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We meet at a local church in Princeton, MN. 

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Equip Christian Homeschool Co-op is located in Princeton, MN. It is organized as an academic co-op with ALL families providing help as teachers and assistants. At Equip, we provide classes for all ages from Nursery through High School. Our co-op days consist of a large group opening time followed by  three hours of academic instruction.  This instruction does include an hour for an elective class. During the third hour, there is a short lunch break or snack. Equip Co-op meets on Wednesday mornings for 13 weeks of instruction each semester (Fall & Spring) for a total of 26 weeks. Tuition is paid per family and can be paid per semester so that families can afford to participate. 

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Equip co-op’s vision is to come alongside homeschoolers for the purpose of support and to aid in the instruction of the whole family through an academically-based-cooperative program. We have proposed that this organization and all of its activities shall be consistently and forthrightly Christian to the glory and honor of the Lord God.

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Yes, below is our statement of faith that each family must agree with and sign to be considered for membership: 

Equip Christian Homeschool Co-op
Statement of Faith

We believe the following statements to be true:
-There is only one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.                                                                                                 (Genesis 1:1; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1,3 & 4:24; Acts 5:3,4; Romans 1:20; Ephesians 4:5,6; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

-The Bible is the verbally, totally inspired, infallible, Word of God; the supreme and final authority for all faith, life, and truth.  (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21)

-Man was created in the image of God; he sinned; through that sin he incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death (separation from God); and all people are born with a sin nature and are guilty sinners in thought, word, and deed.  (Genesis 1:26,27 & 3:1-24; Romans 3:23 & 5:12-18; 1 John 1:8)

-The deity of our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5-8), His virgin birth (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38),  His sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5),  His miracles (John 2:23), His atoning death through His shed blood (Isaiah 53; John 3:16-18; Romans 3:24-26; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 John 2:2), His bodily resurrection (Matthew 28:6; Romans 10:9; 1 Corinthians 15:14), His ascension (Acts 1:9), and His imminent return in power and glory (Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

-Salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose death on the cross paid the penalty for man's sin (Romans 5:1; John 1:12-13; Ephesians 1:7 & 2:8-9).

-The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to convict, indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly living and service (Acts 1:8; Romans 8:9, 11; Ephesians 1:13; John 14:16-18).

-All believers have spiritual unity through our common faith in Jesus Christ. We have no denominational affiliation and individual doctrinal differences which may exist should not hinder the unity of our Christian Homeschool Group (1 John 4:11-12; John 17:21-22; 1 Corinthians 1:11-17).

-God has instituted marriage- the covenant relationship between one man and one woman- intended to be a lifelong union of husband and wife. The single life, either by call or circumstance, is honored by God. The unmarried are an important part of the Christian community (Genesis 2:21-24, Matthew 19:4-6, 1 Corinthians 7:1-40, Ephesians 5:22-33).

-Sexuality is inherent in God’s creation of human beings in His image as male and female. Husbands and wives are called to exclusive sexual fidelity to one another and single persons are called to abstinence. God intends and enables all people to live within these boundaries, with the help of the Holy Spirit and in fellowship of the church (Matthew 19:4-6, Mark 10:6-9, 1 Corinthians 7:1-40).

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This is NOT a drop off coop. It is a parent led and taught co-op.

Parental commitment is expected. You will spend time outside of class preparing as a teacher, working with a volunteer team, and doing additional work with your children. Our goal is to have the Equip class (along with work-at-home) be your core curriculum for the year giving you the freedom to enrich this learning in the way that fits your family’s style.

• Parents will be expected to help uphold and abide by the code of conduct (The Rules) set forth by Equip.
• Attendance is required. Obviously, life happens, and you may miss some sessions, but we need everyone present to make this work well.
• Parents are expected to be on campus with their student(s). If, in the event of an emergency at co-op, that is not possible, another parent should be assigned to be “parent-for-the-day” and Leadership should be informed. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis after consulting the Leadership Team.
• Parents are always welcome to sit in on ANY class that their students attend, unless they are assigned to another area.
• It is up to you as a parent to keep track of your child's progress in class. If there are concerns, please contact your child's teacher and then the leaders, if you need to. By the same token, as teachers, we need to talk to parents if there is an issue. We are all working together!
• When you need a substitute to cover your responsibilities due to absence or illness, etc., it is your responsibility to find a substitute and to arrange transportation for all materials that are needed for that class. Please inform leadership of your absence and any changes that are being made to cover your responsibilities.
• Equip is a small co-op and our goal right now is to have everyone teach 1 hour, help 1 hour, and be in the break room 1 hour. If you do not have the confidence or experience to be a lead teacher, you may be asked to team teach/ co-lead 2 classes. We need everyone to teach to make it work. This is a very supportive environment in which to learn and grow as an adult, and we want you to succeed. All of us have different gifts, and it is the goal of Equip to use those gifts to glorify God.

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As homeschoolers, we have the opportunity to choose our child's grade/curriculum that best works with their needs and abilities. Here is our layout: 

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For our littlest coop members we have a safe, comforting and nurturing environment that encourages learning and exploration. The pre-schoolers have a chance to enjoy our music and gym class, learn from story time, do crafts and activities related to the story, have a snack/lunch time and show and tell (which the kids always look forward to sharing!). 

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For 2nd-8th graders we offer science, history and an elective. This will be your family’s science and history for the year.

For high schoolers (9th-12th grade)  taking a lab science (typically Biology or Chemistry), we offer science and history. Due to the extra time required to do a high school lab science well, these classes will meet over two hours.

