TCU’s football season begins in August and offers for seasonal parking spaces are springing up.

A purple sign along University Drive makes its pitch for football fans to secure a parking space during game days at University Christian Church, and they are not alone. Through its Park for the Arts program, Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center is also offering parking spots for the upcoming football season.

The school fundraiser generates about $90,000 in revenue annually and is used to fund items that are not allotted for in the school’s budget, said Mike Coffey, co-chair of the program.

Park for the Arts has provided funding for the school since 1994, Jeannie Robinson, the principal at Alice Carlson, wrote in an email. The money is used for everything from professional development to playground shade structures.

“The funds allow me to say yes to many of the special projects that are generated by our students and staff,” she wrote.

More than 100 spots for the season are still available at $300 each, Coffey said. This year, among other things, the school will use the money to purchase new tables for the lunchroom, because the current ones are about 20 years old.

Alice Carlson, located at 3320 Cantey Street, is a special interest school that receives students from all across the district, Coffey said.

“We are not an affluent school by any means,” he said.

Robinson wrote in an email that Alice Carlson is not a Title 1 school because it does not have enough students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

“That means our school only receives a site-based budget to cover expenses such as paper, toner for our printers, library books, etc.,” she wrote.

Parent volunteers work TCU’s home games, Robinson wrote in the email, and to show appreciation to the community, Alice Carlson offers free parking for the Armed Services Bowl for active duty and retired service people.
 
“We are really grateful to the fans for contributing to our school in such a positive way,” she wrote. “GO FROGS!”

For more information about Park for the Arts, visit www.parkforthearts.org.