Attendance Policy
Attend Class
That’s it. Period. That is the whole policy in a nut-shell.
…you have questions…ok…scroll down…
“But I asked about the rescheduling policy…”
No rescheduling.
I do not have a “rescheduling policy”.
I have an “ATTENDANCE POLICY”.
Most students show up for ALL their classes without a problem. Swimming lessons are a priority for their parents and they have back up plans in place to get their kids to every lesson. They check their schedule before signing up for lessons to make sure there are no conflicts with lessons.
I’ve had families sign up for lessons for years and never miss a single class. This is not an unreasonable policy.
“Whether you show up for the class you reserved or not you must pay for the class you reserved.”
You have kids. You know how many excuses they can come up with when they want to get out of something. Now multiply that by MORE THAN 100 parents over an entire season. The number of excuses parents come with as to why their child can’t come to class on any given day is ridiculous. I know you can relate.
I’ve been teaching for a very long time and have been forced by many years of dealing with THOUSANDS of parents to finally adopt this strict policy. Here are more than TWO DOZEN reasons why I am enforcing this policy.
Reason #1
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Reason #1 〰️
My “Attendance Policy” WORKS! Ever since I implemented it I have the HEALTHIEST STUDENTS EVER!
I used to have the sickest students. Parents constantly calling to reschedule due to their “sick” child. Now I RARELY have a sick student.
Parents are not bringing sick children to lessons either. All my students are showing up for all their classes super healthy.
So I am 100% keeping my “Attendance Policy” because it is proven to protect my students from sudden illness.
You are Welcome!
Reason #2
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Reason #2 〰️
These are PRIVATE TUTORING SESSIONS! When you hire a private tutor you are not just paying for their expertise, you are paying for their undivided, reserved time. Private tutors are not cheap for many reasons.
You, as the parent, have checked your schedule and chosen classes that fit your schedule.
As the instructor I have agreed to reserve those days and times for you. I have made TIME for YOU.
You are reserving and buying MY TIME to teach your child to swim. If you do not show up for class you still pay for MY TIME you reserved.
Once that time is gone I cannot get it back and resell it to someone else. You already bought that time from me. I cannot “just put someone else in my spot” as I’ve been rudely dictated to do on many occasions.
I would like to use that time to teach your child how to swim. But ultimately if you do not bring your child to class you are paying for the time you reserved and have forfeited the lesson you would have received during that time. YOU chose that the time would not be spent as a swimming lesson.
Reason #3
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Reason #3 〰️
When I had a “Rescheduling Policy” parents took that to mean that class schedules were “suggestions” and classes could be moved around at will should anything else come up that interfered with class. Swimming lessons were no longer a priority for parents. Parents would ask to reschedule lessons for anything and everything. Everything else was more important than swimming lessons. If I agreed to even ONE rescheduling request, the requests would stop and they would just become demands and expectations.
The swimming schedule you sign up for is not a suggestion. You looked at all the dates and times and when you registered you are saying that you are able to bring your child/ren to every single one of those lessons.
Reason #4
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Reason #4 〰️
Not showing up to class is actually a HUGE inconvenience, ADDITIONAL work and COSTLY for me! So you want double the class time, plus all the time it takes to reschedule your class that you can not attend. So every single time you ask/demand to reschedule your class that’s THREE TIMES the original time you reserved with me and paid for.
Students who miss too many classes may not be able to sign up for future classes. That’s how important attendance is and how much an inconvenience it is for me when you miss class.
So yes, I am charging you the missed class to cover the administrative, operational and inconvenience costs that class incurred. You are costing me 3x the cost of the class we will call it a “Sunshine Tax”.
(No, that is not the code word. You have barely begun to read the policy to find the code word REQUIRED to even discuss rescheduling with me. You must read the ENTIRE policy AND give me the code word before I will have any discussion about rescheduling classes.)
Reason #5
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Reason #5 〰️
Asking to reschedule means you are asking for two class spots for the price of one. Basically you are asking me for a free class. I do NOT have a two-for-one class discount. If you would like an additional class there is an option to sign up for additional classes.
