Requirements for Membership
Membership Requirements:
A. Member Family
We understand a homeschooling family to mean one male and one female parent with one or more children or anticipated children all related by the institution of marriage. We recognize the exception of a single parent family.
B. Qualifications
Parent(s) of students in each member family must be actively involved in a New
Testament church and in agreement with (and sign) the Confession of Faith, the stated
purpose of this organization, and these Policies and Procedures.
A homeschool student is defined as a child who is educated at home at least 51% of the time. WACHE acknowledges the age requirement of a homeschool student to be from birth to a high-school student that has completed a graduation ceremony.
Any student member of WACHE that is over the age of 18 and participating in a ‘bonus’ or ‘super senior’ year is limited to only 1 year, must not have participated in commencement exercises, and will be subject to a background check if over the age of 18. We do not classify a post high school graduate as a homeschooled student. The term “school year” is defined as September 1st through May 31st.
C. Becoming a Member
1. Membership applications and renewal begin on May 1st of each year and must be completed by May 31st for returning members to be eligible for priority registration in WACHE School classes. New or returning members are welcome to join WACHE at any time during the year.
2. New WACHE memberships are only open to families with a homeschool or educational club reference. A current WACHE member referral would be the preferred choice, but if you do not have a WACHE referral, you can use another previous group referral in its place. (Another homeschool group, 4H, scouts, etc.)
3. There will be no ceiling on the number of applications received during these
times.
4. Members must reapply every year. Even if you joined later in the fiscal year, you will need to renew your membership in May when the new year rolls around.
D. Membership Dues
Membership runs for the fiscal year of June 1st to May 31st
The amount of the membership dues will be determined each year by the WACHE Board and will be due no later than May 31st.
If a family joins in January, for example, membership fees will not be prorated. All membership fees are non-refundable.
E. Background Checks
Every family wishing to be a member of WACHE, including Board Members, is subject to a background check. Background checks are performed on each parent and adult child active in WACHE upon initially joining WACHE with a recheck every three years. If a family rejoins after being out of WACHE for a year or more, or if adult children become newly active, they will be required to complete and pass a new background check.
F. Requirements & Attendance
There are no mandatory service requirements to be a part of the WACHE organization. We encourage our membership to use their God-given gifts, talents and creativity in WACHE activities to make them a success. WACHE is not a drop off support group. As such, each student should be accompanied by a parent for each activity. Children must be 24 hours free of fever, diarrhea, or vomiting to attend an event.
G. Demeanor
WACHE is a reflection of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. Each member family will be responsible to see that their children’s manner and dress are Christ-honoring. Profanity and immodesty are not acceptable. Bullying of any kind by any parent or child is completely unacceptable. Disciplinary action will be taken in keeping with WACHE’s conflict resolution policy should a bullying issue arise.
H. Visitors
Members may bring guests with prior approval to any WACHE event as space permits, excluding the End of Year Party and the GAP (Get Acquainted) Party. For WACHE School visitor policy, please refer to the WACHE School Handbook.
I. Conflict Resolution
Any claim, dispute or other matter in question that arises between any WACHE members shall be subject to mediation as a condition precedent to arbitration. WACHE members, including all Board Members, shall endeavor to resolve claims, disputes and other matters in question between them by mediation which shall be in accordance with the Mediation Rules of the American Arbitration Association currently in effect. Requests for mediation shall be filed in writing to the President. Disputing parties will attempt, at all times, to resolve any claim, dispute or other matter in a Christian manner. Additionally, all requests for resolution should be copied to the WACHE President and then, in turn, to the Executive Board. Any claim, dispute or other matter that is not resolved by mediation, shall be decided by arbitration as set forth in the current rules of the American Arbitration Association. Additionally, WACHE members and their families agree to resolve all disputes and mediations outside of the courtroom. Any member family agrees to not file suit against any other member family, WACHE or the church that WACHE is utilizing for any event of WACHE School. Any member family who ceases to agree with or abide by WACHE Policies and Procedures or who in some way brings disrepute on WACHE shall be biblically confronted by the leadership for restoration into WACHE. If unreconciled, the family will be excluded from WACHE membership until all issues are resolved to the complete satisfaction of the WACHE Executive Board.
J. Cessation of Membership
Member families no longer desiring membership in WACHE may notify the Vice President/Membership Director and request removal from WACHE. Membership fees are non-refundable.
Steps to Join WACHE
- Make sure you have read “What We Believe” and “Requirements for Membership” and you agree with both before filling out the application.
- Fill out the WACHE Membership Application (make sure you use an email address you actually use and check often).
- After your form is submitted, our WACHE Board will review your application and check any necessary references. Our membership director will notify you once the board pre-approves your application (pending background check).
- Once the board pre-approves your application, our membership director will submit a request to our background check company, VeriFYI, for background checks. You will receive an email for each adult member in your family, with links to complete a background check. This must be done before your application can be fully processed. The background checks are $9.95 each, and and that is paid directly to the background check company.
- After receiving a clear background check, our membership director will notify you by email that your membership has been approved for WACHE.
- In order to accept membership into WACHE, and complete the membership process, you will then submit your Membership Fees through Paypal.
- These steps must be completed each year to renew your membership. The only exception is that the background checks do not have to be completed yearly – they must be completed once every 3 years, as long as you remain a member year to year. If you have a lapse in your membership and want to rejoin at a later date, a background check will be required to rejoin, even if it has not been 3 years.
**For example: a family joins in 2021, decides to let their membership go for 2022, but then wants to rejoin in 2023 – they would need to re-do background checks at that time to rejoin the group.
WACHE Fees
- $50 Yearly Membership Fee (Covers fees that go into running the organization/yearly budget: insurance, parties, PayPal fees, website, supplies, etc)
- You will pay $9.95 per background check, per adult, once every 3 years. This is paid directly to the background check company.
- These are the only fees you pay to join the WACHE organization, and gives you access to all field trips, parties, activities, etc. This also gives you the ability to register for WACHE School, if you choose to participate in that when registration is open. This part of WACHE has it’s own, separate fees. The details of these fees can be found on the WACHE SCHOOL page.
WACHE Policies & Procedures/Bylaws
