The school day for first through eighth grade runs from 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

We offer a half-day academic kindergarten program from 8:15 to 11:45 a.m. In addition, we offer an optional extended day program in the afternoon. Kindergarten Aftercare includes art, music, play and other non-academic enrichment activities. Cost is $12 per day for five-day aftercare, and $13 per day for two-day or three-day aftercare.

Morning busing is available for all students who live within the Ann Arbor Public School District. Kindergarten students are bused directly to their home after school, although they ride with the older students in the morning. After-school busing for grades 1-8 is not available.

Parent volunteers prepare and serve hot lunches each Thursday.

Teachers at AACS are available and very willing to answer any questions you may have about your child’s academic, social, and spiritual progress. Our school philosophy is based on the belief that teachers and parents must work together to educate students.

We offer an innovative curriculum that integrates academic excellence with Christian living and faith. Students learn to apply Biblical principles to all subjects, and to interactions with teachers and peers. Teachers and staff challenge students to develop their intellectual, spiritual, artistic, and physical gifts and see them as gifts from God.

Rather than teach the doctrine of any one particular denomination, we focus on developing the Christian character of the students, their knowledge of the Scriptures, their relationship with their Lord and Savior, and their understanding of what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

P-2 students are expected to read (independently or with a parent) every school day, and may have occasional projects during the year. Homework is formally assigned starting in third grade, and includes daily reading, spelling words, and Bible memory verses. Third graders typically have one additional homework assignment a week; fourth graders, two assignments; fifth graders, three assignments. Middle school students have homework every day, and also are assigned long-term projects. It works out to about ten minutes per night per grade level (i.e. seventh grade, seventy minutes per night).

In lower elementary, parents are expected to oversee their children’s homework, reading to them or listening to them read, reviewing spelling words, and helping with projects. Beginning in third grade, students are expected to take more responsibility for their learning. Teachers work to create independent learners in the classroom and at home who know how to find information and answers to questions.

As a parent-run school, we rely on the time and energy of parents who work with the teachers and principal to remain focused on its vision. Parents volunteer on the school board, on school committees, as classroom assistants, playground supervisors, field trip drivers, fundraising coordinators, library assistants, and hot lunch preparers.

At AACS, we put faith into action. We teach and model Christian principles by encouraging students to become sensitive to others’ needs. Service projects offer a way to apply these principles and teach the importance of caring for God’s world. Outreach events have included: raising money for Christian schools in India and Haiti; doing yardwork for the elderly or low-income families; singing at local retirement homes; sponsoring a canned food drive; collecting cans and bottles as part of Earth Day; raising money for relief efforts in Haiti; collecting money to buy heat for elderly members of a Native American tribe; and raising funds for the construction of a well for a village in Ghana.

Elementary school students receive progress reports twice a year. Middle school students receive graded report cards four times a year, and progress reports three times a year. In addition, parents are required to attend a parent-teacher conference twice a year.

All students have art, vocal music, and physical education once a week. Middle school students have physical education twice weekly, and health one quarter of each school year. In fourth grade, students learn recorder in general music class. Fifth grade students experience praise and worship and participate in instrumental music introductory classes. Middle school students have general music classes and may also participate in an optional instrumental music class twice a week during school hours.

Our school is part of a league with other private schools in Ann Arbor and Saline. Middle school students (and fifth graders in some cases) may participate in a variety of after-school sports programs, including soccer, volleyball, track and field, and basketball. In addition, elementary school students often participate in baseball, T-ball, and soccer school teams through area community recreation and education programs.

Please visit our Enroll section for details.

Tuition for the 2010-11 school year is $1,450 for 3s preschool, $1,1763 for 4s preschool, $4,196 for kindergarten students, $6,817 for students in grades 1-5, and $7,446 for students in grades 6-8. We offer a discount for the second student and any additional children enrolled in grades K-8.

AACS has a limited tuition assistance program that offers from 20 to 50 percent of tuition based on financial need. We also offer tuition scholarships through the Shelly’s Hope Scholarship Fund and the Marie Mountain Clark Scholarship Fund. Please visit our Enroll section for details.

Any cancellation of school or delayed opening due to inclement weather will be announced on the AACS website, on radio station WWJ (950 AM) and TV stations WJBK (Channel 2), WDIV (Channel 4), and WXYZ (Channel 7). We will follow the decisions of Ann Arbor Public Schools, but we will also list our name separately. There is a also a phone tree where individual families will be called in the event of a school cancellation or delay.