Service Credit System
Surprise Scholé Academy
Service Credit System
The Service Credit System is designed to ensure that there is shared responsibility and balance in the co-op. This is essential in a co-op setting and necessary in order to achieve an environment of Scholé. Each family is required to contribute a minimum of 5 - 7 service credits. All members must hold at least one essential position. Please read through the service opportunity descriptions and then select your top three choices for each category. The SSA Board will make every effort to place all parents in their preferred positions, however, there is no guarantee that you will be placed exactly as you request. Academic Mentoring roles will take priority.
Essential Positions
1-hour Academic Mentor (3): Academic Mentors (AM) should be committed to the classical methods and display his/her own wonder and love of the subject. All AM’s will complete an interview and provide background check documentation. Academic Mentors must also agree to the Surprise Scholé Academy statement of faith. The SSA Academic Mentor agrees to submit lesson plans for the entire block at least one week prior to the block start date and submit weekly class summaries to the SSA Secretary. Academic Mentors are asked to adhere to the budget allowance and submit receipts for reimbursement of materials in Week 4 of each block. AM’s are responsible for finding a substitute teacher in the event that they must be absent. Academic Mentors are invited and encouraged to attend a summer Scholé Training summit. Throughout the year, the SSA Governing Board will actively assist all AM’s as needed. Academic Mentors for Dialectic & Rhetoric Classes are required to complete a video series seminar on the Socratic Method of Teaching. Note: Any class may be team-led by two or more parents; credit will be equally distributed between parents. Parents planning to team lead a class are free to divide the workload as suits them, but must indicate the workload division plan to the Board via email.
Leadership Support Person: Chair & Vice Chair
2-hour Academic Mentor (Humanities) (5): Academic Mentors (AM) should be committed to the classical methods and display his/her own wonder and love of the subject. All AM’s will complete an interview and provide background check documentation. Academic Mentors must also agree to the Surprise Scholé Academy statement of faith. The SSA Academic Mentor agrees to submit lesson plans for the entire block at least one week prior to the block start date and submit weekly class summaries to the SSA Secretary. Academic Mentors are asked to adhere to the budget allowance and submit receipts for reimbursement of materials in Week 4 of each block. AM’s are responsible for finding a substitute teacher in the event that they must be absent. Academic Mentors are invited and encouraged to attend a summer Scholé Training summit. Throughout the year, the SSA Governing Board will actively assist all AM’s as needed. Academic Mentors for Dialectic & Rhetoric Classes are required to complete a video series seminar on the Socratic Method of Teaching Note: Any class may be team-led by two or more parents; credit will be equally distributed between parents. Parents planning to team lead a class are free to divide the workload as suits them, but must indicate the workload division plan to the Board via email.
Leadership Support Person: Chair & Vice Chair
Little Learners (Childcare) Coordinator (6): The Little Learner Coordinator will develop lesson plans/activities that utilize the classical approach for preschool-age children. The LL Coordinator agrees to submit lesson plans for the entire block at least one week prior to the block start date. The Coordinator is asked to adhere to the budget allowance and submit receipts for reimbursement of materials in Week 4 of each block. With leadership assistance, the LL Coordinator will interview childcare worker applicants, hire workers, and conduct a summer training session. The LL Coordinator will serve alongside the childcare worker(s) in the first and last hour of the day and on an as-needed basis during the day. The Coordinator will conduct regular classroom visits and provide ongoing training to the LL workers as needed. Regular parent communication is the priority of the LL Coordinator.
