Announcements
Miss registration? Need to make changes?
Registration is still open! You can continue to add classes as needed. If you need to make any changes or drop any classes, you will need to email office@wmhfa.org.
Competition Guard
New Colorguard class in Grand Rapids!
Competition guard will take your guard skills to a new level! This class is open to colorguard girls of all ages and will meet at our Grand Rapids location on Wednesdays from 8:30 to 10am. This year's class will attend an exhibition event in March where they will have a chance to show off their skills. This class is available by audition only. Tryouts will be held the first few weeks of class.
Enroll today at your parent portal if you are interested in trying out for this class. (Due to tryout requirement, class fees are not due until audition results are announced.)
Want more information? Come August 3 at 11am to attend an Information Meeting for girls and parents.
Kalamazoo Colorguard update
We will be able to offer two sessions of Colorguard this year - one from 9 to 10 am and one from 10-11 am. Enroll in the class that fits their age (Junior, Middle, or Senior) and attend whichever hour fits their schedule best. There will be a combined routine that both groups will learn and perform together at the concert.
Used Instrument Sale
Mrs. March will be at Corinth Reformed Church on Wednesday, August 10, from 10 to 2 in the Zone with a number of used instruments for sale. Please email wmarch@wmhfa.org if you have any instruments you are wanting to buy or sell.
Accompanists Needed
We are in need of accompanists for Elementary Handbells (GR), Chorale (GR), Senior Choir (GR), and Concert Choir KZ). This counts as your family involvement for the year. If you are interested, please sign up at www.wmhfa.org/parental-involvement.html. The Elementary Handbell accompanist could even be a student looking for experience in accompanying a group as the music is very simple. The other groups need an accompanist who is comfortable enough to play at festival as well as the concerts.
Registration is still open! You can continue to add classes as needed. If you need to make any changes or drop any classes, you will need to email office@wmhfa.org.
Competition Guard
New Colorguard class in Grand Rapids!
Competition guard will take your guard skills to a new level! This class is open to colorguard girls of all ages and will meet at our Grand Rapids location on Wednesdays from 8:30 to 10am. This year's class will attend an exhibition event in March where they will have a chance to show off their skills. This class is available by audition only. Tryouts will be held the first few weeks of class.
Enroll today at your parent portal if you are interested in trying out for this class. (Due to tryout requirement, class fees are not due until audition results are announced.)
Want more information? Come August 3 at 11am to attend an Information Meeting for girls and parents.
Kalamazoo Colorguard update
We will be able to offer two sessions of Colorguard this year - one from 9 to 10 am and one from 10-11 am. Enroll in the class that fits their age (Junior, Middle, or Senior) and attend whichever hour fits their schedule best. There will be a combined routine that both groups will learn and perform together at the concert.
Used Instrument Sale
Mrs. March will be at Corinth Reformed Church on Wednesday, August 10, from 10 to 2 in the Zone with a number of used instruments for sale. Please email wmarch@wmhfa.org if you have any instruments you are wanting to buy or sell.
Accompanists Needed
We are in need of accompanists for Elementary Handbells (GR), Chorale (GR), Senior Choir (GR), and Concert Choir KZ). This counts as your family involvement for the year. If you are interested, please sign up at www.wmhfa.org/parental-involvement.html. The Elementary Handbell accompanist could even be a student looking for experience in accompanying a group as the music is very simple. The other groups need an accompanist who is comfortable enough to play at festival as well as the concerts.
Reminders from Last Week
Rhythm Instruments for Elementary Music Class
The Elem. Music Class is in need of Rhythm Instruments. We can use tambourines, triangles, maracas, wood blocks and egg shakers. Please, let Lori Beason know if your have any of these or other rhythm instruments that you would like to donate. They can be dropped off on Wed at Corinth during Marching Band Rehearsal from 8:30-12:15. Thank you.
Lunch Price Increase for Grand Rapids
Lunch costs will be going up this fall. The meal deal will be $4 and pizza will be $1.50 a slice. A ten meal punch card will be $35.
The Elem. Music Class is in need of Rhythm Instruments. We can use tambourines, triangles, maracas, wood blocks and egg shakers. Please, let Lori Beason know if your have any of these or other rhythm instruments that you would like to donate. They can be dropped off on Wed at Corinth during Marching Band Rehearsal from 8:30-12:15. Thank you.