How it works: Teachers assign the lessons/chapters and the families read and learn at home. Each week at coop the teachers collect assignments/tests, review the lesson(s), complete activities, practice skills learned, and/or conduct experiments in class to enrich the learning. 

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We believe it is our responsibility to leave the church facility clean! It is our privilege to use this facility and we want to reflect how grateful we are by leaving the church as clean as we found it, if not cleaner!! Each family will be placed on a cleaning schedule and assigned an area to clean after co-op. Cleaning jobs include emptying full or smelly garbage, picking up trash/scraps off the floor, vacuuming, wiping off tables and counters, making sure bathroom stalls are clean and not running, and everything is put back the way it was. We encourage children to help their parents. If you see someone needing help or something that needs to be done, chip in and help even if it's not your job. Many hands make light work!

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NEW MEMBERS : Since we have limited class sizes due to the physical size of our facility, we ask that prospective families put their names on our waiting list. This is not a first-come first-served list, since openings in classes may not correspond to the ages of your children.
Steps for membership are as follows:
1. Agree and sign our Statement of Faith. This is the foundation of our co-op and is important for the unity of the group.
2. All new members must attend a Prospective New Member informational meeting. We have 1-2 Prospective Member meetings each year, usually early spring and late summer (if we still have spots available). These meetings are to share more information about our co-op and answer questions. If you cannot for some reason attend one of the meetings, let us know and we will arrange a time for you to meet with 1-2 members of the leadership team.
3. Fill out and turn in Family Application and Student Sheet. Doing this puts you on our waiting list. This information will help us to see if we have room in our classes for your children and where we'll ask you to volunteer to teach/help.
4. You will be notified by the leadership team whether or not we have room for your family. If your membership has been approved, we will require a non-refundable $25 deposit to hold your spot. This deposit will be applied toward your 1st semester tuition. The rest of your tuition payment will be due at the time of registration. After receiving your deposit you will also be added to our website and will be sent notice of approval. (If registration is already open then the full semester payment is  due immediately, instead of the deposit.) At this point the payment is non-refundable. We require payment (or payment arrangements) within one week of the acceptance letter, otherwise you will forfeit your spot and will be placed on our waiting list.

Contact leadership at: equipcoop@gmail.com 

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Registration/Tuition
 Our class registration for Fall Semester opens to current members on April 1st and for new members May 1st. You will be able to register your children by going on our website once we have received your Fall semester payment.

Tuition is $300 per family. This may change due to unforeseen cost. It is paid per family and can be paid $150 per semester so that families can afford to participate. There may also be scholarships available, see leadership for details. You can also pay for the year in full, if that works better for your family. Payment is due before registration for Fall semester classes. These payments can be mailed to our Treasurer,  PO Box, or given to leadership directly.  If your semester tuition payment is not made you will be parked/locked out of the forum and registration until payment is received.  We would like to remind you, a family's commitment is for the FULL academic year.   The payment divided into semesters is to help break up cost. When you join/recommit, we figure your family’s tuition into our budget and it shorts the whole co-op if you decide to back out at the last minute/mid year and not pay. We are Christians and should be able to be trusted to stick to our word/commitments (James 5:12, Matthew 5:33-37, Ephesians 4:15).
 

Checks can be made out to Equip Co-op.

 A family's commitment is for the  whole academic year, non-refundable tuition will be collected per semester before registration.

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Textbooks/Class fees:
This cost is NOT included in your family co-op fee. Each family will be responsible to purchase/obtain their own textbooks and workbooks. At Equip Co-op we strive to keep cost as low as possible and will be using curriculum, as often as possible, that requires only one textbook per family. High School requirements may differ. Our High School Science and 1st hour elective classes may have an additional class fee or a required class material list to cover supplies instead of increasing tuition.

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High School Student Variance

This is a NEW addition to our co-op and something we are willing to TRY to see how it goes. We make no commitment that this variance will be offered in future years. Interested families must fill out the variance request form and submit it to the leadership team for approval when applying for membership, or for current members at the time of membership renewal. This variance allows the student to participate in our co-op for only one or two hours of classes instead of being required to take all three. This is available to families that have only high school students attending the co-op or have students that need to leave separately from the rest of their family for other classes. For those that have other family members in the co-op the general fee, rules and expectations apply as to regular members. For those members that only have high school students, there is a reduced fee and parent commitment to make it more accessible to you. There are 2 options available as listed below.

 
Option 1:  The fee is 50% off. Student commitment is 1 hour service (classroom helper), 1 hour class.  No Study Hall . Parent commitment is a minimum of 2 hours - teach 1 hour and in the parents break room 1 hour (You will be available and willing to fill in/help when needed for other classes during this time).
Option 2: The fee is 25% off. Student commitment is for 2 hours of classes.  No Study Hall . Parent commitment is a minimum of 2 hours - teach 1 hour and in the parents break room 1 hour (You will be available and willing to fill in/help when needed for other classes during this time).

 For both options you are also expected to help with either opening/set-up or after co-op cleaning. Plus, as a parent we need you to sign up for one of the volunteer teams. Our group succeeds as a cooperative endeavor and we need everyone to do their part.

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Equip will primarily follow the Princeton School district for cancelling co-op due to weather. But, considering that we do not all live in Princeton, our leadership team will consider families that live further out before making a final decision. We will be post on the forum if we cancel co-op for the day. Equip will be extended 1 week to make up for the missed co-op day, with a maximum of a 2 week extension.