CHAMPAIGN — Parents trying to navigate the Champaign kindergarten assignment process now have another resource to help them understand the process.

A new video explains more about Champaign and its schools of choice system, and gives parents suggestions and advice about how it works.

School district spokeswoman Lynn Peisker said she and other district officials have found that even though the process often stresses parents out, many times once their kids start school, they're happy with the result.

The video features parents who have gone through the process, including those whose children ended up in their first-choice school, one who ended up in a seventh-choice school and one whose child was unassigned.

Trevor Nadrozny, the school district's director of curriculum, said the stories in the video are intended to show parents what could happen.

"The whole idea is to show parents and explain that it's not all easy," Nadrozny said. "There are definitely some things that can go wrong, but you'll get through it. It makes it a little more personal."

The school district bid out for the project and used the lowest bidder that met all the requirements, which was Houston-based MogerMedia. The school district used about $25,000 from the federally funded Technical Assistance for Student Assignment Plan Grant to pay for the video and its script, along with PowerPoint presentations and smaller videos, Peisker said. She said she hopes they can be used for three to five years.

The school district also gets detailed numbers about who is viewing video as a part of the agreement, Peisker said, and the transcript will be translated into Spanish.

Nadrozny said the school district can even see which parts of the video viewers are watching the most.

The video was filmed in January and unveiled last week at the district's second informational forum on schools of choice. Another forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 16, at Barkstall Elementary, 2201 Hallbeck Drive, C.

Kindergarten registration is scheduled this year from March 1 through March 30.

You can find the video on the district's new registration website, http://www.unit4registration.org. There, you'll also find forms for registering your student, although Peisker said you'll still have to stop by the district's Family Information Center to complete the registration.

The Family Information Center is now in the former Columbia School building at 1103 N. Neil St., C, a location intended to be easier for district parents to access, Peisker said.

Nadrozny said after the video was played at last week's forum, parents seemed to have more specific questions for building principals about the schools, rather than the kindergarten assignment process.

"I think it was very helpful that it got a lot of that information out front," Nadrozny said.

The school district is also taking parent feedback on the new registration website and working to improve it according to their suggestions.

Steve Gardner, whose two children attend Champaign's Westview Elementary and is featured in the video, said he was encouraged to share all his experiences throughout the assignment process, not just one specific point of view.

He said he's satisfied with the finished product and called it "a vast improvement" over the PowerPoint presentation the district formerly used.

"It does a good job of telling a realistic story," he said, and might encourage parents who go into the process not expecting to have a good experience.

He said he thinks a video is a good way to connect with today's parents, and he'd recommend it to other parents as a resource, although he said some might be surprised at the video's length. It's about 13 minutes.

He said it shows parents who have realized that kindergarten assignment was a beneficial process.

"It did a good job of bringing that to light," he said.