Lunch Price Increase for Grand Rapids
Lunch costs will be going up this fall. The meal deal will be $4 and pizza will be $1.50 a slice. A ten meal punch card will be $35.
Important Dates
See our Calendar.
Important Information
Weather Policy
Grand Rapids - Classes will be cancelled if Byron Center Public Schools are cancelled due to weather.
Kalamazoo - Classes will be cancelled if Schoolcraft Public Schools are cancelled due to weather.
Email, Text, and Facebook posts will be sent out shortly after 6am to announce any cancellation of classes. Notices will also be posted on local television and radio websites. Please Note: WMHFA families come from all over West Michigan, therefore the weather in one area may be fine while another area may have hazardous roads. If classes are not cancelled, please use your discretion in deciding to make the drive. We want everyone to arrive safely!
Text Messages
We have a texting service for important notifications. You can adjust your texting options in your parent portal.
Parents: Go to Dashboard > Billing & Payments > Contacts > Edit > Basic Info > Contact Info, click to enable Allow text messaging? and click Save.
Students: Go to Dashboard > View (student name) > Edit (pencil) > Basic Info, click to enable Allow text messaging? and click Save.
Absences
Missing Your Work Shift
While we do take attendance in class, it is helpful for our instructors to know if your student will be absent and why. Absences can be reported through your parent portal. Under the menu, select Absences and Makeups. Our teachers will receive an email automatically if you do this, so there is no need to email them individually!
Sickness Policy
While we cannot enforce masks or distancing due to the nature of our classes, we do ask you to take all possible precautions to keep our kids healthy.
You can check on your student's progress in class through the parent portal. We use the Absence feature to make notes about participation in class. You may notice your child has an absence for a day when you know they were actually there. However, if you look at the notes for that "absence" you will find more information. They may be marked as "IT" or "Insufficent Time." This means they didn't practice enough that week. You may find that their card wasn't signed by a parent ("NS" or "No Signature".) Or maybe they never turned their practice card in and were marked as "NC" or "No Card." If your child didn't get enough practice time but there was a valid reason, please write that in on the practice card and the room parents will note that on the record as well. Illnesses, vacations, or instruments in the shop would be examples of things that are valid reasons to not have enough practice time.
Dress Code
Please check over the dress code before coming to class. You can view that at https://www.wmhfa.org/dress-code.html. As a reminder, boys' hair needs to be no longer than collar-length, girls are not allowed to wear leggings or other tight pants, and no jeans are allowed. In a nutshell, students must dress to be neat, modest, and uniform.
Fundraising Information
Concert Program Advertising
Earn 50% of every ad sale! – Deadline will be a few weeks before winter and spring concerts. Full, half, & quarter page and 2 line ads available for your favorite companies. Ads appear in both Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids concert programs. Stop by the desk to request a form, or visit wmhfa.org/advertising-options!
Scrip Table Hours:
Tuesdays @ LAMP Homeschool Center between 9:30 am - 1:30 pm
Wednesdays @ Corinth Reformed between 9:30 am - 1:30 pm
Summer Marching Band hours are at the Grand Rapids location:
Wednesdays, June and July
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Want to start Scrip now? Simply go to your computer, go to www.shopwithscrip.com,
click on "Join a Program" and enter our ONE TIME enrollment code 9D8AF44A1551
Create a profile and read and accept the terms. Start saving money!
Amazon Smile
You can make a difference while you shop Amazon. Simply shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/81-0626181 and AmazonSmile donates to West Michigan Home School Fine Arts Association Inc.
Lunch Information
Grand Rapids Lunch
For your convenience, WMHFA makes a pizza lunch available every week for a very reasonable price.
Lunch may be purchased as follows:
$4 Meal Deal (Pizza, 2 sides, and beverage)
$1.50 per slice of pizza
$0.50 per side, snack, or beverage
A Ten Meal Punch Card may be purchased for $35
Kalamazoo Lunch
Lunch will be a potluck style. You can also choose to bring lunch for just your family as well. (Subject to change with new facilities.)