It’s also not fair to the other families for you to get extra spots for free when they attend all the classes for which they signed up.
Reason #6
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Reason #6 〰️
It’s not fair.
It’s not fair to the other families for you to get extra spots for free when they attend all the classes for which they signed up.
Some families are constantly asking for classes to be rescheduled while other families never ask. It’s not fair to them for you reschedule lessons whenever you want when they do not.
It’s not fair to ask me to incur the costs of you not attending your class, do all the work involved in rescheduling your class and use my personal time off to give you a lesson during a time that works better for your schedule even though absolutely everything about rescheduling a lesson that is inconvenient to you costs me extra time and money.
Reason #7
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Reason #7 〰️
I am a water safety instructor. The rescheduling requests have gotten so out of hand that they took up every minute of my free time AND were interrupting swimming lessons.
Requests were becoming demands that be resolved ASAP even when I was trying to teach lessons. Parents were upset that I didn’t respond faster and find a satisfactory rescheduled date and time that worked for THEIR schedule.
It’s at the point that in order to accommodate all the rescheduling demands I was receiving I had a choice. Stop rescheduling completely and enforce an attendance policy or double my prices and hire an administrative person whose only job would be rescheduling parents daily demands to reschedule their lessons.
I chose to keep my prices the lowest in town and enforce the Attendance Policy.
Reason #8
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Reason #8 〰️
Parents lie to me…a lot.
I shouldn’t have to decide if a parent is lying to me or not about their child being sick. Unfortunately I’ve caught way too many parents lying to me way too many times.
I’ve added it up. The lies have cost me THOUSANDS of dollars. Clearly I am a terrible judge if someone is lying to me or not. I am an honest person and I always think parents are telling me the truth.
Parents don’t want to pay me when they want to work late, or get stuck in traffic, or want to go on a last minute vacation, or go to the Taylor Swift concert. So they tell me their child is sick and they got out of having to pay for the class they reserved. I find out time and time again that their child was not sick and that they lied to me.
So thanks to all the parents before you who lied to me, they have ruined the sick policy and now we have the current Attendance Policy.
Now parents are much better at not scheduling surgeries right before swimming lessons. They do much better at taking care of their children’s health now that they have to cover the cost of missed classes if THEIR child gets sick.
Reason #9
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Reason #9 〰️
Parents broke the sick policy.
When I had a sick policy and had to cover the cost of my students being sick and missing class, any little thing meant parents calling me and cancelling under the “Sick Policy”.
Now that the sick policy is gone no longer do parents decide the tiniest little sniffle or slightly sleepy kid means they are too sick to come to class.
Parents no longer run their kids ragged all day before swimming lessons and call me to cancel because now their child is too tired for lessons and they worry that swimming will cause them to get sick. Or decide to skip swimming lessons so they won’t be too tired for dance, gymnastics or some other strenuous activity planned for that same day. Perhaps because those other activities don’t have a sick policy. So now neither do I.
I’ve heard all the excuses, but I am only in charge of the 25 minutes my students are in the pool with me. I have zero control of their health and personal schedules outside of swimming lessons so I am no longer going to financially cover the cost of those conflicts and decisions parents make for their children.
Parents pushed the boundaries of the sick policy and broke it to smithereens. I can’t fix the sick policy. It is broken beyond repair and it is gone for good.
If you STILL want more explanation keep reading…but the policy is not changing even if you keep reading.
If you understand the policy you can stop reading here.
Reason #10
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Reason #10 〰️
I have a Masters Degree in Marketing from an Ivy League University and a few decades of international executive level experience with some popular brands. I did my research on my competition. I know everything about all my competition in the Valley. (I gave that career up to be a Water Safety Instructor. Teaching your child how to swim makes me way happier than making millionaires into billionaires.)
My competition charges more than me for private lessons. I can, and should, charge more for my services as I am more experienced, have better facilities, and have a MUCH better track record of successful students than anyone else in town.
I SHOULD be the most expensive private swimming instructor in town. I chose to charge the prices I charge because I want to make sure I get families for whom swimming is extremely important and I don’t want to make it only affordable to the richest families in town.
