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5 Ways to Get R.E.A.D.Y. for School Academy for Free 🎉

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If you're an elementary teacher teaching K - 5th grade, you're in your first five years of teaching, and you really want to join R.E.A.D.Y. for School Academy (but you aren't sure you can afford it), let's talk about 5 ways you can get the Academy for FREE!

Reach out to your principal and find out if your school has unused PD funds that must be spent.
When you're talking to your principal about enrolling in the Academy, think about how your enrollment in this program can help your future students AND your principal when you are feeling much more confident about managing your classroom.

With this in mind, you might want to bring up these key points to help your administration understand the value of the program:

✅ It will walk you through how to organize your classroom to help ensure student safety and maximize on-task learning (and you will get 200+ resources to set up your classroom easily).

✅ You will get the exact, practical, and classroom-tested steps you need to take to create and implement a classroom management plan in the first weeks of school to help prevent and minimize management issues that are so common for other new teachers.

✅ You will get access to planning and student data systems to help you stay organized all year long.

✅ You will get almost done-for-you first week of school plans and classroom-tested activities to help you create an inclusive classroom community.

✅ You will get Meet the Teacher Night resources and systems to establish and maintain parent communication and involvement throughout the year.
Ask your admin about using designated PD funds to enroll in the Academy to prepare you for the upcoming school year.
Many teachers have had their schools pay for the Academy for them. Even with budget cuts, there is always funding allocated to PD (whether it's an individualized PD fund for each teacher or funding allocated per school) that must be used for only that purpose – for the upcoming school year.

There are a lot of options out there for online PD, and as a new teacher especially, your admin is going to quickly realize that the R.E.A.D.Y. for School Academy is one of the most affordable options available online for new teachers. Even if they ask you to pay for it up front, admin will often reimburse you for enrollment if you get approved first.
Ask friends or family to sponsor you as a graduation gift!
If you just graduated from college, why not host a graduation party? Similar to when brides and grooms have a wishing well or a donation box for their honeymoon at their wedding, why not decorate a cute donation box and make a little display with your graduation cap and maybe a big bowl of fresh apples and ask for donations to the Academy to support you in this transition.

If this idea appeals to you, click here to download these donation box designs to use at your graduation party!
If you have an upcoming birthday or other celebration, tell your friends and family that this course is the gift you need most.
This experience is the equivalent of me bringing you a Starbucks every single week, sitting down at the child-sized table at the back of your new classroom, and walking you through it all, just like I wish someone would have done for me, and then sharing all my files and resources with you so you can enjoy this entire experience of preparing for your school year with confidence and with excitement.

So if your family or your parents say to you, “Are you kidding me? We just paid for 4 years of education!”

You can tell them that this course is the bridge between the theory you learned in college and the practical steps you need to take to finally do it all yourself.

Consider this course as your training wheels that will give you the stability and confidence to ride on your own. 😂

🎓 Let's face it - college courses are expensive.

💻 And most of them… don’t give you a single thing you can actually use in your classroom.

According to the Education Data Initiative, the average university course costs:

👉 $1,218 at a public 4-year college
👉 $4,406 at a private school
👉 Even community college courses average around $450

And those courses? They’re heavy on theory—but light on real-world application.

Inside the Academy, you don’t just learn theory—you get:

✅ A proven, step-by-step system to get your classroom ready in just 5 weeks or less
✅ Over 200 editable, practical, time-saving templates and checklists
✅ A complete classroom management plan that actually works with today’s kids
✅ Confidence, clarity, and a summer you can actually enjoy

All for less than the cost of a community college course— but it’s packed with real tools, resources, and mentorship you’ll use every single day in your classroom.
Consider creating a simple fundraiser on Facebook!
When I was thinking about and researching ways I could help you to get the Academy for free, I did a little digging, and I was able to set up a very simple fund-raiser on Facebook in less than 5 minutes. 😊

Facebook now has the option to create a personal fundraiser for all different kinds of things, and one of those things is to raise money for education, which I think is incredible, and the money is directly deposited into your bank account.

Facebook takes a 2.6% - 3% processing fee for holding a fundraiser, so you might want to ask for a little bit more than the cost of the Academy to cover those extra fees.

And, if this is something that appeals to you, I’ve even created some fun, simple header art that you can use for your Facebook fundraising page cover photo that you can download by clicking here!

To get started with creating your own private fundraiser on Facebook in 5 minutes, just click here.

Links & resources mentioned inside this episode:

Grab a copy of my book, Dear New Teacher, Here's Exactly What to Do: Your 5-Step R.E.A.D.Y. for School Roadmap for Elementary
New Masterclass - How to Get Ready For the School Year in 5 Weeks or Less
Download your Academy Donation Box Designs to use at your graduation party!
Download your Free Header Art to use with your very own Facebook Fundraiser!
Learn how to get started with creating your Facebook Fundraiser in 5 minutes or less 😊
Follow Dr. Lori on Instagram
Follow Dr. Lori on Facebook
Subscribe to Beginning Teacher Talk on Youtube

I hope this information is helpful as you prepare for your first, second, or third year of teaching. Until next time, remember, just because you're a beginning elementary teacher, there's no need for you to struggle like one.

💛 Lori

Dr. Lori Friesen | Beginning Teacher Mentor

Creator of the R.E.A.D.Y. for School Academy and The Classroom Management Club, Dr. Lori Friesen has mentored thousands of beginning teachers across the country through her workshops and courses. Host of the popular podcast Beginning Teacher Talk and author of Dear New Teacher, Here’s Exactly What to Do, Dr. Lori is dedicated to serving educators and inspiring learners. Learn more at drlorifriesen.com.

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