Support Person: Chair & Secretary
Academic Mentor Positions 2024-2025
Little Learner’s Coordinator
Family Virtue Study Class
Pre-Grammar Humanities: Five in A Row
Imagination Hour
Lower-Grammar Humanities
Song School Latin 1
Pre-Grammar Science Exploration
Lower-Grammar Science Exploration
Upper-Grammar Humanities
Latin for Children B
Upper Grammar Public Speaking
Upper-Grammar Science- Botany
Dialectic Elective: Public Speaking
Dialectic Humanities:The Great Conversation: Ancient Times with Composition: The Art of Poetry
Dialectic Logic: Geography
Rhetoric Humanities: The Great Conversation: Ancient Times, Literature & History
Rhetoric: Everyday Speech and Debate
Rhetoric Elective: Understanding the Culture
Support Positions
Memory Work Leader (1): Opening Assembly consists of community-wide assembly (25 mins) followed by weekly Memory Work introduction (35 mins). The Memory Work Leader should be enthusiastic about and familiar with memory work processes and will lead Grammar students in memory work each week from the Classical Conversations Foundations Guide and accompanying CD for the particular cycle year (2024-2025: Cycle 1). The MWL will develop appropriate memorization techniques for the memory work and timeline for a total of 24 weeks of memory work. This may include hand motions, gestures, dancing, songs, etc., weekly PowerPoint presentations for morning assembly use, supplemental songs, and memorization technique resources will be provided. The MWL will also work with students who wish to participate in the annual SSA Memory Work Challenge by communicating the requirements of the program to the students (and parents) in the program and answer questions, offer support, and advice regarding memorization techniques. The MWL is an integral part of the Memory Work Challenge program and should be aware of the progress of each student in the program. The MWL will work with the Learning Symposium Planners to incorporate time during each learning symposium for students in the Memory Work Challenge program to complete a “mini-proof” of the previous 5 weeks of memory work. They will recruit additional adults to help with proofing as necessary. The MWL will also schedule and facilitate the final proofing process and work with a board member to determine the content of the final proof during Block 5. They will also communicate award requirements (monogrammed shirts, certificates, medals) with the SSA Board to ensure all awards are ordered in time for the final symposium.
Support Person: Chair
Learning Symposium Coordinator (1): The sixth week of each academic block is a Learning Symposium. During this time, no new material will be introduced; it is a time to celebrate, contemplate, and discuss all that the students encountered during the previous five weeks. The Learning Symposium Coordinators will work together to plan these events by determining activities that correlate with the Symposium themes (determined by SSA Board). They will also work with the Memory Work Leader to accommodate a schedule for proofs for students in the MWC program. The LS Coordinators will create a schedule of events for the symposium day to be provided to the leadership board no later than week 4 of each academic block. LS Coordinators will also create programs for guests and attendees, and powerpoint slides for symposiums in which there are student presentations. There are five Learning Symposiums scheduled each academic year. The symposiums may include pictures, videos, displays, presentations, food, etc. The LSC’s will adhere to the budget allowance for symposiums and submit receipts with the SSA reimbursement form for reimbursement of materials in Week 4 of each block.
Support Person: Board Member at Large
Hall Monitor (1): The Hall Monitor will be present in the Narthex/Sanctuary during all classes and class transistions with the exception of class periods taught by the HM and during the lunch period. They will ensure that all community rules are observed by all students. The Hall Monitor is responsible for ringing the bell five minutes before the lunch period ends and instructing students to bus their tables and line up for class and to ring the bell again at the end of the lunch period.
Support Person: Secretary
Supply Coordinator (1): The Supply Coordinator (SC) is responsible for ensuring that student pencil boxes AND the classroom/teacher boxes are complete prior to the beginning of the academic year, including procuring supplies with assistance of the Treasure. The SC will review the contents of all pencil bags at the end of each academic block to ensure that all bags have the appropriate items. The SC will inventory and document SSA community supplies for the academic year, provide an inventory list of available items to teachers and update the list at the end of Block 2 and the end of block 4. The SC will ensure that all non-consumable community property is returned by the end of the block in which it was checked out. The SC is responsible for maintenance of the storage space provided by the church and ensuring that all supplies are returned to the supply closet following the end of each meeting day and should make sure that all items are neatly stored, not overflowing or filling more than the space allotted to SSA by the church. The SC should arrive by 7:30am to remove items from the closet and disburse to classrooms and assist with set up for community day; repack closet and assist with tear down following community day. Departure approximately 3:15pm The SC should plan to remain on campus each day until all supplies have been properly stored.