My competition does not allow for rescheduling if you miss private lessons.
My competition has EXTREMELY limited days, times and spots available for private swimming lessons. No one has the availability I have for you to pick a schedule that works for your family.
If parents INSIST on constantly rescheduling lessons I WILL RAISE MY PRICES to better reflect the market value of my services.
Reason #11
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Reason #11 〰️
I have a LONG wait list. Someone else would have paid me for that time if they had the opportunity, but you reserved that spot before them.
If you can’t make your lessons and don’t want to pay for the classes you miss, don’t sign up for lessons. Someone else will pay me for all the classes in that spot.
I have had parents BEG me to add their child/ren to my schedule. They’ve sent me drawings their children have made of me to bribe me to add their child/ren to my schedule. (They know how to get to me!!) They want every single class that you signed up for and are devastated to be wait listed. I think about those phone calls every time a parent asks or demands I reschedule their classes.
Reason #12
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Reason #12 〰️
Swimming lessons should be as important to you as they are to me. Money talks. If you lose money when you don’t bring your child to class then lessons will be more important to you. If I lose money when you don’t bring your child to swimming lessons then you won’t think twice to cancel and you will try to reschedule whenever you feel like it at my financial loss.
Time and time again when I tell parents they have to pay for the missed class suddenly they are able to attend that class and figure out how to make it happen. Weird how that happens.
I literally once had a parent who wanted to not pay for a class she’d miss so her child could go to a birthday party. She said if she had to pay for the class her daughter would miss the birthday party because she’d HAVE to go to swimming lessons instead. She tried to guilt me into accepting the cost of that class so her daughter wouldn’t miss the party. She wanted ME to pay for her daughter to attend the birthday party, but SHE WOULDN’T! I don’t think that’s reasonable.
Once I stopped agreeing to all the rescheduling requests my attendance suddenly was nearly perfect and my students progress went through the roof.
Reason #13
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Reason #13 〰️
Sessions are only a few weeks/classes long, only approximately 8-10 classes per session. You can do it!
The swimming season is VERY SHORT! We have limited number of beautiful days to swim.
I do not teach all year round.
Therefore every single good weather day we have to swim is valuable and will be treated as such.
I DO teach SEVEN (7) months out of the year. If you are having trouble making the classes in a specific month you may be too busy for swimming lessons that month. That’s ok. Skip that month. Remember, you also need to make time for practicing in between lessons. There are SIX (6) other months you can sign up for swimming lessons. EVERYONE wants swimming lessons during the ONLY TEN (10) WEEKS of summer vacation. So I absolutely will NOT reschedule lessons for you during those ten weeks of summer vacations. There are dozens of families on the wait list who can and will attend all the classes on that schedule that will take your session if you don’t want to pay for all the classes in your summer sessions. Spring and Autumn classes may work better for your schedule. You don’t have to ONLY give your children swimming lessons during summer vacation.
Reason #14
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Reason #14 〰️
My days off are valuable. I will not give them up to make your rescheduling request happen. I have a family and need to spend some time with them.
I also ran a test this year for all the parents that could not make class and asked to reschedule. I rescheduled as many classes as I could fit into a 3-day weekend. That cost me time and money to operate my pool for 3 days. My one 3-day weekend off. They all agreed to their make up class day and time. Less than 50% of those parents showed up for their make up class. So they EACH wasted an hour of my time by not showing twice and I lost a 3-day weekend I desperately needed to rest. I will not do this again.
I do not have the time before and after classes to handle all the COUNTLESS DAILY rescheduling requests I was receiving.
I once spent ONE ENTIRE WEEK doing NOTHING but rescheduling lessons. ALL of my free time for one week in March was spent just rescheduling lessons before the season even STARTED! That’s the week I realized I was being taken advantage of. I cancelled the rescheduling policy that week and SUDDENLY parents were able to make ALL their scheduled lessons! CRAZY!
Reason #15
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Reason #15 〰️
PARENTS expect me to make myself available for a rescheduled lesson at their convenience based on their schedule.
