Posted at: 08/08/2012 5:14 PM
Updated at: 08/08/2012 6:39 PM
By: Dan Conradt

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Austin School's Mass Registration

(ABC 6 News) -- The calendar still says August, but a new school year is going to be here before you know it. And on Wednesday it was standing room only inside Austin High School.

"We're getting all of the families in the Austin public schools enrolled to start the year," said Ellis Middle School Principal Katie Berglund.

“A one stop shop for families to get everything taken care of before they go back to school," the Austin school district’s Amy Baskin added.

Imagine it as a supermarket of school information, "We've got the bus company here to answer some of the bus questions," said Southgate Elementary School Principal Edwina Harder.

"And then we want to make sure we have them registered in the right class," Baskin said.

"Get signed up for conferences, find out who your teacher is going to be, get your picture taken," Berglund added.

There were also school supply lists, sign-up information for the Kids Korner before- and after-school programs and details about the Early Childhood program.

It's the third year for the Austin school district's mass registration.

"We hear from parents that they like the fact that they don't have to go to every different school for each one of their children," said Baskin.

Katie Berglund isn’t just a middle school principal, she’s a mom.

“I myself have a sixth grader and a third grader. That's two different buildings, so I come here and it takes me less than an hour to get them both registered and ready to go to school."

“And for us it's better because we get all the paperwork and we still have several weeks to process it," Baskin explained.

"Many families mentioned how excited their kids are to get back to school and how excited they are for that routine in their home as well,” said Harder, “so it's a good time."

The Austin school district expects to start the next school year with about 46-hundred students, Pre-K through 12, and will register them all in two days.

Registration wraps up on Thursday.