Policies of Sacred Grove Academy

Enrollment Policies
Attendance Form Policies
Continued Enrollment Policies
Re-Enrollment Policies
Withdrawal Policies
Records & Transcripts
General Policies

Enrollment Policies

Enrollment is open to all families within the State of Alabama (see FAQ), who have children between the ages of 5 and 18 The student must live with a parent or legal guardian.
The teacher (parent/guardian) must agree to keep attendance records and must agree to submit these to us at the end of the school year (REQUIRED by Alabama State law, Code 16-28-8). (See Attendance Form Policies.)
If anyone in the family was previously enrolled, all past attendance forms for any and all previously enrolled students must have been submitted, and there should be no outstanding payments due.
You may enroll at any point in the year; however, *all* enrollments end July 1 (if you plan to re-enroll the following year, you must do so by August 1).
To enroll, you must submit 1) the Church School Enrollment Form (CSEF) with signatures in both sections, 2) the signed Registration Form, and 3) the complete fees. If you send the forms without the fees, or the fees without the forms, or one or both of the forms are not properly signed, you are NOT considered officially enrolled, and can face truancy charges if your child is not enrolled in another school.
Be sure to sign the forms! There are TWO places for your signature on the CSEF, and ONE place on the Registration Form. If *all three* of these sections are not signed, your forms and fees will be returned to you for your signature. You will not be considered officially enrolled until all forms have been properly signed and submitted along with the full fees.
Please note: we cannot "back-date" your enrollment to say you were enrolled before these were actually received. To do so constitutes fraud, and both of us can get in serious trouble with the state. Your child will be considered officially enrolled when your enrollment form and fees are received at Sacred Grove.
After enrollment, you will be mailed a copy of the signed Church School Enrollment Form (CSEF). DO NOT LOSE THIS! You may need this for driver's licenses, proof of enrollment, and more. If you lose it and need a replacement, the fee is $10.
Pay for replacement CSEF

Attendance Form Policies

As part of your enrollment contract, you agree to send in an attendance form for each child enrolled with Sacred Grove Academy, REGARDLESS OF HOW LONG THE CHILD REMAINS ENROLLED DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR (i.e., if the child quits, goes to a new school, moves away, etc., the attendance form is STILL REQUIRED. This attendance form must contain all months/days from when the child was initially enrolled, until July 1, when all enrollments end, or when the child withdrew, quit, etc. These forms must be received by August 1 at the very latest, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU ARE RE-ENROLLING for the next school year. These attendance forms are required BY THE STATE OF ALABAMA to be filled out for each enrolled child. We don't ever have to give these to anyone, but by law, must keep them for each student. (Keep a copy for yourself!)
If, by AUGUST 1 of the following summer, which is the deadline for re-enrollment, you have not sent these attendance forms for each child, you will be dropped from enrollment with Sacred Grove, and an official letter to your local school superintendent will then be sent stating that you are no longer enrolled in Sacred Grove Academy, EVEN IF YOU HAVE PAID YOUR TUITION!!
NEW!! Attendance form that you can fill out on-line
FAILURE TO SEND ATTENDANCE FORMS: If you do NOT send in your child's attendance forms for the time he/she was enrolled, Sacred Grove Academy will not release records or information about that child to you or to subsequent schools that may request such, nor will we provide diplomas, transcripts, letters giving date of withdrawal for purposes of GED, driver's license, or other reason, or any other information requested for that child, until these forms are received. Furthermore, if these forms are not received within 12 months of your withdrawal (for example, 2014-2015 forms sent in by August 1, 2016), all of the above will apply, and no one in your family will be allowed to enroll or re- enroll in Sacred Grove Academy at any point in the future for any reason.

Policies for Continued Enrollment

Once enrolled, you are considered to be enrolled until the following July 1, unless
1. You notify us that you are withdrawing, and send in attendance forms
2. We discover that you have enrolled your child in a different school when that school sends us a request for your child's records, and you have not officially withdrawn, or
3. Your summer or winter newsletter is returned undeliverable because you have moved and not sent in a change of address, and we cannot then get in touch with you by phone or email; as we will have no way of knowing whether you are still in your original school district or even in the state (Note: if your newsletter comes back, we make a reasonable attempt to contact you before dropping you from the rolls)
In all the above cases, an official letter to your local school superintendent will then be sent stating that you are no longer enrolled in Sacred Grove Academy.
Inform us IMMEDIATELY if you move (or before you move, if possible). There are two reasons for this:
1. If you move into a new school district in the state of Alabama, the only way the school board there has of knowing that you are legally enrolled in a cover school is if we send them a CSEF (Church School Enrollment Form). If they do not receive this form, but they discover that you are living there and your child is not legally enrolled somewhere, you will be subject to truancy laws. Therefore, a new CSEF must be filled out by you and mailed in to us, so we can fill out our part and send it to the new school board. Time is of the essence in this (do NOT wait until re-enrollment time!), and Sacred Grove will not be held responsible for truancy charges brought against families who fail to follow this requirement.
2. If your winter newsletter is returned undeliverable because you have moved and not sent in a change of address, and we cannot then get in touch with you by phone or email, we will have no way of knowing whether you are still in your original school district or even in the state. In this case, you will be considered dropped, and an official letter to your local school superintendent will then be sent stating that you are no longer enrolled in Sacred Grove Academy. Also, you will not be allowed to re- enroll in Sacred Grove at any point in the future for any reason, and no records or information will be released to you or to subsequent schools that may request such, nor will we provide diplomas, transcripts, letters giving date of withdrawal for purposes of GED, driver's license, or other reason, or any other information requested, AT ALL. Again, Sacred Grove will not be held responsible for truancy charges brought against families who fail to follow this requirement and are subsequently dropped.

