Starting a chapter at your school is easy. Follow our step-by-step guide to guarantee your success!
- Check your eligibility: All registered schools (public, private, and charter) serving students in grades/years 6 through 9 can apply to open a chapter.
- Find Chapter Advisors: Each chapter needs two members of staff (at least one must be a member of the English faculty) to serve as its responsible teachers, known at the ELA Honor Society as Chapter Advisors.
- Get authorization: All applications must be authorized by school authorities.
- Choose a chapter name: Chapter names should reflect the community the school serves. Many schools choose to name their chapter after their school mascot, a local writer or a writer studied at the school, or even after a long-standing member of staff who has inspired students.
- Complete our Sign-Up form and make your payment of the $150 start-up fee. This covers the cost of chartering and one school year of school registration with the ELA Honor Society.
Next Steps
Once you have signed-up to the ELA Honor Society and made your $150 start-up fee payment, you will receive a copy of your school’s Charter and teacher ELA Honor Society membership certificates.
The next step is to enroll student members via our ELA Gateway platform who have achieved, and maintained, a “B” grade in English Language Arts classes. Enrolling students is quick and easy. All enrolled students who have made their one-time fee payment of $10 will receive a membership certificate and can say that they are official ELA Honor Society members.
When students are enrolled, your student members can begin to participate in ELA Honor Society activities. At this point, Chapter Advisors become eligible for Professional Support Grants and Classroom Library Grants (after two years serving as a Chapter Advisor).
Fee Structure
In collaboration with Chapter Advisors teachers and other groups, the ELA Honor Society will be adopting the following fee structure for the school year 2024-2025 and beyond:
- Start-up fee: $150 (includes an official ELA Charter and one year of school affiliation and unlimited free Chapter Advisor memberships)
- Annual affiliation fee: $65 (provides one year of school affiliation with the ELA Honor Society and provides unlimited free Chapter Advisor memberships)
- One-time individual student membership fee: $10 (includes an official membership certificate and access to all ELA Honor Society student competitions, awards, and grants for the duration of the student’s middle school career)
