How Much Are Your School's Registration Fees?

As you buy school supplies and new clothes for your children, have you added up the cost of back-to-school season?

In additional to the cost of the supplies required for each student, public schools in the Vernon Hills area charge annual fees for each student. Those fees vary by grade level and school district — and sometimes even by class. 

Here’s a look at what it costs to register students for school in Vernon Hills-area school districts.

Hawthorn School District 73

Fees vary by grade level for elementary and middle school students in District 73. Fees start at $75 for kindergarten and early childhood students and increase to $110 for children in first through fifth grades. Middle school registration fees are $150. 

Additional fees include $150 for band and orchestra students in fifth through eighth grades and $50 for chorus students in sixth through eighth grades. 

Lincolnshire-Prairie View District 103 

Fees begin at $87 for early childhood students and half-day kindergartners at Laura Sprague School, where the price includes a general registration fee, tech fee and classroom projects fee. Registration jumps to $3,350 for parents who opt for the full-day kindergarten program.

Registration is $120 for first- and second-graders at Sprague. Fees increase slightly for older children. Third-grade fees at Half Day School are $143, which includes a recorder. Fourth-grade fees are $137. At Daniel Wright Junior High School, registration is $153 for fifth- and sixth-graders, $169 for seventh-graders and $190 for eighth-graders, whose fee includes a graduation gown.

The fees do not include middle school gym uniforms. Parents can also pay extra to join the PTO or order a yearbook. 

Vernon Hills High School

Vernon Hills High School students pay a general $160 registration fee. Additional fees are charged for some courses, ranging from $10 for band, orchestra or choir to $195 for driver’s education.

Other optional fees include $50 for a family athletic pass and $130 for a parking permit.

Stevenson High School

All Stevenson High School students are charged a $300 textbook fee. Freshmen pay an additional $35 for equipment, which covers a gym uniform, student handbook and science fee. 

Some optional fees include $60 for a parking permit for each grading period (students are allowed to park on campus for up to five of the six grading periods); $300 for driver’s education, $75 for a sports boosters membership; $42 for a yearbook; $30 for a video yearbook; $25 for an activity ticket and $20 for PPA membership.

What do you think about these fees? Are they higher or lower than you expected? Tell us in the comment section below.