It’s simply unreasonable to expect me to set aside countless hours each month for parents to use at their whims for whenever they decide they cannot make it to class and EXPECT a rescheduled class. When I tried letting parents reschedule missed lessons in the past they would give me such limited availability when THEY were free.
I can’t possibly guarantee that I will find make-up days and times that work with every single families’ free time on their schedule so I don’t do it anymore. I promised to be available to teach your child how to swim on the agreed upon days and times pending weather. That is our agreement. If I cannot hold up my end of the agreement then you can reschedule your class.
Reason #16
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Reason #16 〰️
PARENTS CANNOT REMEMBER FOR WHAT DAYS AND TIMES THEY RESCHEDULED THEIR CLASSES!!! When that happens they show up at my house during someone else’s paid class and argue with me that it’s their class time. I cannot teach the student who paid for that class when I’m arguing with a parent who is wrong about the day and time they wrote down for the makeup class. They are always wrong. Sometimes it’s a surrogate (grandparent or babysitter) who brings the child who is super confused why I am not going to teach the child. It is a HUGE disruption. It is stressful and embarrassing for everyone involved. The student is not learning and you are distracting me from them which could be dangerous for them as they may not be a strong swimmer and needs my undivided attention.
I have parents calling and texting me on my days off when I’m not home asking me where I am because they are at my house for their rescheduled lesson. Once again, they got the date wrong and their child is disappointed that they will not get a lesson that day.
This doesn’t happen when we just attend the class days and times for which we signed up.
Reason #17
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Reason #17 〰️
I am soaking wet in a bathing suit! I cannot just “do something else” during that time. I usually end up waiting for the next student and that time is wasted.
Anyone who knows me knows I hate wasting time. I once had a beautiful sunny summer day where more than half my students didn’t show up for a variety of ridiculous reasons. Each parent wanted to reschedule. I still ended up in the pool all day as the missed classes were spread out through the whole day. That’s not fair to me or my students.
I was so disappointed that day. It was a perfect day for swimming lessons and it was mostly wasted. I did give the students who did show up that day longer lessons as a treat for showing up because I don’t like wasting time. Yes, I do give free extended lessons sometimes if you show up to class! I’m known for extending lessons sometimes for free as a treat. It’s not just about the money.
Reason #18
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Reason #18 〰️
My schedule is 100% booked. I don’t have openings to move your class to.
This is my FULL TIME JOB! MORE than full time during the kids summer break from school as those are the busiest weeks of the entire year with the absolute best weather for swimming.
I am not some teen doing this for spare cash on my summer break. I have a full schedule and no openings because I am an expert with DECADES of experience and an excellent reputation in town. I do not have any openings to “just move your class” to.
To reschedule YOUR class I usually have to call OTHER PARENTS and ask THEM if THEY will move their class for YOU. I’m not doing that any more. Too many times I do that only to find out the emergency got worked out and the family could make the originally scheduled lesson. That was MY TIME wasted and at least one other family inconvenienced.
Other times the ONLY free time I have to teach your child is my lunch break or at the beginning of the day or at the end of the day. I need my lunch break. I need energy to teach my students. I need to be rested, energized and 100% in a great mood for every student. They deserve that. If you try to take away my break you are hurting the lessons of all students who follow that day. I don’t think you’d like it if someone else did that to your child’s lesson. If I don’t get enough rest at night I’m tired all day the next day, which is not fair to any of those students.
Reason #19
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Reason #19 〰️
You are going to make your child cry.
My students cry when I HAVE to cancel due to bad weather. Why are you going to make they cry for some reason you can’t get them to the class you reserved for them? I’m not making them cry this time!
Reason #20
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Reason #20 〰️
I cannot teach your child to swim if you do not bring your child to class.
When I had a rescheduling policy parents had too many reasons they HAD to reschedule swimming lessons and as a result their children were suffering and not learning how to swim because they were missing too many sessions. Consistency, repetition, and practice are all important when learning a new skill. Without those learning and progress does not happen.
Parents who start asking to reschedule lessons before lessons even start tend to continue to try to reschedule lessons on a consistent basis. It literally never stops. There is always some problem or conflict that interferes with their ability to bring their child to class and of course they expect me to reschedule, reschedule, reschedule because I said “yes” ONCE.
