The shoepolish looks ok on a teenager's Civic, not so cool on a grown man's Viper.
I highly recommend getting the car aligned before the school. I think it'll make it a lot more fun, and will actually be nicer to your tires overall. The alignment I use would be good, though you may want a hair of front toe-in, and maybe also a little more toe-in in the rear, to make the car a bit more stable. My car turns great at the autocross but is very darty on the street. If you plan to put a ton of street miles on the car you could compromise with less front negative camber, but based on what I've read, I think you'd be best off with it maxed out.
Have fun!