Dear Parents and Students,
October is set to be a busy month at the Academy! Please read and save this parent letter for your records.
Contents:
- tuition and billing clarification
- attendance, make-up, and sick policy
- movie night October 7
- Master class opportunity October 9 (Ballet 4-5)
- fundraiser night October 14
- Gonzaga performance October 26
- Costume week October 25-31
Tuition and billing clarification. September tuition is now past due. October tuition is due but is not late until after the 10th. We have had a lot of questions about billing since we switched platforms. The billing manager is set to post tuition on the 20th of each month. If you are enrolled in auto-pay, your card will be charged 10 days later, either the 1st of the month or the day before depending on how many days are in the month. This is how the old system was set up as well. However, I wasn’t able to do the same thing for September since we started in the middle of the month, so tuition was posted on the 11th (or whatever your first day of class was) and auto-pay processed 10 days after that. If you didn’t pay September tuition before the 20th, this meant your account showed two months of tuition at the same time. If you are enrolled in auto-pay, however, you were only charged for September. I apologize for the confusion this caused! It should be more straightforward from here on out. Please note that you have to opt in to auto-pay, not opt out. If you are not in auto-pay and have not paid September tuition, you can pay by cash, check, or card at the office or make a payment online by logging into your account.
Attendance, make-up, and sick policy. With school starting and the weather turning colder, we already have had several kids (and two teachers!) out sick. If your child is sick, please keep them home until they are better. Your child will recover more quickly if they have time to rest, and we don’t want to spread anything to the other students or teachers. If your child has recovered from an illness but still has a lingering cough, we recommend having them wear a mask for class (we have child-sized surgical masks available). If your child is going to miss class for any reason, please notify the office by calling or emailing. We also encourage everyone to make up their absences. Elementary 1 and 2 can attend their same level on a different day of the week; Ballet 1-5 can attend a class one level below their own. Unfortunately there is no second Creative Movement class at this time, but we’re hoping to add another one soon.
Movie night October 7. Our first movie night is approaching! We will be watching Barbie in the Pink Shoes on October 7 from 5-7 pm. This movie night is intended for children ages 8 and younger and will include a craft, coloring pages, and plenty of popcorn. Academy students, siblings, and friends are all welcome to join; admission is $10 per person. You can sign up at the studio or on the SportsEngine Motion app by going to “Events and Jobs” in the left-hand sidebar.
Master class opportunity October 9. We have an exciting opportunity for our Ballet 4-5 students coming up soon! One of Lesley’s former students, Katie O'Loughlin, recently graduated from Ohio State University with an MFA in Dance and she will be visiting us on the 9th. We would love our students to have the opportunity to take a contemporary class from her. Class times for the 9th will remain unchanged; however, the Ballet 5 class time will be a contemporary class taught by Katie, which we encourage Ballet 4 students to attend if they want to. Additionally, any Ballet 5 students who want a classical technique class that day should also come to Ballet 4 from 4:00-5:30.
Fundraiser night October 14. As I mentioned in last month’s parent letter, we have partnered with Caruso’s Sandwiches and Artisan Pizza to hold a fundraiser night for Spokane Youth Ballet! However, we pushed the date back by a couple weeks to give us more time to get the word out. We are now holding the fundraiser on October 14. Between 4-8 pm, if you go to Caruso’s or order from them online (delivery or pickup) and mention that you want to participate in our fundraiser, 20% of your bill will be donated to SYB to help fund our summer concert. We’d love to see many of you at the restaurant! They are located on Argonne just south of Montgomery. Originally, we were planning to have a family night the following weekend, on the 21st, but with all the other events in October we decided that would be too much. So the fundraiser night will be a great opportunity to meet other parents in the studio!
Gonzaga performance October 26. Gonzaga University’s Fall Dance Day is Thursday, October 26. There are events for aspiring dance majors throughout the day, but at 7:30 pm they are holding a performance at the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center featuring, among other performances, a piece choreographed by our own Phaedra Jarrett on their students. We would love to make this a “ballet field trip” night! It does conflict with Ballet 3, however, so we would have to schedule a time to make that up. Let me know if you would object to pulling a long dance day and coming to a Ballet 4 class (4:00-5:30) in addition to your Ballet 2/3 class on either Monday or Wednesday of that week.
Costume week October 25-31. One of my favorite traditions at the Academy of Dance is our costume weeks! Our first one is October 25-31, which is a Wednesday through Tuesday. During this time, students may dress up during their regular classes in an old dance costume, a Halloween costume, or any other attire as long as it doesn’t impede their movement or ability to participate fully in class. Please keep these rules in mind: 1) No capes, cloaks, scaves, necklaces, or any other costume elements that wrap around the neck (this is for safety). If your costume has an element like this, it will need to be removed for class. 2) Dancers will still need to wear ballet shoes and (girls) have their hair in a bun. 3) Nothing gory, scary, or otherwise inappropriate to be seen by young or sensitive dancers. 4) if your costume is too hot, wear your ballet clothes underneath so you can remove the costume if necessary. Many teachers and some students also hand out candy during this week. Please let me know if your child has any food allergies and I will pass that information along. You can email me or list food allergies under “Medical Notes” in your child’s Member profile on your SportsEngine account.
That’s all the news for October! Have a great fall month!
~Naomi <><