Then weeks later when they’ve barely brought their child to class are frustrated and angry with me because their child still can’t swim and has made very little progress. Some how they seem to have forgotten the countless excuses THEY made for not coming to class. Parents like this are not allowed to sign up for future lessons with me.
Let’s all avoid this situation and get your child swimming as quickly as they are capable and not set them up for frustration and failure by missing too many classes.
Reason #21
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Reason #21 〰️
Bad weather also eats into our short swimming season. Combine classes missed for bad weather days and parents who are constantly wanting to reschedule for various reasons and I can go weeks without seeing a specific student.
The days I set aside for bad weather make-up classes are not for parents to use as backup days for when they can’t make classes reserved on their schedule. These are for bad weather make-up classes or for paid additional lessons.
Reason #22
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Reason #22 〰️
The FIRST solution parents have when they run into a problem is to try to reschedule swimming lessons. That needs to be the LAST solution.
I teach approximately 100 students per year. My students families run into innumerable problems throughout the season. Too many for me to take on those responsibilities for all of them and agree to reschedule every single class that needs to be rescheduled for every single problem that comes up. It’s been too overwhelming and exhausting for me to continue to do. I am one person. I simply can’t do it any longer. I just want to teach kids how to swim not spend all summer rescheduling lessons. I just need parents to attend the classes they register for or pay for the classes they reserved but did not attend for whatever reason.
When parents take a few minutes to stop and think about other solutions they are usually able to come up with a way to make it to swimming lessons without causing a lot of cost and inconvenience for me to solve the problem for them. I understand it’s easier to have me solve their problems, but I just don’t have the time, money or energy for it.
I am nice and like to help out when I can, but parents take advantage of me. So I can’t help out like this anymore.
Reason #23
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Reason #23 〰️
I cannot afford to pay for all my students vacations. This is YOUR vacation, not mine, that YOU decided to go on. I am honestly shocked every time I’m asked to cover the cost of a missed class so my students can go on a vacation. I won’t do it.
If lessons were 52 weeks a year that would be very different. I would have a policy that accommodated vacations. But this is a monthly commitment and a service that is only available 7 months out of the year. As such, the attendance policy reflects this type of service.
It is not fair to book lessons with me and then ask me not to charge you to not show up because you decided to go on vacation or you booked something else that conflicts with swimming lessons. I will not do that. You made a commitment to me and your child/ren.
Reason #24
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Reason #24 〰️
Swimming lessons need to be a priority for parents. I want parents who understand the importance of their child/ren learning how to swim. I don’t want parents who see summer swimming lessons as a parental checklist item to check off.
Parents who see swimming lessons as a “check list” item stop lessons just when their child/ren are making excellent progress because “summer is over” and now it’s soccer or football time. Both my students and I are disappointed because they are having fun and have so much more to learn.
I need to make sure parents are as committed to their children learning to swim as I am. Parents who are committed to swimming lessons don’t reschedule lessons.
I cannot count how many of my students lives have been saved by their swimming lessons with me. I get texts and emails from parents telling me how their child used skills learned in my classes to save themselves when they got into trouble in the pool. Your child won’t be able to do that if you decide that gymnastics, horse backing riding lessons, soccer, baseball or dance is more important for them than learning a life saving skill like swimming.
Reason #25
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Reason #25 〰️
Parents think that if they don’t show up for lessons on a beautiful, warm, sunny day, they will get a makeup class on an equally beautifully, warm, sunny day that is convenient to their schedule.
That is a fallacy. If you don’t show up for class and DEMAND a makeup class I will schedule your make up class for a weekend in November…IF I decide to teach in November. And every time your child complains about being cold I will have them get out of the pool to complain to you.
It's not fair for you to take up two gorgeous swimming spots. I’m not scheduling a makeup class for you in June, July or even August or September. It will be IF I am free at the end of the season. And I’m not even saying, or promising, or guaranteeing a makeup class in this section. It most likely will not happen at all.
Reason #26
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Reason #26 〰️
“I have a conflict with swimming lessons. I’ll just have Kristin reschedule our lesson. She won’t mind.”
