Do you come out to homes to teach? No. We believe that there are many factors
that contribute to successful swim instruction and have
incorporated these into the design of our facility.
Why are your lessons
only 15 or 30 minutes long? Children have limited attention spans when it comes
to direct uninterrupted instruction and limited physical stamina. It is best for
students to receive a lesson that seemed too short where they would desire to
return, rather than a lesson that was too long and became a bad experience.
Do you offer group classes? No. In our experience every student has
unique needs, prior skill sets, learning styles, and learning rate. In a group
class we tend to teach to the average student, so some students are left behind
and others are held back. We have taught both ways and found that 1:1
instruction is superior in most cases.
Do you have a parking lot? No,
sorry. The swim school was built at a time when the city had no on-site parking
requirements. Purchasing adjacent commercial property would make the cost of
swimming lessons prohibitive. Most of the small local swim schools like ours are
now gone likely because the value of their property exceeded their profit
potential. There is ample street parking within a block of the swim
school.
Are customers allowed to park in the one space next to the
office? Yes, although we may reserve this for physically disabled students
periodically.
Are customers allowed to park in the lots next to and
adjacent to the swim school? No. They are owned by other businesses and needed
by their customers.
Do you still teach swimming when it is raining? Yes.
Since they are in the water, our students are wet anyway, and the water is warm.
Rain during the summer is uncommon, but when it does occur, swimming in the rain
is kind of an adventure. The one exception is for children under two years old
who will have the option of rescheduling subject to availability. The pools are
closed when lightning is present in Burbank. We have equipment that detects
this.
Are you closed when it is too hot? No. We have plenty of shade for
watchers and you are welcomed to bring cold drinks into our facility as long as
there is no glass.
Are your instructors Red Cross certified? No.
Although all of the swim school owners were very involved in the Red Cross, our
methods of instruction differ at some points (especially regarding 1:1
instruction and instruction for young children – our specialties). Additionally
we’ve experienced inconsistencies between the various WSI programs. And
maintaining the Red Cross Certification has requirements that differ from our
program.
How are your instructors trained? Our classroom and pool
instruction is based upon Lucile’s book, “Teaching Your Tot to Swim” and a
manual similar to the Red Cross’ WSI manual for stroke fundamentals, water
safety, and other swimming related skills. This is integrated with our own
teaching sequences, terminology, and techniques.
Our pet will get too
hot in the car, can we bring our pet to swimming lessons? No. The LA County
Health Department forbids this and we have unscheduled inspections every
summer.
May we bring food and/or drinks into your facility? Food and drink in containers, other than glass, may be brought in, as long as you clean up after your child and yourself. (I hate having to
say this, but sometimes families come in and leave a mess. We are not a
restaurant and don't have staff waiting to clean up after people. We would like
to keep the facility clean for all who attend.)
I need to help my son
change his clothes, may I escort him into the Men’s restroom? No, the swim
school has mature males teaching at, and using our facility whose privacy we need
to respect. There is a family changing area before the gender specific restrooms
where moms can help their sons and dads can help their daughters. We also do not
allow older boys or dads in the Women's restroom.
Do you teach adults?
Yes, we teach many adults each summer, but be advised that while adults are
taking their lessons with their instructors, children are also in the pools with
their instructors with their parents looking on.
Do you teach people who
are afraid of the water? It is much easier to teach a child to overcome their
fear of the water than an adult. For children the issue is usually learning the
fundamentals and realizing that they can swim and gradually building their
confidence. For adults, their issue is usually an inability to relax which
prevents adequate breathing which exacerbates their inability to relax. It’s a
negative cycle. Spending a lot of time in the water even in the shallow end with
some basic skills can help this, and we can help, but we are not an adult aqua
phobia program.
Do you teach persons with disabilities? Yes, but we no
longer accept payment from the Regional Centers. We have worked with persons
with learning disabilities, Downs Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, physical
disabilities, and deafness. If your child has a disability, then please advise
us at when you first schedule your lessons so that we pair them with the right
teacher.
Do we have to pay a membership
fee to attend your school? No.
Do you teach the back float method? No. In
our experience children are very uncomfortable on their back (water goes up into
the sinuses and the sublime position in the water tends to be a very vulnerable
and insecure position for anyone). Helping a child feel comfortable and secure
in the water is one of our goals, so we teach children to swim on their front
first, taking breaths, and then to float and swim on their back which is much
easier once a child is relaxed in the water.
What do you do for water
safety? We teach a child to turn in the water, swim to the wall, and pull
themselves out.
