August 2021 Parent Letter

Dear Parents and Students,

I hope everyone is having a great summer, despite the heat and the smoke. Here is the news for this month:

Welcome to new families! We have a number of new families joining our Elementary classes this fall. I want to extend a special welcome to each of you! Feel free to reach out to me at any time with any questions you may have about the studio. I also encourage you to come to our open house at the end of this month.

Open House. We are going to hold an open house this year! This will be a time when both new and returning students can check out the studio, meet teachers, try on leotards and shoes (I should have sample leotards in the studio by this time), and ask any questions you have about the upcoming year. Our open house will be Tuesday, August 31, from 5:30-7:30. You can drop in any time during those two hours. If you have friends who are interested in joining us, bring them with you!

Drop-in classes and beginning intensive. Students who were in levels A-F last year are welcome to attend drop-in classes throughout this month. You can see the schedule and prices on our website: https://www.spokaneacademyofdance.com/summer-drop-ins We also have one more week of the Beginning Intensive coming up in a few weeks! View the details at https://www.spokaneacademyofdance.com/copy-of-summer.

Website and parent portal. Our website has been updated! You can go there to view these parent letters, download forms (enrollment form, class info, calendar, etc.), view our COVID-19 policies, browse a gallery of pictures, and more! www.spokaneacademyofdance.com You can also view and download the same forms through your parent portal on Dance Studio-Pro – log in at https://dancestudio-pro.com/online/spokaneaod, and near the top right of your screen you should see a box labeled “Quick Links” with several icons. Click the one labeled “Files” to view files that have been shared with your child. Please also be sure to go to “Waivers” (from your home page) and click to accept our policies and liability waiver.

New merch available! One thing you will see if you check our website is that we have an online store now! You can buy Academy of Dance apparel and a few other items through our website. A small portion of each sale goes directly back to the studio. We are working on also adding the ability to sell dancewear online through Corps Dancewear (the same company that makes our masks). These items will also have the Academy of Dance logo on them and will be available in all our class dress code colors.

Help needed with locker assembly! As mentioned in a previous parent letter, I’ve used some of our covid relief funds to purchase lockers for our students. They are now at the studio, but they need to be assembled. The assembly process is just screwing nuts and bolts into holes, but the lockers are extremely heavy – about 150 pounds per set. I will need the help of at least two strong adults to put them together, and I think it will be easiest to do this after drop-in classes have ended on August 27. If you are available any time between August 28 and September 11 (the earlier the better) and would like to help, please let me know!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook! Miss Sara has taken the reins of our Instagram account, and she is posting daily updates, including pictures of summer classes, throwbacks of old performances, inspiration to carry you through class, and more. All Instagram posts are posted to our Facebook account as well. Follow us! @spokaneacademyofdance on Instagram and @spokaneAOD on Facebook.

Classes start September 13! If we don’t see you in our remaining summer classes or at the open house, I hope you have a lovely rest of your summer and we will see you when classes start the week of September 13!

New Wednesday Class Times for Elementary 1-2

Our Elementary 1 classes for the fall are nearly full! This is a great problem to have, so we have added another Elementary 1 class on Wednesdays from 5:15-6:00. In order to do this, we have had to shift the Elementary 2 Wednesday class to 4:00-5:00. I know this is not the most convenient option for everyone, but it was the preferred time for the majority of parents who had a child enrolled.

If your child is currently enrolled in Monday or Tuesday Elementary 1 and you would like to switch to Wednesday, please email me to let me know. Don't sign up online because you'll be charged for tuition you may have already paid.

If your child is enrolled in the Wednesday Elementary 2 class and the 4:00 time doesn't work for you, consider switching to the Monday class, which is still 4:30-5:30. We currently have plenty or room in that class. Again, email me directly to switch classes rather than doing it online.

I do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause! I try to make the schedule as convenient as possible for as many people as possible, but I know it doesn't always work out ideally for some.

July 2021 Parent Letter

Dear Parents and Students,

The first month of summer just flew by! Most of our summer programs are starting in July, so be sure to sign up if you haven’t yet!

Summer Intensives. Current Ballet A-F students can enroll in our summer intensives. Check out our schedule here: https://www.spokaneacademyofdance.com/copy-of-summer

Drop-in Classes. Current Ballet A-F students can also attend drop-in classes in August (we’re looking into adding drop-ins for current D/E/F students in July in lieu of summer intensives, so let me know if you’re in that level and interested). You should be able to view them on Dance Studio-Pro and you can purchase classes in advance by clicking the “dance cards” button in your parent portal.

Fall classes are now open for enrollment! If you have already pre-registered for the school year, I’ve enrolled your child in the appropriate technique class. If your child is in Creative Movement or Elementary, I’ve temporarily put their name on the lists for both class options we offer in order to secure their spot; please let me know (if you haven’t already) which class you would prefer they attend and I’ll remove them from the other one. If your child is in Ballet 1-5, be sure to enroll them in any elective classes they wish to take. As always, please contact me if you have any issues registering.

Pictures and DVDs are here! If you ordered a class/individual photo or a DVD/USB of the performance, they are at the studio right now. Please see our office hours below and come pick them up at your earliest convenience.

Office hours this month. In general, this month’s office hours will correspond to the classes we’re running:

July 5-9: 9:30-2:30

July 12-30: 9:00-3:00 Monday-Friday (note: I will be out of town July 21-25, so the office will be closed those days)

August 2-14 and 23-27: 12:30-3:30 M/W/F, 12:30-4:30 T/Th

August 16-20: 9:00-3:00

Want more summer classes? If your child is between 3-8 years old, let me know if you’re interested in weekly classes this summer. At first I wasn’t able to fit it into the schedule, but we had to make some changes so there may be room now.

New merch! We have brand new Academy of Dance merch available on our website at https://www.spokaneacademyofdance.com/shop. More products will be added soon!

We hope to see you in the studio this summer – if not, have a great vacation and we’ll see you in September. Classes start the 13th!

~Naomi <><