Registration is about to kick off at First Odessa Christian Academy, 709 N. Lee Ave.
- Elementary registration will run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 1.
- Middle school registration will be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 2.
- High school registration will be from 7 a.m. until noon and then reopen from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Head of Schools Lindsey Lumpkin said the school’s website provides information on the registration process, but the school doesn’t have online registration yet.
“My whole thing is if a parent comes in on an elementary day and they’re high school, we’re still going to help them out. I’m not going to turn anyone away,” Lumpkin said.
Parents should bring all the same items to register as they would for public school — shot records, for example.
On Aug. 4 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., First Odessa Christian will have high school orientation for all freshmen. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. that evening, they will host Meet the Lions.
Food will be provided.
“That’s like our meet the teacher night,” Lumpkin said.
Based on re-enrollments, she is expecting about 215 students, but that doesn’t include students that have just been accepted.
“I’ve had three families and two new tours and they haven’t been added yet,” Lumpkin said. “A lot of them will want to come and tour first. Then once they tour, they go in and fill out the application. That’s really what we want. We want them to come tour, ask all of their questions, because on the application it’s a $100 non-refundable first-time fee. It costs us so much to house all of their information in the program that we use, store that and collect all of the information to our student information system.”
They house a student interest form, application form and re-enrollment forms in the system.
Lumpkin said they want to make sure families are comfortable with what they’re signing up for.
“We’re always upfront with people and say we want you to come in and look and make sure that you understand, you have all the knowledge you need and have asked the questions. Of course, if you leave here and you still need to ask a question, we can answer it; just call us and then you can go in and fill out that application,” Lumpkin said.
That $100 non-refundable first-time fee is per student. When they re-enroll, there’s a $175 charge to hold a seat and that goes toward tuition for that same school year. First Odessa Christian offers tuition assistance parents can apply for tuition assistance and discounts for military, police and fire and rescue, for example.
“And then for every sibling that comes in, we have a discount for additional siblings after that, so that’s nice. Every little bit helps,” Lumpkin said.