Re-Enrollment Policies

All enrollments end July 1.
Send in your attendance forms for the past school year BEFORE AUGUST 1.

PLEASE SEE SECTION ON ATTENDANCE FORMS FOR MORE DETAILS
You do not have to send in a new Enrollment Form when you re-enroll, as long as you are in the same public school district. However, IF YOU MOVE to a new residence *within* the state of Alabama, and you move into a different public school district, you MUST send in a new Enrollment Form for the new school district, immediately (don't wait for re-enrollment time!). You do not have to inform the previous school district that you have moved, but you do need to let the new one know that you are enrolled in a church school; otherwise you will be subject to truancy laws.

Pay your tuition for the upcoming year BEFORE AUGUST 1 (See Fees for current rates). NOTE: This is ONLY for families who were enrolled the previous year and are re- enrolling! If you are enrolling for the first time, or enrolling after having withdrawn for a period of time, there is NO DEADLINE to enroll.

If your attendance forms and tuition are not received by August 1, you will be considered to be un-enrolled for the upcoming year, and a letter will be sent to your local school board stating this fact. You may enroll again at any point after that, however, as long as your previous year's attendance forms are also mailed in, and you will need to pay the registration fee in addition to the tuition, and fill out both the Enrollment Form (CSEF) and the Registration Form again. (See Withdrawal Policies for further information.)

Late Re-Enrollments: If you contact us PRIOR TO AUGUST 1 to tell us you will be late, you will have a grace period of 30 days, until August 31, to send in your re-enrollment tuition for the upcoming school year. There will be a late fee assessed of $25 per family, which must be paid, in addition to the tuition, before you will be considered to be re-enrolled. Please note that if your late re-enrollment is not received by August 31, we will begin un-enrollment procedures.

Please make checks out to SACRED GROVE ACADEMY, or send by PayPal to sacredgrove at sacredgroveacademy dot org.

NOTE: After any official or improper withdrawal or removal, an official letter to your local school superintendent will be sent stating that you are no longer enrolled in Sacred Grove Academy, and we will send a letter to your last known address stating the same. If you are not enrolled anywhere else, you will be subject to truancy laws.

How to Officially & Properly Withdraw From Sacred Grove:
1. An official letter to your local school superintendent will then be sent stating that you are no longer enrolled in Sacred Grove Academy (as required by state law).
Official Withdrawals:
1. All enrollments end on July 1. If you don't re-enroll by August 1, you will be considered withdrawn, but may re-enroll at any point in the future, as long as all other policies have been adhered to. You don't need to send any sort of withdrawal notice during this July-August period. After August 1, an official letter to your local school superintendent will be sent stating that you are no longer enrolled in Sacred Grove Academy (as required by state law).
2. You can also officially withdraw from Sacred Grove at any time during the school year. **No refunds will be given at any time.** Families withdraw for various reasons, including sending their children back to public school, or moving out-of-state. To officially withdraw during the school year, just send a notice to Sacred Grove by mail or by email, stating that you are withdrawing. An official letter to your local school superintendent will then be sent stating that you are no longer enrolled in Sacred Grove Academy (as required by state law).
  Please Note: It is the policy of Sacred Grove Academy that anyone whose child drops out during the school year without officially withdrawing (notifying Sacred Grove) will not be allowed to re-enroll at any point in the future for any reason, and no records or information will be released to you or to subsequent schools that may request such, nor will we provide diplomas, transcripts, letters giving date of withdrawal for purposes of GED, driver's license, or other reason, or any other information requested, AT ALL for that particular child.
  
  In other words... Please be considerate when you withdraw, and take a few minutes to drop us an email or a letter!
  
  A note about records and transcripts: Unless you have told us to keep your records for you if they are sent to Sacred Grove by your former school, we will always forward them on to you. Therefore, when you withdraw and place your child in a new school, please advise that school that Sacred Grove does NOT have your child's records (unless you have requested we keep them)! This will save a bit of time and frustration on everyone's part when you are trying to get your child enrolled in a new school.
Removal from Rolls & Improper Withdrawals:

NOTE: After any official or improper withdrawal or removal, an official letter to your local school superintendent will be sent stating that you are no longer enrolled in Sacred Grove Academy, and we will send a letter to your last known address stating the same. If you are not enrolled anywhere else, you will be subject to truancy laws.