Potluck lunch will open in the kitchen at 11:45am. Potluck criteria:
1) Bring 1 main dish + 1 side dish
2) All food must be precooked & heated. No oven/microwave cooking.
a) Crock pots/instant pots/heating stones/insulated casserole dish bags/etc. are welcome to keep food warm
b) Cold foods/dishes welcome & can be refrigerated until mealtime
3) Bring your own drink
4) Wash your own dishes at home
5) Please drop your dishes off in the Kitchen no later than 11:30 to provide enough time to set out and organize food options.
6) The line will form in the hall outside the fellowship hall (lunch room) & kitchen area at 11:40am.
7) If your child needs a lunch before 11:45am, or will not have time to stand in line before a 12:15pm class, than an adult may come between 11:15-11:35 to prepare a plate for them. Please have them eat outside or sit with them in the Fellowship Hall to ensure they stay quiet and don't interrupt the class.
If Intermediate band is disrupted we will not be able to let anyone into the Fellowship Hall until after class gets out. The curtains will be closed between band and the eating area to muffle movement, but they do not do a good job of muffling voices.
ALL food must be kept in the fellowship hall (lunch room) or taken directly outside through the entrance doors, under the awning, by the kitchen.
Thank you to our program sponsors!These organizations support West Michigan Homeschool Fine Arts. Let them know you appreciate that as you give them your business!
Grace Home School Association
The Homeschool Building - HSB Announcements
ServiceMaster of Kalamazoo
Reformation Heritage Books
Boerkoel Painting, LLC
Grand Valley State University Music, Theater, and Dance
Susan M. Dennis DDS
Just Take a Bite LLC
Kalamazoo Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Kalmazoo Valley Community College
CranHill Ranch
Kalamazoo Chamber Music Workshop
WMU College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Montell Construction
Code Studio Strings
David Crandell, DDS
Hallgren Orthodontics
Amish Furniture and Gifts Warehouse
Homeschool Performing Arts
Cornerstone University
Bair Lake Bible Camp
David Stricklen - Author
Grand Rapids - Classes will be cancelled if Byron Center Public Schools are cancelled due to weather.
Kalamazoo - Classes will be cancelled if Schoolcraft Public Schools are cancelled due to weather.
Email, Text, and Facebook posts will be sent out shortly after 6am to announce any cancellation of classes. Notices will also be posted on local television and radio websites. Please Note: WMHFA families come from all over West Michigan, therefore the weather in one area may be fine while another area may have hazardous roads. If classes are not cancelled, please use your discretion in deciding to make the drive. We want everyone to arrive safely!
Text Messages
We have a texting service for important notifications. You can adjust your texting options in your parent portal.
Parents: Go to Dashboard > Billing & Payments > Contacts > Edit > Basic Info > Contact Info, click to enable Allow text messaging? and click Save.
Students: Go to Dashboard > View (student name) > Edit (pencil) > Basic Info, click to enable Allow text messaging? and click Save.
Absences
Missing Your Work Shift
- All workers must sign in at the Information Center when you arrive to work your assignment. If you do not sign in, it will be assumed that you did not show up for your assignment and you will be charged $20.
- Call if you are scheduled to work and are not able to make your scheduled assignment.
- KALAMAZOO WORKERS: Contact Sandy Rose at (269) 657-2186 to let her know. She will contact someone to fill in for you.
- GRAND RAPIDS WORKERS: Contact Sharon Jonker at 616-914-2353 to let her know. She will contact someone to fill in for you.
- Give at least a 24-hour notice if you are going to miss, unless it is an emergency or unexpected,
- Be aware that you may be called to fill in for someone during a semester you are not scheduled to work.
- There is a $20 charge for not calling in.
While we do take attendance in class, it is helpful for our instructors to know if your student will be absent and why. Absences can be reported through your parent portal. Under the menu, select Absences and Makeups. Our teachers will receive an email automatically if you do this, so there is no need to email them individually!
Sickness Policy
While we cannot enforce masks or distancing due to the nature of our classes, we do ask you to take all possible precautions to keep our kids healthy.
- If your child is sick, even with a cold, please keep them home.
- Wash hands frequently.
- Cover coughs and sneezes.
- Don't touch other people's stuff.
