School Board Chair Letter

Message from the School Board Chairman Dear TFA Family, Though not without its challenges, the last two years have been an exceptional season for The First Academy. We have renewed our focus on our Gospel-centered mission, experienced enrollment interest, invested in our teachers, celebrated the generosity of our school families, and returned to campus in August with smiling faces.

My role as School Board Chair at TFA is to make viability-focused decisions for the next generation of students, while also providing fiduciary oversight of the school’s finances and operations. As a School Board, we focus our work in three key areas: advancing the mission, funding the vision, and securing the legacy. Part of our work in assisting to carry out the Strategic Plan and fund the vision is to work with the Leadership Team to set and approve tuition rates on a yearly basis.

2022-2023 Tuition

In the following pages, important details regarding tuition rates and payment schedules for 2022-

2023 are outlined, along with information about the upcoming Enrollment Change Period. For the past two years, the School Board and Leadership Team made the decision to freeze tuition rates as many families were still impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. As we now look toward 2022-2023, we must revisit tuition rates in conjunction with the institutional stability of our great school.

Prior to the pandemic, TFA tuition rates would increase at an average of 4% per year. With two consecutive years of a tuition freeze, school budgets were carefully reviewed and adjustments were made to allow for success with reduced tuition funds. Looking forward, we are again focused on attracting and retaining the best teachers in Florida, as they are our Living Curriculum Influencers. Much of the tuition dollars from our families are directly funneled to our amazing teachers. Reinstating an industry-standard increase in tuition will cover what The First Academy’s Leadership Team needs to maintain a school of excellence.

Please take some time to review the information about 2022-2023 tuition and reach out to The First

Academy Business Office should your family have questions about tuition or the payment schedule for next year.

Enrollment for 2022-2023 is already strong and we expect classes to fill quickly for next year.

Our partnership with your family is based on trust.

Our shared mission, vision, and values call us to raise up the next generation of Christian leaders to have an impact on our world. The Enrollment Status Change Period is set for February 15 through February 25.

More information and details will be sent to you as those dates near. You will find frequently asked questions, facts, and contact information should you have any questions about this process on TFA’s Website.

Strategic Planning

It has been an encouragement to watch as many of the initiatives from the “Leading the Way” Strategic Plan have been carried out to completion.

The First Academy has celebrated capital project completion such as the A Campaign For All Kitchen & Eatery, the Gather Space, updates to the baseball facilities at the Payne Stewart Athletic Complex,

and many more because of the investment of generous donors. Additionally, initiatives in the areas of Fine Arts, Athletics, Academics, and Spiritual Formation were successfully completed.

Please join me in praying for God’s continued guidance as we work on the next Strategic Plan.

We are so thankful for the hundreds of students, teachers, and families who took part in the interview process for the new Strategic Plan. We are releasing the outline for the Strategic Plan soon and plan to share the completed plan with families by the end of this school year.

On behalf of the entire School Board, we wish your family abundant blessings in the coming year and look forward to celebrating our school’s many successes with you in the months and years to come.

Please join us in praying for continued blessings for the 2022-2023 school year.

In His Service, Clark Keator School Board Chairman

2022-2023 Tuition Rates & Payment Details

For the 2022-2023 school year, the tuition rate information is outlined below.

The School Board has set the tuition rates for next year based upon these three reasons: Much of the tuition dollars from our families are directly funneled to our teachers. Reinstating an industry-standard increase in tuition will cover what The First Academy’s Leadership Team needs to maintain a school of excellence.

Prior to the pandemic, tuition rates would increase around 4% per year. With the two-year tuition freeze, we now need to revisit the funds that are necessary to attract and retain our teachers and keep our beautiful facilities maintained.

Second, had tuition not been frozen for the past two years, we would be currently moving into the third year of a 4% increase, which would equal a total of a 12% increase over the past three years. The School Board made the decision to move forward with an 8% tuition increase for TFA 5-day, The Classical School, and The First Hope and a 10% tuition increase for Preschool (rather than 12%) to allow a smooth transition for our families.

Finally, the cost of all of the supplies that we purchase as a school has risen, and along with that, the cost to hire and retain valuable faculty and

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Monthly Payment Plan Schedules

2021-2022

Monthly Payment Plan Schedule: 10 PAYMENTS Payments begin in June 2021 and conclude in March of 2022 2022-2023

Monthly Payment Plan Schedule (and Moving Forward): 12 PAYMENTS Payments begin in April of 2022 and conclude in March of 2023

staff members has risen. This inflation has led to a need to move forward with the 8% tuition increase.

Moving the payments to April for the 2022-2023 school year will enhance our fiscal planning of the budget for educational enrollment-related expenditures such as curriculum and instructional supplies as well as personnel expenses for faculty and staff.

Continuous Enrollment Deposit Payment Options

Your student is already enrolled for the 20222023 school year (unless they are a graduating senior). Your family’s current enrollment, tuition payment plan, and Tuition Refund Program election will roll over to the 2022-2023 year in FACTS unless changes are made. If you would like to make changes to these elections, please do so during the Enrollment Status Change Period of February 15 through February 25, 2022. You will find frequently asked questions, facts, and contact information should you have any questions about this process on TFA’s Website.

The non-refundable deposit for the 2022-2023 school year will be due on March 1 for our returning families. As with prior practice, families may pay for the deposit through FACTS using a credit card.

Tuition Refund Program

For families who select the Tuition Refund Program, the timeline has been updated as outlined below.

If the Tuition Refund Program for 2022-2023 is selected during the Enrollment Status Change Period:

∙ Families who withdraw between February 26 -

June 1 will be required to pay 25% of their tuition amount.

∙ Families who withdraw June 1 through August 9

will be required to pay 40% of their tuition amount.

∙ Families who withdraw August 10 and thereafter

owe through the academic quarter for time enrolled and applicable percentage of unused tuition.

We pray that 100% of our families will remain in our school family at The First Academy for the 2022-2023 school year. Due to high demand, we can not guarantee space for those who choose to withdraw.