I’m not sure about taking lessons, what should I do? Come
observe anytime during our open hours so that you can make as informed a
decision as possible.
I’m not sure how my child will respond to lessons,
what should I do? You can bring your child to practice time for a minimal fee to
see how they like the facility. And you can schedule and pay for only one lesson
to see how it goes, but understand that sometimes it takes a child several
lessons to become comfortable with a new person instructing them.
What
happens if my child is sick or we have an emergency to attend to during the
lesson time? You may have a another student come in to complete the set, or you may have a credit (of any remaining, unused lessons) to use for any student for the remainder of the year or the following year.
What happens if my child cannot come to lessons for the
remainder of the set? You may have another student come in to complete the set,
or you may have a credit to use for any student for the remainder of the year or
the following year.
Can we make up a lesson because we forgot our
appointment or decided to go to Disneyland? No, make-up lessons are in high
demand and so may only be used for absences due to illness or emergency
situations.
Will my child always have the same instructor? Your child
will be assigned to the same person for their entire set of lessons. However,
sometimes illness and other circumstances necessitate the use of a substitute. In
the event of a substitute, be assured that your instructor has the same training
in our methods, sequence, and procedures. If you intend to take additional sets
of lessons, please arrange for this as soon as you decide so that you may have a
better chance of receiving the same instructor. We do not hold your teacher or
time for you beyond what you have arranged and made a deposit for.
Are
you open on the weekends? No. We used to be open on Saturdays, but found that
scheduling staff consistently on summer weekends was difficult. Believing that
consistent staffing was important for lesson progress, we discontinued our
Saturday lessons.
Do you have on-site security? We were asked about this
by a celebrity. We do not have on-site security and have never experienced any
problems other that clients who may want autographs.
What do you do when
children cry? We employ a variety of strategies for helping students calm down
depending on their reason for crying. Typically children cry because it takes a
while for some to become accustomed to a teacher who they do not know. It
usually helps for parents to participate in our supervised swim time from about 1pm-2pm (included in the price of lessons). Our initial strategies are to distract
the child with toys, talking etc. If this does not work, we may ask parents to
hide from view of the child. If this does not work we may ultimately have the
parent work with the child with us in the water if they are willing. This
process may take several lessons.
May I watch my child’s lesson? Yes,
there is ample shaded seating around, and close, to the pools. We encourage you to
watch and listen to the lesson and practice what you see with your child between
lessons for short periods. Remember to keep it fun.
Are students allowed
in the pools before or after their lessons? No. Sorry. This would interfere with
ongoing instruction and we have no supervision for this. We do have a practice
time from about 1-2pm weekdays which is included in the cost of your lessons.
You may schedule to have your lessons near this time if available.
Are
you open during the late summer and fall? No, since we are an outdoor facility
designed for children learning to swim. The weather and availability of children
limit our instruction window to the summertime. When young children do learn to
swim, it is important that they practice at least twice a month during the off
season.
Do you accept credit cards? No, the cost of a business our size
processing credit cards would add about 5% to the cost of lessons.
Do you
give discounts for siblings or multiple sets discount? We used to do this, but
we discontinued this in 2010. Given our current economy, we either needed to discontinue the discount or raise our base prices to cover increased
utilities, business taxes, and new federal, state, and local facility
requirements. We opted for the former.
Do you rent out your facility? Not
during the summer, and not for parties. We would be available during the off
season for film projects.
Are flotation devices allowed at your
facility? No. We believe that flotation devices give a false sense of security
to children, and parents, and we know that they cause a vertical body position for
children that is difficult, but necessary to correct, for water safety and good
swimming technique.
What should I do when I have a concern about my
child's instruction? Please talk to your instructor or the people at the front
desk in a timely manner so that we can address it promptly.
What are the
lollipops on the front counter for? They are for all students. Sometimes young
students need extrinsic motivation to facilitate their achievement and
cooperation. We also have stickers available instead of lollipops at the front
desk if you prefer.
How long has the swim school been here? There has
been a swim school at this location since the mid-1950’s. Lucile had a swim
school in the San Fernando Valley initially and then purchased our current
location and modified it for teaching swimming to young children in 1963. Some
families have attended the swim school for four generations.
Why does it
take so long to get a call back for scheduling lessons some times? Our
schedulers are knowledgeable, experienced swim teachers who know our methods,
procedures, and teachers. Sometimes it takes a while to match up different
family schedules with the right teachers schedules. On our first day of booking
each season we will receive 300-500 calls and these take a while to return. Be
assured that all calls to schedule lessons are returned in the order that they
are received.
