Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the school's hours?
The school day for kindergarten* through eighth grade runs from 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. For preschool, the day runs from 8:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Our aftercare program for preschool students runs from 11:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. An optional extended school program for all students runs from 3:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
*Kindergarten note: Our kindergarten is a hybrid model that allows for both half-day (11:45am dismissal) and full-day (3:15 p.m. dismissal), with the option to transition from half-day to full-day each quarter. See here for details.
For our upcoming high school, the anticipated start time will be 8:30am with an end time of 3:30pm.
What are the hours and days for the preschool program?
In addition, we offer an optional aftercare program in the afternoon until 3:15 p.m. Aftercare includes art, music, play and other enrichment activities. Cost is $16 per afternoon. There is also an optional extended school program which runs from 3:15 to 5:30 p.m.
Do you offer full-day or half-day kindergarten?
In addition, for students in half-day kindergarten, we offer an optional aftercare program in the afternoon until 3:15 p.m. Aftercare includes various activities and a rest time, but is not a formal extension of kindergarten. Cost is $16 per afternoon. An optional extended school program is also available from 3:15 to 5:30 p.m.
Is the school accredited?
Yes, we are accredited through Christian Schools International, which offers curriculum, teacher support, leadership training, and other services to nearly 400 member schools in the United States and abroad.
Do you offer tuition assistance?
Does the school provide lunch service?
On most days, students bring their own lunches. Milk service is offered daily for those who sign up. Parent volunteers prepare and serve hot lunches once or twice a month. There is a sign up form and additional fee for these hot lunches.
Are teachers available to discuss how a student is doing?
Partnership with the home is a core value of AACS. Teachers at AACS are available and 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.
How is faith integrated into the classroom?
What is the school's approach to discipline?
Along with this philosophy, AACS utilizes thoughtful engaging experiences, proactive planning, and clearly defined rules and procedures to increase student cooperation in the classroom. When necessary, logical, age appropriate consequences are given in response to misbehavior. When relationships are damaged as the result of misconduct, a restorative practice is implemented to repair the wrong that has been done. Learning to ask for and accept forgiveness is an important part of discipline at AACS, as well as experiencing love and forgiveness within the discipline process.
For more serious or repeated situations, the head of school, lead teachers, or other administrators may need to be involved to address the problem or apply more serious consequences. The AACS Student Parent Handbook outlines these steps for our families.
Is the school affiliated with a particular church or denomination?
No, we are an independent, interdenominational school. We appreciate the diversity of churches represented in our school and the richness it provides to our community.
Although families in the school are members of churches that are unified on the essentials of the Christian faith (as summarized by the Apostles’ Creed or Nicean Creed), they may hold differing views on certain non-essential aspects of faith and practice, such as how baptism should be performed, how communion is celebrated, and the role of women in church leadership. Yet, our common mission of helping children grow as disciples of Jesus Christ empowers us to respond to these challenges with Christian love and maturity.
Rather than teach the non-core 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. We are united in the foundational beliefs that make us all Christians.
At the same time, with a commitment to truth and love working together, we also hold steadfast to traditional and biblical views on critical social issues in our world today. We believe in God’s call to love all and to do so without compromising convictions.
How often is homework assigned for students?
Preschool through second grade students are expected to read (independently or with a parent) every school day and may have short assignments or occasional projects during the year.
Homework is formally assigned starting in third grade and includes daily reading, math, language arts, and Bible memory verses.
Middle school (sixth through eighth grade) students have homework every day and also are assigned longer-term projects. It works out to about ten minutes per night per grade level (i.e. seventh grade, seventy minutes per night).
How can parents get involved?
Since we believe in partnership with parents, we are eager for parents to be involved with the life of the school. Volunteering allows parents to use their God-given skills and gifts to bless the school, to model service to the students, and to save the school on operating expenses that we can accomplish through volunteers.
The school has a parent volunteering program that coordinates the many ways to volunteer at AACS. Parents volunteer on the school board, on school committees, as classroom assistants, playground supervisors, field trip drivers, fundraising coordinators, library assistants, and many more roles.
Do you offer service opportunities for students?
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 yard work 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.
Do parents receive regular information regarding their child's progress?
We value strong home-school communication, so parents and teachers are regularly communicating throughout the year. Parent-teacher conferences take place twice per year, but parents are also welcome to contact teachers whenever questions arise.
In terms of formal feedback, elementary school students receive report cards twice a year. Middle school students receive graded report cards three times per year. In addition, middle school parents and students have an online system for tracking assignments and scores.
Do you offer art, music, world languages, and physical education?
One of our guiding principles is “Recognize each student’s uniqueness and challenge students to fully develop the spiritual, intellectual, artistic, and physical gifts that God has given them.” An education is only excellent and complete if it nourishes and challenges the growth of the whole student.
As a result, the school is committed to provide classes in general music, instrumental music, visual arts, physical education, and world language, in addition to core school subjects. All students from K-8 have art and general music once a week and physical education twice a week. In grades K-5, students spend a semester in Spanish and a semester in Mandarin Chinese. In middle school, students have Spanish, health one trimester of each school year, instrumental or vocal music class twice a week, and elective options (e.g., computer coding, dance, improvisation, creative writing).
Do you offer student support services?
We believe all children can succeed and thrive at school, and we have put in structures and people in place to support that belief. Please see our Student Support section section.
Do you have an after-school sports program?
Our school is part of a league with seven other private schools in the greater Ann Arbor area for students in grades 5-8. Sports options include soccer, volleyball, flag football, golf, basketball, wrestling, track and field, and baseball. Games and practices occur after school every day except Wednesdays. In addition, elementary school students are provided informal “junior” experiences in theses sports.
How do I apply if I want to send my children to AACS?
Does AACS conduct safety drills?
Yes, we do. We conduct fire drills, tornado drills, and ALICE (safety) drills.
So far in 2024-2025:
- Fire (main campus): 9/26 in morning, 10/23 in morning, 11/4 in afternoon
- Fire (upper camps): 11/19 in afternoon, 11/21 in afternoon, 11/26 in morning
- Tornado (main campus): TBD
- Tornado (upper campus): TBD
- ALICE drill (main campus): 11/21 in morning
- ALICE drill (upper campus): 11/25 in afternoon