Uniforms can create community and unity among families and students.
Like most institutions, Grace Academy has always had a dress code. However, uniforms have only been part of the Grace Academy dress code for about 13 years. You might wonder why we chose uniforms as part of our dress code. The first and foremost reason was that we desired to focus more on a respectful and non-distracting learning environment. We knew that it would level the playing field for students regardless of their home situation, and it would provide relief from peer pressure to have the “right” clothes. We also considered how uniforms can create community and unity among families and students. Uniforms allow us to immediately identify our students on campus and help us identify youth who do not belong on our campus. As we prepare students to lead independent lives in a busy world, we know that learning to conform to dress codes and other social norms will benefit them for years.
For years, we have had four vendors: Dennis Uniforms, Lands End, French Toast, and Tommy Hilfiger. Last week, we learned that Dennis Uniforms is closing its doors. They have been one of our vendors from the beginning, so we will miss their quality, but our other vendors are wonderful and will still meet our needs.
Our dress code is clearly outlined in our handbook, and we count on families knowing the particulars. Here are a few particulars we are currently addressing regarding dress code and uniforms:
Wednesday is our chapel dress day. Boys should wear a uniform non-polo button-up shirt with a collar or a polo shirt and an approved uniform sweater or sweater vest. Girls should wear a uniform dress, jumper, or skirt.
Please only select uniforms from our vendors. For example, our approved uniform pants do not have any elastic around the ankles. When we spot this, we know that a student is not wearing our uniform.
Elementary students must wear or bring sneakers on PE days. We do not want students or our gym floor injured due to inappropriate footwear.
Does your child’s uniform fit? Ensure that skirts are not too short and hit at about the knee. Secondary boys’ polos should be long enough so their shirts can be comfortably tucked in.
Hair color should be a natural hair color unless artfully dyed for a dress-up day.
Our full dress code information is in the K-12 Student-Parent Handbook on pages 56-60.
We are so thankful to each and every one of you! Thank you for your support and continued faithfulness.