That is a fallacy. I do mind…a lot. For all the reasons listed above. I realize parents don’t understand how much trouble rescheduling requests cause so instead of figuring out other solutions they call me first and they want to make it my problem. I cannot be the solution to everyone’s reasons why they have a conflict with an agreed upon swimming lesson on our schedules. This is why I am requiring parents to read this entire page before even thinking about asking me to reschedule a lesson. Have you exhausted every other option FIRST?
I also have parents who schedule conflicting activities AFTER committing to swimming lessons with the assumption I will just move their lessons. I am 100% booked. I can’t move your lessons.
Reason #27
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Reason #27 〰️
“It just ONE lesson. You can make an exception for me.”
It’s not that it’s just one lesson. It’s that everyone wants “just one lesson” rescheduled and that becomes DOZENS of lessons I’m supposed to reschedule on a daily basis. I cannot handle all the exceptions I’m asked to make daily. I get this request daily.
Reason #28
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Reason #28 〰️
“Come on…It doesn’t take that long to reschedule one lesson…does it?”
Yes, yes it does. I have a lot of places I have to record the “rescheduling” for business records, for you and for me so that we all know that you are getting an additional class spot for free. For business purposes I have to notate that I am giving you an additional class for free and document that.
I do have a lot of work to do for everyone’s swimming lessons outside of the time I spend actually teaching lessons. Administrative work. Pool and yard maintenance. Returning parent phone calls, texts, and emails. Reviewing videos from students classes and making notes about lessons. I have limited number of hours outside of the pool to get all of this done. I have to prioritize.
I have decided that rescheduling your lessons will be at the bottom of my priority list. If I put them at the top of my list I would not have time to do anything else including keeping the pool running and clean for lessons. So do not assume I will ever get to rescheduling your lesson. I am the only person doing everything here. I most likely will never get to the rescheduling part of my to do list.
Attending the swimming lesson you signed up for was not a priority for you. Making sure you get a “make up” class is not a priority of mine. I’ve already checked off in my books that I fulfilled my obligation for the time you reserved so I probably won’t remember to get you on the calendar for a “make up” class.
Reason #29
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Reason #29 〰️
“Never mind. Thanks!”
After I spend my personal time trying to reschedule a lesson, or two, or three, for a parent I get a text message, “Never mind. I can make that class/es now. Thanks!”
So all that work I did during my personal time was wasted. Not just wasted, but now I have even MORE work UNDOING all my notes and documentation that I created to reschedule those lessons.
Parents who say this to me AFTER I’ve rescheduled their class did not just “do me a favor.” In fact they just doubled my workload to go back to the original schedule and wasted my time twice.
No one ever pays me for all that work I did to reschedule their lessons and then un-reschedule their class/es. They just wasted a ton of my time off.
Everyone needs time off to rest and recover so they are in full form the next day. It’s not fair when parents take all that time from me.
Just like with the “Sick Policy” parents broke the Rescheduling Policy beyond repair. There is no rescheduling policy any more. There is only an Attendance Policy.
Reason #30
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Reason #30 〰️
“I have a conflict with baseball/ gymnastics/ cooking class/ dance/ etc, so you need to reschedule my child’s swimming lesson for me so we can do everything I signed my child up for and not lose any money.”
No. I did not create the conflict in your schedule so I am not going to fix it and be the one who loses money for a conflict I had no say in. You will have to choose between swimming lesson that day and another activity.
I do not think any other activity is more important than swimming lessons. I help your child stay alive in a pool! How many other activities your child is involved in does that?!
Why should I have to cover the cost for an activity you decided to sign up for AFTER you registered for swimming lessons? Or…why would you register for swimming lessons if it conflicts with another activity?
I don’t see how sitting on a baseball bench for the majority of a baseball game is more important than learning how to swim. Or prioritizing gymnastics, which is all year round, over swimming lessons which is only 7 months out of the year a good choice. But, that is not my choice to make.
I’ve never heard of baseball, soccer or gymnastics saving any child’s life. Swimming lessons can save your child’s life. I don’t understand parents that choose other sports over swimming lessons, but that’s just my view.
