VIDALIA — Concordia Parish school leaders want parents to understand opportunities the district offers high schoolers could potentially save their parents a pile of money.

To that end, the Concordia Parish School Board will host two informational meetings this month in an effort to convey this message.

One of the sessions, titled “High School Prep 101,” is for parents of ninth- and 10th-grade students. The session is designed to share information about preparing students for the next few years of high school, Superintendent Paul Nelson said.

District leaders will review topics including ACT testing, graduation requirements, dual enrollment and Advance Placement courses, among other things.

“We need parents and children to start knowing about those things as ninth and 10th graders and not waiting until their senior years,” Nelson said. “We want them to go ahead and start thinking about all of that, so they can be in the best possible situation when they get into the higher grades.”

Nelson said the district’s offerings of AP and dual enrollment courses means a Concordia Parish student can graduate high school with anywhere from 18 to 24 college credits.

“That means they’ll be college sophomores when they leave high school, and that can save parents a fortune,” Nelson said. “But in order for them to realize all these potential courses and offerings, they need to start learning about all of it early on.”

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Central Louisiana Technical Community College’s Ferriday campus.

For more information on the course, contact Rhonda Wilson at 318-336-4226 extension 35168.

Another meeting for parents of 11th- and 12th-grade students will be hosted to discuss the various options for financial aid.

“A lot of parents that may feel like they can’t afford to send their kids to college need to realize there’s a lot of different kind of monies out there they can utilize,” Nelson said. “But first, they need to educate themselves on what’s out there and how they can go about getting that money.”

The meeting will include discussions on the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, or TOPS, that offers state scholarships for Louisiana residents who attend Louisiana public colleges and universities or other community and technical colleges in the state.

In order to qualify for TOPS, Louisiana students must have a certain cumulative grade point average and ACT or SAT score, among meeting other application requirements. Various levels of funding are offered for students, and each one requires a minimum score on the ACT or SAT.

Apart from the state financial opportunities, district leaders will also provide parents with information about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which determines a student’s financial aid eligibility.

“There’s a lot of little things on that form that need to be filled out correctly for students to be eligible,” Nelson said. “And that’s just an important form overall. Even if parents think they might not have any chance of getting funding, they need to just go ahead and fill one out.”

Other scholarship opportunities at colleges and universities across the state will also be discussed.

“Some of these scholarships have early deadlines in the fall that could be coming up quick,” Nelson said. “We don’t want anyone waiting until March or April to start applying for those, because they’ll already be gone or given out by then.”

The financial aid meeting will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Concordia Parish School Board administrative office on U.S. 84 next to the Vidalia Municipal Complex.