Support Person: Treasurer
Governing Board Positions
All regular SSA Board Members are expected to: participate in all board meetings, participate in the community as Academic Mentors, arrive no later than 7:45 a.m. on SSA meeting days, work closely with other board members to ensure that all required ongoing and daily operational tasks are completed, host one Community Informational Meeting/Q&A each year. Descriptions are not all inclusive; board members often share responsibilities as needed to support each other.
Board Chair (3): The Surprise Scholé Academy Board Chair (BC) is responsible for general oversight of the SSA Board. The BC is responsible for family registration/applications via the SSA website, class scheduling, website development, acts as the church liaison and oversees building use. The Chair organizes, plans, schedules for no fewer than 5 operational leadership board meetings during the academic year, 1 or more meetings during the summer break, and at least one strategy planning meeting each academic year. The BC will support the following roles: PG and LG Teachers, Memory Work Leader, Little Learners Coordinator
Vice-Chair (3): The Vice-Chair (VC) assumes all roles of the Board Chair in the event of the Chair’s absence. The VC serves as the Teacher Resource Coordinator and provides Surprise Scholé Academy teachers with resources to assist in implementing classical methodology and pedagogy via recommended books, learning opportunities, videos, articles distributed via email, handout, or on a social media community page. The VC also ensures that recaps are posted for each class in every academic week. The VC organizes necessary media including projector/multimedia equipment training, oversees building use and cleanup, and is responsible for opening and closing the church building on meeting days. The VC will support the following roles: UG and Dialectic Teachers, Set up/Tear-down Crew.
Secretary (3): The Secretary creates meeting agenda items, compiles and distributes a consent agenda packet to all board members prior to board meetings, composes and distributes notes following board meetings and composes various administrative documents as requested by the SSA Board Chair. The secretary acts as liaison between SSA and Crown of Life to facilitate building-use requests, arranges meetings with church leadership as necessary, creates an academic calendar for the upcoming year, updates the website in conjunction with the Board Chair as necessary, oversees maintenance of documents pertaining to the credit system and completes other documentation as requested by the SSA Board Chair. The Secretary also verifies that all teachers/support positions have completed required documentation and training necessary for their particular roles. The Secretary organizes end of the day cleanup by designating student jobs and recruiting adult helpers to serve in this area. The Secretary will support the following roles: Playground/Hall Monitors, Learning Symposium Coordinators
Treasurer (3): The SSA Treasure serves on the Leadership Board and oversees the finances of SSA. The Treasurer works with the Leadership Board to determine guidelines for the SSA account and what procedures are required to maintain it. A top priority is to create an SSA budget with the assistance of the SSA Board. The Treasurer should maintain detailed financial records which should be stored on a shared drive. Other duties include collecting registration fees, making appropriate deposits, collecting itemized SSA reimbursement forms/receipts and reimbursing teachers for expenses following each academic block, and reporting financial status at SSA Board meetings. Retains financial documents including, but not limited to: receipts, reimbursement records, copies of checks, deposit slips, etc. The Treasurer will support the following roles: Supply Coordinator,
Board Member at Large: The Member at large will serve as the point of contact for current and prospective SSA families. The MaL will plan and host 2 open houses per year for prospective families, advise current/prospective families as to annual family applications, other documentation, classes and student placement. The CL will welcome families, and maintain strong relationships and lines of communication with SSA families. The MaL will conclude the academic day with any pertinent announcements and the prayer of thanksgiving with the student body. The MaL will conduct family surveys each academic block or as needed, host parent meetings as needed, and request/post weekly announcements. The MaL will advise the SSA Board as to new family applications and parent placement in service credit roles. The MaL will support the following roles: Holiday Party Planner, Historian, Field Trip Coordinator.
Board Chair: Kathy Shearer
Vice-Chair: Melana Salsbury
Secretary: Megan Morgan
Treasurer: Kelly Suckow
Board Member at Large: Melanie Leander