PIONEERS Co-Op
PIONEERS' Vision
The mission of PIONEERS is to provide nurturing enrichment and educational opportunities for Christian homeschool families in the community. The PIONEERS Co-op is a cell group of PIONEERS Home Education Support Services (PHESS), a 501c-3 educational ministry that operates under the guidance of an executive board. Our first priority is to provide classes designed to facilitate the higher learning needs of our older children (grades 6 through 12). Second, we seek to offer opportunities for our younger children (preschool through 5th grade) to learn and share in a group setting by enjoying the skills, talents, and support of the student and parent members participating in the Co-op.
PIONEERS provides a great springboard to prepare students for higher learning. When the Pioneers program began back in 1994, our goal was to help homeschoolers continue to educate their children at home through the more challenging high school years. Our goal has not changed. Many of our students have since gone on to college and have excelled in writing, science, foreign languages, or whatever their chosen course of study, they have done well. Our grads have excelled in many vocations including Business, Computer Technology, Counseling, Family Practice, Health Sciences, Journalism, Law, Marketing, Music/Theater, Nursing, Teaching, and the list continues to grow. In recent years, we have enjoyed having many of our PIONEERS Co-op graduates return to the Co-op to teach a class or enroll their young children in the program.
PIONEERS is a Christian homeschool co-op based upon Judeo-Christian principles. Although our members represent a diversity in some “doctrinal issues”, our membership requires that families share our Biblical worldview in the gospel, that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only way of salvation. (John 3:16 and/or John 14:6).
All prospective parents and students will be required to read the Membership Handbook (provided to new families during the registration process) in its entirety and sign a statement declaring that they have read, understood, and agree to follow the policies and guidelines therein prior to joining PIONEERS. Failure to follow these policies and guidelines may result in disciplinary action and/or dismissal from the co-op.
About Our Classes
We meet three Wednesdays per month, for a total of 28 weeks, during the months of September through May. Classes are held at Ganson Street Baptist Church, 638 W. Ganson Street, in Jackson, MI. There are five class periods available for the 6th-12th grades. Weekly lesson plans, provided by the tutor, are to be accomplished by the student at home with little supervision from the parent. We are a co-op, therefore, parents are required to volunteer their time. (4-8 hours per year in the 6-12th grade level, a weekly service commitment is required for parents at the younger, YP level.) We have several times and dates available to work around the needs of your family in the 6-12th grade level. YP parents must commit to serving either in the morning or afternoon each Wednesday.
PIONEERS 6th-12th grade level tutorial classes will cover a general 36-week curriculum during the 28-weeks we meet onsite throughout the year. We offer a variety of classes in the core disciplines - English, Foreign Languages, Math, Science (including wet labs at each level), Social Studies, plus several Electives and Enrichment classes to choose from.
Class time consists of instruction, labs, lectures, guest speakers, projects, exams, etc. All our classes offer a small student/tutor ratio and are taught by tutors who love what they are teaching and are often experts or certified in their area. Tutorial classes at the 6th-8th grade level require about 3/4 hour of homework per day. At the 9th-12th grade level, the requirement will be about 1 and 1/2 hours per day. Both the middle school and high school programs offer a variety of enrichment classes to choose from that do not require any homework.
In the 6th-12th grade level, families (parents and/or older students) are required to volunteer 4 - 8 hours of their time to serve at the co-op per semester. (Service Time is based on the number of families available to help). Should 6th-12th grade families choose not to serve at PIONEERS, there will be a $50 Service Fee added to their semester fees. For more information on the program, please click below.
The Young PIONEERS (YP) Co-op is especially designed to meet the needs of elementary-aged children. YP is an enrichment program that offers Art, Science, Creative Writing, History-Based Unit Studies, field trips, and many other opportunities and programs for a positive social interaction in a Christian environment. We also have nursery and preschool classes available to families that are registered in the Young PIONEERS Program, or the parent is teaching in the 6th-12th grade program.
*Please be aware that the Wee PIONEERS program was developed to complement our older programs. The purpose of this program is to provide safe, inexpensive, and convenient childcare for the children of tutors and staff members while their parents are serving in the Co-op. Some structure and learning opportunities will also be provided in the Preschool. Wee/Young PIONEERS will receive non-staff children as space is available; however, non-staff parents must be willing to rotate weekly within the aide pool of Young PIONEERS in order to have their children participate. 6–12 staff who are working less than three periods/week are also expected to rotate in the Young PIONEERS Aide Pool in the AM or PM, if they wish their children to participate in the full-day program. Below you will find the tentative schedule for our YP program.
Since our Young PIONEERS program is designed as a co-operative, parents are required to volunteer their time to help in the program each week. We have several opportunities to meet the different needs and interests of parents to make their time here enjoyable as well. Please contact us if you would like more information