8 AM – 3 PM. Our teachers will assist in your child’s education for the day. All handbook rules and policies will apply to your student while on campus and during field trips. Please see the handbook for details.

Word of Life Christian Academy extends an invitation to all registered homeschooling students to the following events: field trips, high school prom, and graduation ceremonies. Notification will be sent via Remind, Facebook private group, text, phone call, email, or mail.

Communication

Word of Life Christian Academy uses Remind for quick announcements. Please understand that field trip information may be given over Remind. You will receive a request to join after your registration has been approved. If you do not, please text 81010 with the message @20252026h.

WOLCA also hosts a private group for homeschoolers on Facebook. However, you must accept a friend request from the administrator, Harriett Morrison, before you can be added.

There may be times when you are contacted by text, email, or mail depending on the circumstances.

Transfers and Withdrawals

Word of Life Christian Academy is required to give the names of each student enrolled with us to the l Tennessee county you live in. We are also required to notify the county of your withdrawal or non-compliance of attendance within five days.

In Tennessee, any child over the age of 6 must be enrolled in a state recognized school. Failure to enroll your child will result in legal issues with the local authorities. When transferring your child from one school to another, it is important to notify both schools in a timely manner. Parents who fail to register a school-aged child by August 1^st of each school year may run into legal issues.

WOLCA will strive to process your registration within two weeks of receiving the form and the registration fee. Your enrollment date will be back dated to when we received your registration. It takes our staff several days to approve applications once received. After approval, Word of Life Christian Academy will request records from your child’s previous school using the contact information provided by you at registration. This will also be an official notification to the previous school of the withdrawal of your child. If you removed your student prior to registration with us, they will be counted absent by that school. If you do not immediately register your student after withdrawal, your student will be considered truant after five days of unexcused absence. The previous school will notify the local authorities of the truancy. Timeliness makes for a smooth transition from one school to another.

Word of Life Christian Academy students transferring to another school, public or private, may be required to take grade-level placement tests before the new school approves the grade level your child will be placed in.  WOLCA has no control over the placement of any student leaving our facility.

If transferring into WOLCA, your student grades 2 and up will be required to take a placement test to ensure we put your child in an appropriate level book. Your child may or may not be placed in the grade level you request on the registration form. Children in kindergarten and 1^st grade will be evaluated by a staff member. Sometimes, a 1^st grade student will be evaluated by staff and tested for placement as well. Usually, our placement test is done on a computer. There is no fee for placement testing or staff evaluations.

Word of Life Christian Academy does not assume legal responsibility for your family. Membership with the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is an option available if you need to seek legal advice.

Tennessee Homeschool Requirements

Each school year must consist of a minimum of 180 educational days. Each school day must consist of a minimum of 4 hours of classroom/learning time. A high school credit consists of 150 hours of classroom time completed in the 180 days. Children 6 years old or older are required to be registered in a state recognized public or private institution. Failure to meet these qualifications may result in dismissal from Word of Life Christian Academy. Word of Life Christian Academy is a state recognized institution.

Word of Life Christian Academy Reporting Requirements

We require reporting of grades twice a year. Failure to report grades on time may result in truancy. A typical school year is two semesters (90 days each). Make sure you are keeping up with your educational days to help with submitting grades and attendance.

Your first grade and attendance submittal will be in the months of December-January. If you have not completed your 90 days, please submit grades and attendance anyway. Days lacking can be added to the next grade and attendance report. If the first semester grades are not received by February 15^th, your student will be turned in as truant.

The second semester grades and attendance should be turned in at the end of your 180 days of school. The deadline for this reporting is June 30^th. If not received by July 31^st, your student will become truant.  The next school year’s registration will not be approved without the prior year’s grades and attendance submittal.

Parent/Guardian Record Keeping

As the teacher and primary record keeper for your home school, you must keep up with grades and attendance.  When you submit the information to Word of Life Christian Academy, please keep your original copies. Also, keep up with your start date and the semester end date.

