District kicks off One Stop Student Registration

The “Bob” Bowers Civic Center early Tuesday morning resembled a Best Buy the night before a new iPhone release.

Families started lining up outside the doors at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, waiting for the Port Arthur Independent School District to begin its annual One Stop Student Registration event. More than 300 people were in line by 8:30 a.m., taking a number to enter in order of arrival when the doors opened at 10 a.m.

Kristyn Hunt, PAISD media and communications specialist, said One Stop Student Registration is the only time of year parents can come register all of their children at once, without having to go to each child’s campus individually. The two-day event will resume Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the “Bob” Bowers Civic Center.

Hunt said the annual registration event is the district’s way of providing a convenient “One Stop” access point for families — not just to register all of their children at once, but to buy school uniforms, apply for free and reduced school lunches, sign up for organizations like the Parent Teacher Association and Project Graduation, and benefit from services provided by on-site community vendors and nonprofit organizations.

“We started doing our One Stop Student Registration because it saves time on that first day back to school, and it allows our parents to access each school — not to mention all of our great school and community organizations, as well as our vendors — in one location,” Hunt said Tuesday afternoon. “If our parents miss One Stop Registration today and tomorrow, they’ll have to register at the individual school for each child. But they won’t be able to do that until Aug. 3, when our staff returns to campus from summer break.”

Hunt said if parents come prepared with all of the required registration documentation — including proof of residence and a birth certificate, social security card and immunization record for each child — One Stop Student Registration takes about 30 minutes to complete. However, she said, families are encouraged to peruse the booths and vendors, as well as the rooms designated for Academy Uniforms and the PAISD Child Nutrition department.

“We have wonderful booths set up with everything you can imagine, from the Port Arthur Public Library to health care and health insurance companies — we even have a real estate company here for any residents looking for a home,” LaWanda Finney, PAISD coordinator of Title I parent involvement and professional development, said Tuesday afternoon. “The Port Arthur Health Department is here giving out information, as well as the Port Arthur Teachers Federal Credit Union. Our school organizations — the PTA, Foster Grandparents, the Experience Corps, You Go Girl! mentoring program, Project Graduation, you name it — they’re all here handing out information and taking new volunteers.”

Finney said the district served thousands of families last summer during the same two-day registration. She said she expects this year’s turnout to match or surpass that of last year. By 3 p.m. Tuesday, 700 adults had signed in to register their students — some of which came in to register three or more children at a time.

The PAISD One Stop Student Registration event will continue Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Robert A. “Bob” Bowers Civic Center, 3401 Cultural Center Drive in Port Arthur.

For more information, visit www.paisd.org.

Twitter: @crhenderson90