Reason #31
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Reason #31 〰️
Every year I have fine tuned the schedule to make it as user friendly for as many families schedules as possible.
Every year I look at the holiday schedule and school schedule and customize the swimming schedule to work within those schedules.
I’ve spoken to HUNDREDS of parents and incorporated their feedback into a schedule that also takes into consideration consistency in lessons so that my students get the most out of their schedule.
I can’t make a schedule that will work for every single family situation, but I’m confident that what I have now works for most families. It works for enough families that I am completely booked every single month with a wait list of dozens of families. So no, I will not customize a schedule for anyone. Someone else will take the schedule as posted.
Most families ARE able to attend EVERY SINGLE LESSON WITHOUT MISSING A SINGLE ONE. I cannot stress this enough. These families prioritize swimming lessons over every other activity. Nothing comes before swimming lessons. Those families NEVER ask to reschedule any lessons.
Reason #32
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Reason #32 〰️
Now that I have an Attendance Policy I have more time to implement some of my MANY ideas for swimming lessons that I never had time for because I had to spend all my free time rescheduling lessons for parents.
If I’m going to spend my free time on swimming lesson work I’d much rather spend that time creating programs that help my students get excited about learning to swim, motivate them to try harder and try again, or JUST TRY! I think parents would agree with me.
I have a list of dozens of ideas that year after year I don’t have time to get to because I was overwhelmed with parents requests to reschedule lessons. I’m so excited to finally have the time to start implementing some of these ideas. Swimming lessons are just going to keep getting better and better every year now that I have the time to invest into these ideas for the KIDS!
I’m already getting positive feedback from parents and students loving the new activities this year. It’s a MUCH better use of my time.
Reason #33
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Reason #33 〰️
I just want to teach your child to swim, not spend all my time and energy rescheduling lessons.
To avoid charging cancellation and rescheduling fees I have a banned list of families I will no longer teach due to the large number of classes they missed and constant requests for rescheduling lessons. I have a VERY LONG WAIT LIST. The reschedule word is crab. I am always booked 100% every session. I can afford to ban families who do not respect my time and the importance of swimming lessons for their kids.
If parents continue to insist on rescheduling classes I will have no choice but to increase my prices to cover all the costs that are incurred by all the rescheduling lessons. So please think twice if you can really attend the class or not. I find that when parents have to cover the costs of rescheduling lessons they always find a way to attend all their classes.
Reason #34
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Reason #34 〰️
I have no way to track rescheduled classes.
To reschedule classes I must have a system. I got rid of that system when I got rid of the policy. I don’t reschedule classes so I don’t need a system. If you ask me to reschedule your class how am I going to do it if I no longer have a system in place to handle rescheduling lessons? I can’t. Yep, I got rid of the system on purpose.
Just Come To Class!
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Just Come To Class! 〰️
You STILL have questions???
Classes have not started yet and I have one or more conflicts. I see that you have another spot available that session that works better for me. May I switch to that spot?
Yes, but, depending on the spot you currently have, and the session in discussion and how many days we are before the session starts I may have to charge you a fee to switch the class.
You may have a spot that I could have filled had you switched sooner and now I’ve got a hole in my schedule that will be difficult to fill due to the timing of the switch. When you reserve a spot I lose students who want your spot. They hire someone else in the meantime and I can no longer get them back for that spot. I lost that revenue while you had that spot locked in and I committed that time to you.
Again, this is not always the case. Most of the time I will be able to fill the spot, but sometimes parents have cost me a lot of money by wanting to switch spots and it’s only in those situations I will charge a small fee to switch spots.
If I can’t make class do I need to let you know?
Yes! I will worry if you just don’t show up. I care about you and my students. I will think you are in a car accident or something bad happened. It’s also polite.
If you are just going to miss a class do NOT CANCEL the single class in the system! If you are signed up for a block of classes it will cancel ALL of your classes. Just notify me that you are not attending and I will flag that class as a ‘no show’ on my end so I know not to expect you.