You can check on your student's progress in class through the parent portal. We use the Absence feature to make notes about participation in class. You may notice your child has an absence for a day when you know they were actually there. However, if you look at the notes for that "absence" you will find more information. They may be marked as "IT" or "Insufficent Time." This means they didn't practice enough that week. You may find that their card wasn't signed by a parent ("NS" or "No Signature".) Or maybe they never turned their practice card in and were marked as "NC" or "No Card." If your child didn't get enough practice time but there was a valid reason, please write that in on the practice card and the room parents will note that on the record as well. Illnesses, vacations, or instruments in the shop would be examples of things that are valid reasons to not have enough practice time.
Dress Code
Please check over the dress code before coming to class. You can view that at https://www.wmhfa.org/dress-code.html. As a reminder, boys' hair needs to be no longer than collar-length, girls are not allowed to wear leggings or other tight pants, and no jeans are allowed. In a nutshell, students must dress to be neat, modest, and uniform.
Fundraising Information
Concert Program Advertising
Earn 50% of every ad sale! – Deadline will be a few weeks before winter and spring concerts. Full, half, & quarter page and 2 line ads available for your favorite companies. Ads appear in both Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids concert programs. Stop by the desk to request a form, or visit wmhfa.org/advertising-options!
Scrip Table Hours:
Tuesdays @ LAMP Homeschool Center between 9:30 am - 1:30 pm
Wednesdays @ Corinth Reformed between 9:30 am - 1:30 pm
Summer Marching Band hours are at the Grand Rapids location:
Wednesdays, June and July
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Want to start Scrip now? Simply go to your computer, go to www.shopwithscrip.com,
click on "Join a Program" and enter our ONE TIME enrollment code 9D8AF44A1551
Create a profile and read and accept the terms. Start saving money!
Amazon Smile
You can make a difference while you shop Amazon. Simply shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/81-0626181 and AmazonSmile donates to West Michigan Home School Fine Arts Association Inc.
Lunch Information
Grand Rapids Lunch
For your convenience, WMHFA makes a pizza lunch available every week for a very reasonable price.
Lunch may be purchased as follows:
$4 Meal Deal (Pizza, 2 sides, and beverage)
$1.50 per slice of pizza
$0.50 per side, snack, or beverage
A Ten Meal Punch Card may be purchased for $35
Kalamazoo Lunch
Lunch will be a potluck style. You can also choose to bring lunch for just your family as well. (Subject to change with new facilities.)
Potluck lunch will open in the kitchen at 11:45am. Potluck criteria:
1) Bring 1 main dish + 1 side dish
2) All food must be precooked & heated. No oven/microwave cooking.
a) Crock pots/instant pots/heating stones/insulated casserole dish bags/etc. are welcome to keep food warm
b) Cold foods/dishes welcome & can be refrigerated until mealtime
3) Bring your own drink
4) Wash your own dishes at home
5) Please drop your dishes off in the Kitchen no later than 11:30 to provide enough time to set out and organize food options.
6) The line will form in the hall outside the fellowship hall (lunch room) & kitchen area at 11:40am.
7) If your child needs a lunch before 11:45am, or will not have time to stand in line before a 12:15pm class, than an adult may come between 11:15-11:35 to prepare a plate for them. Please have them eat outside or sit with them in the Fellowship Hall to ensure they stay quiet and don't interrupt the class.
If Intermediate band is disrupted we will not be able to let anyone into the Fellowship Hall until after class gets out. The curtains will be closed between band and the eating area to muffle movement, but they do not do a good job of muffling voices.
ALL food must be kept in the fellowship hall (lunch room) or taken directly outside through the entrance doors, under the awning, by the kitchen.
Thank you to our program sponsors!These organizations support West Michigan Homeschool Fine Arts. Let them know you appreciate that as you give them your business!
Grace Home School Association
The Homeschool Building - HSB Announcements
ServiceMaster of Kalamazoo
Reformation Heritage Books
Boerkoel Painting, LLC
Grand Valley State University Music, Theater, and Dance
Susan M. Dennis DDS
Just Take a Bite LLC
Kalamazoo Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Kalmazoo Valley Community College
CranHill Ranch
Kalamazoo Chamber Music Workshop
WMU College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Montell Construction
Code Studio Strings
David Crandell, DDS
Hallgren Orthodontics
Amish Furniture and Gifts Warehouse
Homeschool Performing Arts
Cornerstone University
Bair Lake Bible Camp
David Stricklen - Author