Announcements

Save the date for the CHEC Winter Festival on Monday, December 11, from 1-4pm at 717 Rugby Road! As a thank you for such an amazing session, we would like to invite all CHEC families (past, present and future) to join us for a student-led Market, Youth Cookie Swap and Contest, an Adult Cookie Swap, and Holiday Crafting Workshops. Please sign up to participate in each event on our Field Trips page at https://www.cvillechec.org/fieldtrips.

Please check your email for important announcements regarding our first day. If you did not receive a first-day email, please contact us at info@cvillechec.org.

The CHEC Open House and Activity Fair is on Monday, August 28, from 1-3pm at 717 Rugby Road (rain or shine). The parking lot is on Fendall Avenue across the street from the church. The Open House is an opportunity for: * new families to visit our location, ask questions, and meet teachers and staff; * for all families to meet and reconnect with each other; * and for kids to participate in some fun teacher-led crafts and activities! A Parent Meeting will be held in the Sanctuary from 1pm-1:30pm. This meeting is an opportunity for parents to ask questions about CHEC. During the parent meeting, kids are welcome to play on the playground or in the lounge (supervised by a site manager). Teacher-led activities, teacher meet-and-greets, and facility tours will be held from 1:30-3pm. We will also be handing out free popsicles and ice cream bars in the upstairs kitchen (one per person please)!

In addition to the Student Market, we will be hosting a Student Art Show on Monday, March 6th, from 10:30am-3:50pm. This show will include artwork from Surreal & Weird Art, World Cultures, Plush Sewing and more. If your child has any works of art that they would like to display in the art show, please bring their artwork to CHEC either this coming Monday or on Monday, March 6. Your child does not have to be participating in one of the previously mentioned classes in order to display their art - all children are welcome to participate. The art show will be set up in the main hallway of the church (on the walls and on the tables). Please remember to take your child's artwork home with you when you leave.

Calling all artists and crafters! We will hold a small business/craft fair at CHEC on Monday, March 6th, from 10:30am to 2:30pm in the Social Hall. Current and past CHEC students can sign up to become vendors at this event. Do you have a craft or handmade product you'd like to sell? Send an email with your students name and what they will be selling to elizabethriner@gmail.com by March 5th to reserve a table. This event will allow students to sell their wares for actual money, so parents will need to help facilitate having change, etc for younger vendors. Some vendors will be accepting Venmo, PayPal, square payments, etc but this is not required! For this event, we will not be selling any food products (unless it is a shelf stable item like jam/preserves/spices/tea): only crafts, art and other non-consumable products. There will probably be an opportunity to sell food products at CHEC at the end of the spring session. Even if your student is not a vendor, please stop by the craft fair to shop! We have some amazing businesses created by CHEC students in their Build-A-Business class. They are offering some really great products, so be sure to show your support and share feedback!

Save the date for the CHEC Winter Festival on Monday, December 12, from 1-5pm at 717 Rugby Road! As a thank you for such an amazing session, we would like to invite all CHEC families (past, present and future) to join us for a cookie swap and contest, craft-making, a bazaar and student performances. Check your email for information about signing up for activities. You do not need to sign up to attend.

The Unitarian Church participates in PACEM, an initiative to feed and house homeless during the winter months. CHEC will be providing a meal on November 28th. Teela James (teela-chec@peff.net) is coordinating a small group to meet at the church on the 28th, cook a meal, and help serve it. This is a good volunteer opportunity for older students. Contact Teela if you are interested in participating. If you'd like to help, but the 28th is not a good day for you, you can sign up with the UU Church directly at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d4da8ab2ea20-pacem4

CHEC is working on our Winter/Spring field trips. Please contact fieldtrips@cvillechec.org if you are interested in organizing a field trip. Organizers are responsible for scheduling the field trip with the venue and communication with attendees. Generally CHEC will cover the field trip fee for the organizer and their children as a thank you for organizing.

CHEC is seeking two head Site Supervisors for the Winter Term (with the possibility of additional sessions if interested). Site Supervisors will be jointly responsible for all aspects of on site operations of CHEC on Mondays. Supervisors will receive free classes for their children in compensation for the time they put in. Responsibilities of the position include set up and clean up, communicating site manager duties and schedule, managing student check-in and attendance, and supporting teachers, parents, and students throughout the class day. One of the Supervisors will need to be on site at all times on Mondays between 8 and 5. Both Supervisors should plan to be on site for the full first day. Subsequent weeks can be divided into a morning shift and an afternoon shift with both Supervisors present for lunch. Ideal candidates will be self-motivated, detail-oriented and enjoy working with people, especially children. If you are interested, email info@cvillechec.org. We have a more detailed description of responsibilities that we will send to anyone interested. Thanks!