If you just don’t show up for two classes in a row and don’t notify me that you are not coming to class I will assume you decided to stop attending classes and will release the rest of your schedule to others to use.
It’s crazy that parents ghost professionals they hire to teach their children, but that is the world today and I have to take those parents into consideration when writing policies.
What if my child is sick? I can reschedule then, right?
No.
Sadly in the past parents used this loop hole to lie to me in order to take vacations and not attend classes for many other reasons, NOT because their child was really sick. Then I see their vacation pictures on Instagram or their child tells me their parents were lying to me about them being sick. Yes, your children forget to lie and they tell me the truth about why they missed class.
This is your child, not mine. I do not have any say over their health decisions so I should not be expected to cover the cost of them missing their appointment if they are sick.
So no, I will not take the financial hit if your child is sick and has to miss class. There are only a few classes per session. This is now the parents risk. Once I transferred the financial risk over to the parents by having a zero cancellation policy I noticed a near perfect attendance record. This just reinforced that students were not as sick as parents said they were when I took the financial hit when parents cancelled due to a “sick” student.
Also, parents took advantage of the definition of “sick”. A “tired” child is not a sick child. A child having “a bad day” is not a sick child. “Sick siblings” do not mean that my student should not be able to come to their lesson. A great uncle with a cough does not mean that my student cannot come to class. When I had a sick policy parents pushed it to the absolute outer limits to not come to class when it was not convenient for them. Remember, you are reserving my TIME. I set aside my time for you…no one else.
So basically my Attendance Policy keeps your child healthy!!!
Once again, please refer back to the first section about the time, administrative and operational costs associated with each class. Classes cost money even if you book them and then do not attend them.
COVID-19 is no longer an excepted reason to reschedule classes. Parents have used this excuse to take multiple vacations by claiming a different member of their family has COVID-19 whenever they wanted to skip class and not pay for their RESERVED spots. There are no longer any excuses to reschedule lessons. Parents used up all my goodwill by abusing previous policies. I do not take doctors notes. I do not have the time to deal with confirming their legitimacy as I am busy teaching swimming lessons. Since parents have repeatedly lied to me about their children being sick I cannot trust the legitimacy of doctor’s notes.
But my child got an ear infection from swimming, so you aren’t going to make us come to lessons and will reschedule now right?!
Your child did not get an ear infection from swimming. Your child got an ear infection from wax build up in their ear(s). Water got inside. That water could have come from any source like a shower, bath, splash pad, water park or any pool they’ve been swimming in, not necessarily my pool. As a parent you need to be diligent in checking your children’s ears for wax build up. That is your responsibility. I cannot be held financially responsible for your child not attending class if you are not checking to make sure your child’s ears are not full of wax and a potential breeding ground for bacteria. I provided a post on my Swimming News page that provided helpful tips on how to prevent ear infections during swimming months.
You should follow your doctor’s instructions and not swim for however long they advise, but that doesn’t mean we are rescheduling your lessons if your child is told not to swim for several days while they recover from an ear infection.
OK, that’s it. I’ve said enough about that topic. The attendance policy is still the same as the policy explained at the top of this page.
You pay for the times you reserved with me.
Attend class or don’t attend class you still pay for the time you reserved with me.
Just do NOT ask me to reschedule lessons for you.
If you do decide to ask me to reschedule a lesson for you, you must give me the secret password I’ve hidden on this page to prove to me that you have read the entire page AND you better have an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT reason like LIFE OR DEATH reason.
If you read this far and do not like this policy please do NOT sign up for swimming lessons with me.
Thank you.
If you have an emergency conflict I MAY be able to reschedule the class. But please understand that this is not a guarantee.
Fill out the form below and IF I’m able to switch your lesson with another family who also cannot make a class and your availability schedules work then I will do that.
My ability to make an emergency rescheduling request happen increases with the more notice you give me. The less notice I have, the less possibility I can make it happen.
I will only be able to manage these emergency rescheduling requests via this form. If you do not fill out this form I cannot be expected to remember your availability should an opening arise that fits your request.
This is a last resort option for emergency situations only. I will not be entertaining weekly requests for rescheduling from the same family.