Registration day, without the spreadsheet
Registration opens at eight. By ten past, two classes have more names than seats, one family has filled in the form three times — once per child — and someone has paid with a note that just says “co-op”.
CircleUp is built around that morning: a family enrolls every child in every class in one pass, each class carries the price you set, and a full class turns into a waitlist instead of a problem you discover later.
If this is your registration day
- A form that makes parents start over for every child.
- Finding out a class is over-full when you open the spreadsheet afterwards.
- Working out sibling discounts by hand, family by family.
- Matching payments to children from memo lines and screenshots.
How it works in CircleUp
Open registration on a schedule
Set the date and time a class should appear and it publishes itself then. You don’t have to be at a keyboard at eight o’clock.
One cart for the whole family
A parent picks a child, adds that child’s classes, picks the next child, and checks out once. Every line says which child it is for, so nobody registers the wrong kid.
Your price on every class
Each class has its own price, plus a registration fee if you charge one. Sibling and multi-class discounts and coupon codes are worked out at checkout and shown as their own line, so the family can see what came off and why.
Age ranges and closing dates that hold
A child outside a class’s age range can’t be added to it, and registration closes on the date you set for the session.
A full class says so
When a class runs out of seats, families see a waitlist button instead of “Add”. A cash or check registration that would take a class past its limit is refused, and the family is told which class is full.
Pay by card, cash or check, or on a plan
For each class you choose which ways families can pay: card, cash or check with your instructions, or a payment plan you set up. Cash and check carry no CircleUp fee.
Worth knowing before you plan the morning
- A card payment that goes through after a class has filled is still enrolled, so the class can go one over, rather than charging a family and then turning them away. You sort it out from the roster.
Questions co-ops ask us
Can one parent register three children for different classes at once?
Yes. That is the case the cart is built around: pick a child, add their classes, switch to the next child, and check out once for everyone.
Can we charge a different price for each class?
Yes. Each class carries its own price, and you can add a registration fee. CircleUp does not charge per class; its only fee is 0.5% on card payments, and nothing on cash or check.
What happens when a class fills up?
Families see that it is full. If you have switched the waitlist on for that class, they can join it, and the next family in line is offered the seat when one opens.
The other jobs CircleUp takes on
Run next term’s registration here
CircleUp is free for up to 10 families, with no credit card. Add a few classes, register your own children, and see the morning from a parent’s side before you open it to everyone.