Academics:

ECA Student Residence Handbook
2007-2008

Mission Statement:

The ECA Residence program exists to serve missionary families by caring for students in a Christ-centered family-style living environment. As in the academic environment, students will be challenged to love God, apply His truth and care for others.

The house parents will accomplish this mission by providing the following family-style living situation:

1. Biblically based guidelines
2. Nurturing – meeting the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the students
3. Safe – providing consistent communication and creating and atmosphere of respect
4. Fair - showing grace, yet, maintaining consistency among the students when dealing with responsibilities, chores and discipline (consequences when guidelines are not followed)

It is our desire that this handbook provide more than a list of dos and don’ts. Listed on the following pages are “Guidelines for Family Living.” We are creating a unique family situation in which multiple personalities coming together need to honor, encourage and respect one another. Mostly, we are here to help each other to have a successful school year and grow in Christ-likeness.

As students and house parents begin to form this unique family unit, it is understandable that conflict may arise between students and house parents or between students themselves. Showing respect for one another is of utmost importance. Secondly, listening, or hearing each other out is< crucial. And lastly, clear communication of the problem or concern is necessary. Many issues can be resolved by reviewing the “Guidelines for Family Living.” Otherwise, the house parents and students will come to a resolution together. If this is not possible, the issue will be taken to ECA’s boarding committee.

In order to maintain a healthy family environment, it is necessary to establish “Guidelines for Family Living.” These guidelines are not intended to confine or restrict or dishearten students. Instead, it is our hope that the guidelines will give students boundaries in which they can develop freely and feel respected by one another.

Guidelines for Family Living

Relationship with House Parents:

House parents are not perfect people or perfect parents but they do seek to model a Christ-like lifestyle. They are available to encourage, listen, counsel, instruct, pray with and assist the students. Students should seek to respect the house parents’ authority in word and deed. Likewise, the house parent should seek to treat each student with love and respect. (Eph 6:1-4)

Relationship with other Students:

“Above all things, put on love.” “Love covers a multitude of sins.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All these verses are easily communicated by showing respect. Students must be considerate of each other’s feelings and personal belongings. It is important to get a student’s permission before borrowing or loaning out any of their possessions. Roommates should seek permission from house parents and agree together before decorating their room.

Respect for the House:

The house should be treated with care and respect. Much of our present furniture has been provided by a missionary family home on furlough. Most appliances and electronics are new (not all!) and should not be treated carelessly. Our principle is this: if you dirty it, wash it (or at least put it in the dishwasher); if you borrow it, return it; if you break it, replace it (or at least, talk to the owner about it); if you have questions about anything, please ask.

Dress in the House:

Everyone in the house should be dressed modestly, appropriately on the main floor. Be considerate of your state of dress when entering or leaving bedrooms or bathrooms upstairs.

House Security:

Each student will be issued a front gate key and a front door key. If you lose your keys, you will be financially responsible to replace them. (10 euro fee) If you are the last one to leave the house, see that the back sliding door is closed and the persiana down. Make sure the persiana in the office/computer room is down as well.

Leaving the House:

Just as at home, it is important for the house parents to know where you are at all times. Students are to request permission when departing the home. You should sign out and record where you are going on the white board in the front entry.

Visiting Friends:

Students are free to have friends over after school and on weekends with permission from the house parents. There is a “Girls Only” policy for upstairs. Guys are free to visit in the living/dining room. Girls planning a party should consult the house parents for input. Please check the calendar for possible conflicts with other events.

Room Review:

Rooms are to be orderly each day before students go to school. Beds should look reasonably made and clothes should be picked up and put away. Any dirty dishes should be put in the dishwasher. Rooms will be checked by the house parents. For consistent violations, privileges will be lost. There will be no room review on Saturday or Sunday.

Chores/Household Responsibilities:

Living in community requires each student to contribute some time to accomplish work around the house. Our desire is to see students learn responsibility and a positive work ethic. To this end, each student will be responsible for a specific job (or jobs) called a “chore.” The chore schedule will be posted on the refrigerator. Chores may include helping with dinner prep, setting the table, dinner clean-up, collecting and taking out trash or sweeping in the common areas. Chores will be determined by house parents and students and need to be done in a timely manner. Consequences for not doing chores will also be discussed and agreed upon by students and house parents.

Saturday Chores:

Saturday morning (if at all possible) is set aside for more thorough cleaning of the entire house. Students will be responsible for cleaning their own bedrooms, bathrooms, dusting, cleaning mirrors, sweeping the floors and vacuuming any area rugs. Other household chores will be posted on the chore chart for Saturday.

Laundry:

The house parents will do the laundry and return it back upstairs to the commons area. Students are responsible to pick up their clothes by the end of the day. If after one warning, clothes are not picked up, the house parents will collect all clothes and put them in a “buy-back bag”. Students will have to pay 25 céntimos to buy back their clothes.

Family Meetings and Devotionals:

A family meeting will be scheduled once a week at an agreed upon time. A short devotional time will also be included. Meetings are times to air any concerns or ask questions about the house guidelines. For more personal matters, please schedule a time to talk with the house parents.

