Welcome to Essential!

Essential Church School is a Christian church school for grades K-12 allowing off-site instruction for homeschooling families in the Birmingham metro area.

2025-2026 Enrollment

Visit the Enrollment page for more information about enrollment with Essential. Our 2025-2026 enrollment is currently open for the month of December, and enrollment will close completely on December 31st.  Contact us if you have any questions or special requests.  

Homeschooling Workshop – December 4th

Register to attend this virtual event!

What Our Families Say

  • The information meetings, personal guidance, and resources have been an invaluable help in our homeschool! We're grateful for ECS!
    Lynn Groom,
  • Essential staff have always been amazing in personally helping me with homeschooling and cover school questions or struggles. Thank you for doing what you do for us.
    Lea,
  • Essential Church School was the perfect cover school for a beginner homeschool family! Kristy was SO responsive and helpful. I loved the freedom of getting to choose everything we do and how, with just the attendance to report. I enjoyed that flexibility. I also love the affordable price to enroll. HUGE help with a one income family!
    Ashley Rogers,
  • I love Essential! I was so overwhelmed our first year of homeschooling, especially choosing a cover school! But Essential is the perfect blend of having a community and school guidelines with the freedom to teach however it fits your family.
    Brittany B.,
  • Essential school is a very cost effective, low requirement cover school option. The staff is very quick to respond with any questions I may have and knowledgeable.
    Iris,
  • Essential has been such a blessing to me and our family! It is affordable and being able to submit grades and attendance online has made our world-traveling family home school experience so much easier! I've tried other cover schools so trust me on this!! And Kristy is absolutely the most helpful and informative home school administrator I know!
    Connie B.,
  • I have enjoyed being a part of Essential. The website makes everything convenient and readily available for keeping the students grades, attendance, etc organized. Kristy has always been helpful and supportive with questions that have come up.
    Shea,
  • We love the peace of mind, support, and knowledge that ECS gives.
    Lynn Groom,
  • Working with Essential Church School has been a great experience for our family. They've provided the administrative support I was looking for, they encourage community, and still allolw us all the freedom we crave as a homeschooling family. Thank you, ECS!
    Sandra Girouard,
  • We have used Essential Church School for our legal school cover and school records for five years now. There was one year my son needed to transfer to public school for part of the year. Having our records at ECS made it a breeze to transfer everything over. We're so thankful to Kristy Trent and the other administrators who have helped us at ECS throughout the years.
    Amanda Ansel,
  • What I love about Essential is that they're affordable compared to other church schools and they are very prompt with e-mails. They are on top of everything which is great and are very helpful if you have any questions, concerns, etc. I also love that they offer home school families different ways to learn, have fun, and meet new people. I can honestly say that I have had a good experience with Essential and look forward to many more years with them.
    S.C.
  • Essential is a rapidly growing cover school that strives to create a Christian school experience. From the park dates to the graduations, ECS has helped my family transition from public school to homeschool with ease! Kristy is truly a Godsend!
    Nikita
  • Everyone I had the privilege to deal with was ready and willing to help and support me.  I appreciated that very much!
    Jeannie
  • Essential Church School has been a constant source of support and an invaluable resource in our homeschooling journey.
    Robin Wiggins

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