Five Things an Excel Academy Family Should Know Before Their First Class

Every September we get a version of the same phone call: a parent holding an Excel Academy enrichment sheet, asking if we take it, and whether Jiu-Jitsu even counts as “enrichment.” Short answer: yes to both. Excel Academy is one of three charter partners we’re an approved vendor for, alongside Mission Vista Academy and Elite Academic Academy — and until now we’d never written anything just for Excel families. Most of what’s on this blog talks about charter enrichment in general. Here’s the Excel-specific version.

What we can promise, and what we can’t

We can tell you Excel Academy funds are usable here — that part’s settled. What we won’t do is guess at your allotment, your paperwork deadline, or what your Education Specialist needs first. That conversation happens between your family and your ES, not us. Once it’s confirmed on your end, we take it from there and handle the rest of the enrollment.

Come watch before any paperwork moves

We’d rather a family sit in on a real class before a single enrichment form gets touched. Bring your student, watch how the room actually runs, and decide from there — no pressure, no funding conversation required yet. Your first class at Flow Riverside is free, and that offer has nothing to do with which charter you’re enrolled through. It’s the same one we make every new family.

Age places your student, not the funding source

We place kids by age and experience, same as any student who walks in off the street. Little Ninjas covers ages 3 to 6, Kids BJJ runs 7 to 9, and Youth BJJ takes 10 to 14. Youth NoGi and wrestling meets Tuesday and Thursday evenings for students who fit better there. None of that placement changes because a student is coming through Excel Academy instead of a walk-in — the mat doesn’t know or care which school funded the class.

What to bring on day one

You don’t need to buy anything before your student’s first class. We’ll tell you what’s actually worth owning once they’ve been on the mat a few times and know they want to keep coming.

• Comfortable clothes you don’t mind sweating in — no gi required yet
• A water bottle
• A parent or guardian who can stick around for the first visit

A small room that learns names fast

Coach Zaide or Coach Benjamin Frietze will know your kid’s name by the second week. That’s not a marketing line — it’s just how a small room works. Prof. Carlos Miller built this academy watching individual students improve, not running kids through a program on autopilot, and that shows up fastest in a room where the coaches learn names quickly instead of tracking a roster.

If you’re an Excel Academy family weighing whether to put this fall’s enrichment funds toward martial arts, the honest next step is the one we give any family: come watch a class, meet the coaches, and sort out the funding side with your Education Specialist once you already know it’s a fit. Full detail on how our charter partnerships work lives on our charter schools page — worth a read once the paperwork questions come up.

Call or text us at (951) 337-3781, or email connect@flowacademyhq.com, and we’ll get your Excel Academy student on the mat.

See How Charter Enrichment Works at Flow Riverside