Meals/Snacks/Kitchen Use:

Breakfast: Generally, this will be a self-serve meal. Cereals, fruits, juices, breads will be provided.
Twice a week the house parents will prepare a large breakfast (pancakes, French toast, or eggs, etc) All dishes should go in the dishwasher after breakfast.

Lunch: During the school week, students are responsible for packing their own lunches. Bread, meats, cheese, peanut butter & jelly, fruit, snacks, chips, juice/water will be available as well as any leftovers from dinner. Microwaves are available at school.

Dinner: Dinners will be served family style. All students are expected to be present unless they have notified the house parents ahead of time. Dinner prep, setting the table, dinner clean-up will be on the chore chart. Dinner should be a time of positive and encouraging conversation.

Snacks: When the students come home from school, snacks will be available. There will be a variety of snacks – sweets, veggies, fruit, yogurts, chips – available at different times. Items should be put away and kitchen cleaned-up after snacks.

Kitchen: Students are free to use the kitchen if they would like to bake/cook. Please confer with the house parents as to the timing especially being considerate of time needed to prepare dinner. Kitchen should be cleaned-up, dishes in dishwasher or washed after use.

Computers:

Two computers are available to students for school projects, email, internet research and Skype. Computers will be in public places and activity will be monitored. If it becomes necessary, there will be time limits put on computer usage, so, that each student has adequate time to do school work. Homework always takes priority over other computer activities. Please check with the house parents before loading any computer games on the house computers. A list of general guidelines for usage are posted by all computers.

Entertainment:

Music: Please review the guidelines for music that are found in the ECA handbook. Everything may be permissible but not everything is beneficial. Students are encouraged to listen to music that is overall, edifying. Public music should not be offensive to the listeners.

Television: The house has a TV and DVD player. In general, Sunday night through Thursday night after dinner there will be no TV viewing (unless the next school day is a holiday). TV viewing and movies are allowed on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. All movies must be approved by the house parents. If a student has all her homework done in the afternoon and would like to watch something ”special” on TV in the evening, please check with the house parents.

Parties: Birthdays will be celebrated as a family during dinner. If a parent would like to do something special for their daughter, please make arrangements with the house parents. All overnight guests must have permission from the house parents in advance. Only a total of four extra in the house can be accommodated.

Study Time:

A “quiet” time is set aside each day for study. This will occur after dinner until 10pm (generally 20:00 – 22:00) If extra time is needed after lights out, the student is permitted to work in the dining area or office.

Finances:

The student is expected to pay for her own personal toiletries (shampoo, lotions, make-up, etc), school supplies, and entertainment or recreational activities which may sometimes include transportation costs. The house parents will make every reasonable effort to get a student to a friend’s house outside of Camarma. The student’s parents should decide how much spending money will be available to their daughter each week/month. The allotted amount should be given to the house parents who will keep the money on site and record all transactions in a log which will be available for the student and parents to review.

Church Attendance:

Sunday morning church attendance is expected. Transportation will be provided to the church that the house parents are attending. Students may make arrangements with other staff members from ECA to attend church with

them. It is important to inform the house parents which church you are going to and with whom (sign out on in/out board).

Discipline:

To be fair to all, consistent discipline is essential. Students must accept that the decisions and choices they make will have consequences, either positive or negative. Discipline that follows a poor choice is intended to correct wrong behavior. It is meant to be positive, not punitive.

Generally, a warning will be given first. Discipline will usually lead to the loss of a privilege. For example, it could be loss of TV time or computer time; it could be cancellation of an activity. These will be discussed as a family meeting.

Tentative Daily Schedule

Monday – Friday

07:00 Wake-up, Bathroom, Devotions/Quiet Time,

Dressed, Breakfast, Lunch prep and Room

Picked up

08:45 Leave for School (if riding in the van; earlier if not)

16:15 Return from School (walk unless bad weather)

16:15- 19:00 Free time, Study time, Chore time

19:00 Dinner, Chore time

20:00- 22:00 Quiet Study time

22:30 Quiet time, Prepare for bed

23:00 Lights Out

00:00 Bedtime, Lights out for 9^th & 10^th graders on Fri

01:00 Bedtime, Lights out for 11^th & 12^th graders on Friday only

Flexible Saturday Schedule

9:30 Wake up

10:00 Family Breakfast

11:00 Any necessary Chores, Clean Rooms

12:00 Lunch

12:30-19:00 Free time, Outings, Study time, etc

19:00 Dinner, Dinner prep & clean-up chores

19:45 Free time

00:00 Bedtime, Lights Out for 9^th & 10^th graders

01:00 Bedtime, Lights out for 11^th & 12^th graders

Flexible Sunday Schedule

09:00 Wake-up, Breakfast, Devotions/Quiet Time

10:00-10:30 Leave for churches

14:00 Dinner, Dinner prep & clean-up chores

15:00 Free time, Outings, Study time, etc

17:30 Self-serve supper

22:30 Quiet time, Prepare for Bed

23:00 Lights Out

*Please note: Thursdays from 9am-9pm will be the house parents day “off”. ECA will provide coverage of the girls during that time. Generally, the girls will go to another staff person’s house for dinner and to do homework. The house parents will also have one weekend “off” each month. We will try our best to coordinate the weekend off with times the girls are away on school events.