The Right Plan for Grace

It’s been a long road to learning for Grace and her family. After trying more than three different schools in her short school career, Grace has advanced one grade level in her first six months at Northpointe Christian Schools.

Grace was born with a brain disorder that affects her processing and memory, and she lost her hearing in one ear in Kindergarten. When her public school began to focus on developing “life skills” at the expense of her learning, her parents enrolled her in a couple of specialty, segregated programs. Finally, a friend recommended they look into Northpointe Christian Schools(Grand Rapids, MI).

“We were unsure about putting her back into a regular school environment when she was so far behind,” explains Christy, Grace's mother. “But from the beginning it was never about their program, it was about Grace's needs. I don’t know how they do it but they have the right plan in place for her.”

Grace came to All Belong for testing almost immediately. “We had spent so much on testing at other places,” Christy recalls. “But this was the first time we were allowed to watch the testing happen. Doug Bouman pointed out so many things that we didn’t realize before, and he showed us that she could learn. I wish we had done the testing at All Belong years ago!”

Thriving at School

The plan put in place by Northpointe Christian and All Belong has helped Grace thrive in the new environment. Now in fourth grade, Grace is doing some grade-level work and is making progress in reading and math. Last year she would have told you she couldn’t read. Today, she is reading chapter books! Christy gets tears in her eyes when she marvels at Grace's progress. “I thought that she would always live at home. Now she could even go to college.”

So, when the opportunity came along to help her employer make a gift, Christy jumped at the chance. She is a senior team leader for Matilda Jane Clothing, so she held a two-day online trunk show at the end of March. The company will contribute 20% of her sales from that time to All Belong, and Christy is giving an additional 10% to Northpointe Christian Schools' Student Union.

“I wanted to give back to the places that have given us so much, and to share my story with the families that are still out there,” Christy shares. “No words of gratitude can possibly express how grateful I am to All Belong and the staff at Northpointe Christian for all the help and support that they have given to our family.”