NEW FAMILY ORIENTATION INFORMATION

All newly enrolling families are required to attend an orientation session at our resource center. This is the only required meeting we ever ask of families. However, there's a lot of information we want to share when you're considering homeschooling, and doing so with our group. It is a more efficient use of our time to do this at regularly scheduled intervals, rather than with each individual family. The information we share is the same, and the questions asked are almost invariably the same. By way of you being prepared for the meeting, we share the following outline and information.

Outline of Meeting Topics

1. Defining Homeschooling
2. Education in Alabama
3. Pathways Academy Requirements
4. Choosing Curriculum
5. Choosing Activities 

All families are required to listen to Parts 1, 2 and 3. Experienced homeschoolers may find Parts 4 and 5 helpful, and are encouraged to stay and listen, especially since we will talk about activities offered through our group as well as local support groups. However, they may choose to exit to another room to begin completing the required paperwork. 

No one will be pressured to enroll. Homeschooling is not a decision which should be entered into lightly or quickly. Families who wish to consider their decision will be encouraged to do so. Paperwork can be returned at a later date, should you decide homeschooling is for you.

Applications for admission must include the following items:

1. Teacher Application
2. Teacher Contract 
3. Relationship to Public School Statement
4. Student Registration Form (for each child)
5. Church School Enrollment Form (for each child)
6. Copy of driver's license, or other state issued ID, for the teaching parent
7. Copy of birth certificate for each child
8. Transcript of all high school work (for secondary students only)
9. Payment of fees

We will be glad to make a copy of the driver's license, birth certificate or transcript in our office, or you may bring a copy with you. All copies must be clear and complete. 

Immediately following the orientation session, applications for admission will be reviewed. On the following business day, a letter of acceptance or declination will be mailed. If admission is denied, all money and copies of documentation will be returned.

Enrollment is not complete until all required paperwork has been submitted and and payment has been made. This means that the Church School Enrollment Form, the required notification to the Board of Education, will not be sent until these have been received.

Fees: A registration fee of $40 per family is required by all newly enrolling families. Annual tuition is $125 per family. Therefore, newly enrolling families will pay a total of $165 per family for their first year. Annual family tuition is guaranteed not to increase as long as enrollment remains current.

We hope that all families will find the meeting informative and productive. Please allot approximately 1 1/2 hours for the meeting, and an additional 1/2 hour to complete the paperwork. All paperwork except the Church School Enrollment Form is available here on the website in both Adobe Acrobat .pdf format. To open those documents, you will need the Free Adobe Acrobat Reader. www.adobe.com/products/reader  Families may print them out to review and complete prior to the New Family Orientation to save time. Remember, you are welcome to consider your decision and return the paperwork at a later date.

We look forward to meeting you in person!

Sincerely,

Tammy Jackson, Sr. Administrative Director