You may submit grades and attendance online or via the form which is available from WOLCA. The online form will be on our website, www.wolchristianacademy.org. Please contact our office if you need the paper form.  One can be mailed to you, or you may pick it up at our office.

To assist you in grading, please follow these guidelines.

1. (100-90=A, 89-80=B, 79-70=C, 69-60=D, below 60=F)
2. You may submit the number grade or the letter grade.
3. To find the average grade for any given subject, add all the tests for that subject together then divide by the number of tests taken.

           Example: Math     test 1=89, test 2=93, test 3=77, test 4=85, test 5=90

                              89+93+77+85+90=434

                              434÷5=86.8

                                           Math grade for the semester is 86.8 (only 1 digit after decimal please)

4. Keep a record of all test grades.
5. You may include any graded material, reports, or worksheets as you deem necessary. Just add them into the averaging.
6. Some subjects do not have testing. Examples could be: Bible (reading a certain number of hours from the Bible) or physical education. For these subjects, you will have to decide a grade based upon participation, dedication, attitude, etc. Tests are not required.

Driver’s License (Compulsory School Attendance Form)

The TN Department of Safety and Homeland Security requires Word of Life Christian Academy to submit an attendance form before students can apply for a driver’s license.  This is done on the WOLCA Request of Form for Driver’s License.

The Compulsory School Attendance form that we fill out for the TN Department of Safety and Homeland Security is valid for 30 days during the school year. If it is summer, it is valid over the summer months when school isn’t in session. Since you are the teacher of your child, you must make a formal request for the form to be submitted.  Expect WOLCA to take up to two weeks to complete the form. You may pick the form up once completed, or we can fax it directly to the licensing location of your choice. 

Graduation Requirements

Word of Life Christian Academy has three levels for graduation. Our goal is that all students graduate with a regular diploma or higher.  Level 1 is an “Vocational Diploma” where the student will not be required to excel in an assessment test or the ACT.  Level 2 is the “General Diploma” which requires either an appropriate score on an assessment test or an ACT score of 19 or higher.  In Level 3, “Advance Diploma,” the student must have 2 years of foreign language, 1 year of visual/performing arts, and a score of 21 or higher on the ACT.  SAT scores are also accepted for these levels but must be an equivalent of the said ACT scores.

Students must be enrolled with Word of Life Christian Academy for 6 months to qualify for graduation.  See the chart below for credits required in high school.

*Must include at least one of Biology, Chemistry, or Physics with lab. General science and environmental science typically do not satisfy college entrance requirements. Life science is typically below high school level.

**May include World History, World Geography, Ancient History, European History, or Modern History

***This must consist of two years of a single language and not the first year of two separate languages.

For graduation ceremony participation, the ACT scores must be submitted by May 1^st and final grades must be submitted by the end of the second week in May.

Fees

          Registration fee (yearly)     $100 for 1^st child

                                                  $50 for 2^nd child

                                                  $20 for each additional child

                                                  (After August 10^th add an additional $8 for each child’s fee)

          Curriculum fee (yearly)      $500 Grades 1-12

                                                  $800 Kindergarten
                                                  $150 Additional Kindergarten student kit

Emergency school fee       $50 per day (allows your student to attend class on campus from 8 AM – 3 PM during school hours)

Graduation fee                  up to $45 (depends on size and supplier)

Spring assessment test     $50 per child

Duplicate diploma              $40 each

Returned check fee           $50

Credit card fee                  3.5%

Payment for registration is due when application is submitted. Curriculum fee must paid before curriculum can be ordered. Emergency campus fee is due upon arrival that day. Graduation fee is due by March 15. Assessment test fee is due by March 5^th. Duplicate diploma fee is due upon request for diploma.

Fee may be paid in cash, check, Facebook pay, Venmo, or credit card (3.5 % fee added).