2022 Afternoon Testing for Grades 3-8

Essential Church School Offices 4000 Eagle Point Corporate Drive, Birmingham, AL, United States

We will offer 2-day group in-person testing for students in grades 3-8 at our offices.  Our testing room only accommodates 10 students, so space is VERY limited.  (For information about online or at-home testing, visit the Testing information under the Resources tab above) PLEASE NOTE:  This is a 2-day testing process.  Your student will be required to attend BOTH testing days. Please complete the form below to reserve your student's participation before March 14th.  Essential families receive a significant discount on the test administration. MORE INFO ABOUT THE TEST: We are offering the Iowa Assessments Form E, which is the most up-to-date test available to our school.  This test assesses a broad array of skills in these areas: • Vocabulary • Reading Comprehension • Language (Spelling, Capitalization, Punctuation, Usage and Expression) • Math (Concepts and Estimation, Problem Solving and Data Interpretation, Computation) • Social Studies • Science • Sources of Information (Maps and Diagrams, Reference Materials).  Students mark answers on a bubble sheet. Each section is timed.  Test results are thorough and highlight strengths and weaknesses. TEST PREP: You can purchase and have your student go through a practice test.  Amazon.com offers several test prep books, and Essential families should also explore our school library for resources. LOCATION: Essential Office Building at 4000 Eagle Point Corporate Drive Park up and behind office building, and enter through back double door entrance.

Legacy Volleyball Camp & Tryouts

Gardendale Civic Center 857 Main Street, Gardendale, AL, United States

It’s that time! Volleyball!!! Please mark these dates on your calendar. We will use this camp as our evaluation time for teams this fall. June 13-15, 12:30-3:00 daily 8th grade - 12th grade $75 June 16-17, 12:30-3:00 daily 7th grade $50 Camp will be held at the Gardendale Civic Center Please plan to attend if you would like to play this fall. Please text 205-587-1974 with questions. Let’s go Lions!

Highlands College Homeschool Preview Day

Highlands College 3660 Grandview Parkway, Birmingham, AL, United States

We invite our Juniors and Seniors to join us for a day of exploring options for their next steps after high school.  Highlands College wants to introduce you to their school as well as help your student find HIS/HER next step.  It's completely free and even involves free lunch and a drink from their cafe.  We will tour their new facilities and be encouraged in ways to prepare for God's leading in the next season. RSVP is required in order to help the school prepare for food and materials, and we will send informational emails for arrival and final details to the preferred email address.  Please include parents/students in your numbers. We do not encourage bringing young children, as we will be walking and engaging in discussions that could be uncomfortable and boring for little ones.  Please contact us if you feel you must bring younger siblings.

Free

Homeschool High School Workshop

Highlands College 3660 Grandview Parkway, Birmingham, AL, United States

Are you ready to homeschool your high school student? Join us for an afternoon of information and encouragement for families planning, beginning, or in the midst of homeschooling a high school student. We will discuss: High School Prep Walking through High School Testing and Post-Graduation Prep The Heart of the Matter We will also have a Q&A session at the end. All our presenters have completed the high school homeschooling journey and have seen their students succeed in the transition out of homeschooling.

Free

2021-2022 Attendance Records Due

Virtual

Make sure the online form on your Member Page is updated -OR- email us a scan/photo of your completed attendance records. Remember that we do not require a certain number of school days, but we are required to keep of RECORD of actual school days for the laws governing church schools in Alabama. This is one of very few requirements we have for ALL of our Essential students whether they  were enrolled for a day or for the entire school year.

2022-2023 Essential School Year Begins

Virtual

For some, the new year is in January, but for us at Essential, it all begins on July 1st! Re-Enrollment is available on your Member Page on May 1st. Not already enrolled with Essential?  Join us this school year!

Homeschooling Workshop

Chelsea City Hall 11611 Chelsea Road, Chelsea, AL, United States

Considering homeschooling? Starting the homeschool journey? Need a refresher? Then this workshop is for you! In cooperation with Chelsea Public Library, we are offering an all-day event. This is a parents only event with informational sessions that include: Know Your Why (Evaluation of your reasons and philosophy of homeschooling) How Can I Homeschool? (Discussion of legal issues) How Do I Teach? (Discussion of ways to teach at home) What Do I Teach? (Discussion of curriculum choices) Planning (How to plan for the year and for the school days) Question & Answer Homeschool veterans will share their homeschool stories throughout the day. We want to encourage you to come for new ideas and encouragement even if you are already homeschooling. And bring a friend that is interested in homeschooling as well! COST: A donation of $10 is suggested to cover the event costs and our speakers’ lunches, but this event is open to the general public at no required ticket price. LUNCH: We MAY arrange for a lunch to be provided, and we will give you the options to pre-order on the BHC event page. Because we have a lot of material to cover, we will only have a short lunch break.   Please RSVP on the BHC website at https://birminghamhomeschoolers.com/event/homeschooling-workshop-4/

Homeschool High School

Chelsea City Hall 11611 Chelsea Road, Chelsea, AL, United States

Are you ready to homeschool your high school student? Join us for an afternoon of information and encouragement for families planning, beginning, or in the midst of homeschooling a high school student. We will discuss: High School Prep Walking through High School Testing and Post-Graduation Prep The Heart of the Matter We will also have a Q&A session at the end. All our presenters have completed the high school homeschooling journey and have seen their students succeed in the transition out of homeschooling. Sponsored by: Chelsea Public Library Presented with Birmingham Homeschoolers Community - RSVP on BHC website (linked below)