Just a reminder that tomorrow, October 10, is CHEC’s fall break, so there will be no classes. We will see everyone back on October 17. Also, Halloween falls on a Monday this year. Everyone is welcome to come in costume. We will have candy available at the check-in table. We hope to have the winter schedule up by early November; however, there will not be a winter session unless we can recruit two head Site Supervisors! Please let me know if you are interested in the position. The winter term will run Jan 9 – Feb 27, with two make-up days on March 6th and 13th.

We're going to implement an optional Pickup/Drop-off line. Starting next week, there will be a site manager greeting cars at the side door (Fendall Ave). Site managers will be there 10 minutes before each period starts to 10 minutes after (9:20, 10:50, 12:20 for 2nd period pickup, 12:50, 2:20, and 3:50 for 4th period pickup). Parents who aren't using the pickup/drop off line should use the playground entrance to reduce congestion in the area where students are waiting. It is still fine (and appreciated) for parents to pickup children from the classroom. Anyone can drop off without signing up. If you would like to use the pickup line, please respond to this email or modify your child's forms (Registration->My Paperwork->Edit individual student) by Friday. We'll add a note to the roster for your student's final class and to their schedule sticker so that they can be directed to the pickup line. Pickup students should wait on the staircase just inside the doors until a site manager calls their name. If you end up picking up a child inside that you indicated would be sent to the pickup line, you must notify the pickup site manager. This service is intended for students who are comfortable with drop off and can find their classes. We'll have site managers to assist in finding classes, but if you have a younger student who still needs your support to get to their classroom, please continue to park and bring them in. You do not need to notify us of pickup plans for students that sign themselves in and out (13+).

Effective Sept 19, Ultimate Frisbee is moving to a new location at Washington Park. Please check your email for more information.

Classes with a make up currently scheduled for Nov. 14th: Play With Your Food, YouTube (all sections), Abracadabra (all sections), Ultimate, Auto Maintenance, 50 States (4th period), Rube Who?, Bug Wars(all sections), Fairy Houses, Paint and Play, Improv Wizards, Stand-up Comedy, Show Me the Money, Bailey's Musical Adventures, Engineering Disasters, and Creative Writing. Classes with a make up on Nov. 21st: Rube Who?, YouTube (all sections), Ultimate Frisbee, Bug Wars (4th period), and Auto Maintenance.

We have made some important changes to our student registration forms. These forms can now be completed on the CHEC website. Please log into your account, and select “My Paperwork” under the Registration tab. Complete all of the information on this page, including the information under the “Edit” tab next to your child(ren)’s name(s). Make sure to read all of the Policies for Participation and sign at the bottom of the page. We need this paperwork completed before this Monday. Please complete it even if you have completed paperwork for us in the past.

Just a reminder that CHEC classes start in one week on Monday, September 12. Please check your email for important information regarding the first day. Contact us if you have not received the email.

For the fall term, CHEC will have a combination of indoor and outdoor class options. CHEC will follow CDC Covid recommendations. Under the current community level response system, this would mean requiring indoor masking if the community has a high level of Covid transmission, but not requiring indoor masking if our level is low or medium. Note that Louisa Cahan's We Are Artists class will require masks regardless of community level.

It's not too late to register for classes; although there will be a $5 late fee. Several classes still have space available, including Creative Filmmaking at Lighthouse Studios, Beginning Rocketry, Abracadabra Alakazam, and more! Classes will be held at the Fry's Spring Beach Club. Most classes will be outdoors, but we also have indoor and online options (as noted in the course descriptions). Masks are optional outdoors and required indoors unless otherwise noted in the course descriptions.

Just a reminder that you must sign your children in and out each Monday (or your teen must sign themselves in and out if you have given them permission to do so on our registration form). If you do not sign out, then our site managers will have to assume that your child has not been picked up and will have to call you at the end of the day.

If you have not already, don't forget to sign up for our CvilleCHEC Mobilize group. This is the best way to get email announcements about things like the Open House and our pizza lunches. This is also the best way to communicate with other CHEC parents about carpooling etc. You can find the group at https://cvillechec.mobilize.io/registrations/groups/27291

A couple of issues have come to our attention, so I wanted to let everyone know what CHEC’s peanut/tree nut and illness policies are. NUT POLICY As mentioned on our website, CHEC does not have a nut-free policy. However, several of our students have severe peanut and tree nut allergies. We encourage parents, students and teachers to refrain from bringing peanuts or tree nuts to CHEC. If you are the parent of a child with an allergy, please be aware that we cannot guarantee a nut-free environment. We are only tenants at Sojourners and have no control over what is brought into the building when we are not there. With that said, I encourage parents to talk with your children about washing hands and cleaning up messes after they eat, regardless of what it is (we also have children with egg, gluten and other allergies). This issue came up after we found a peanut butter sandwich scattered across the floor in the hallway. Things like Sunbutter are a great alternative. SICK POLICY It’s that time of the year, and the flu is going around. If your child is sick, please do not bring them to CHEC. Please wait at least 24 hours after a fever breaks before bringing your child to class. If a child becomes sick while at CHEC, we will call the parent to pick their child up as soon as possible. Thank you for you help and consideration.