The Pointe’s Friday FYI – 8/25/23

Happy Friday, PSD Families!
This Friday FYI email is our primary method of communication to studio families – please save it for a time when you can read through it thoroughly and bookmark it for reference!

New & Urgent this week:
– What to Expect in your First Dance Class – by age – below!
– 2023-2024 full studio calendar and policies are online here (www.thepointeschool.com/policies)
– Class Registration for The Nutcracker begins Monday, August 28th! You will receive a separate email on Monday containing the Handbook and Registration form – details below

Stay tuned to these regular email updates – this is your primary source for all studio news!

Find all of the important dates for the year here: www.thepointeschool.com/policies – we list upcoming dates within the next few weeks in the Friday FYI as well for your convenience!

• August 20-26 – Welcome Week & Classes Start (see details below!)
• August 25 – September Tuition & Costume Payment Processed
• August 28 – Nutcracker Registration Begins
• September 2-4 – Closed, Labor Day Weekend
• September 18-23 – Discover Dance Days
• September 22 – Nutcracker Registration Closes
• September 25 – October Tuition & Costume Payment Processed
• October 16-21 – Parent Appreciation Week
• October 21 – Halloween Parade & Choreography Camp
• October 24 – 30 – Costume Week
• October 25 – November Tuition & Costume Payment Processed

We are SO excited for classes to start this week! Parents, please read the information below thoroughly so you know what to expect in your dancer’s first class! Know that the first week of classes is one of our busiest weeks at the studio – more parents come in the lobby, need items in the dance shop, and wait through their dancer’s classes this week than any other week of the year. Our parking lot, boutique, and lobby areas might feel really crowded – this all calms down once everyone gets in the swing of class routines 🙂. All of our classrooms have a viewing window – and Studio D’s viewing window is a little smaller and not convenient with a seat, so we live stream those classes to a TV screen in the lobby. Parents, we invite you to come in for the first few minutes of your dancer’s classes to meet your teacher and hear some reminders and important information, and then you’re welcome to stay in the lobby or hallway and watch, come shop in the boutique, or enjoy a little time to yourself (as a new parent, I completely understand how special a trip by myself to the grocery store or out for a coffee run can be!) 🙂 Here’s a quick guide for what to expect for each class specifically in the first week!

Dance With Me – Your dancer should come into class with their parent or guardian who will participate with them the whole time. Dancers and caregivers should wear comfortable clothing they can easily move in and plan to dance in bare feet. Socks can be too slippery on dance floors, and street shoes are not to be worn in the studio. Please leave your shoes outside the studio rooms – underneath the bench in the hallway on the boot trays.

Mini Movers – Dancers should wear ballet shoes and comfortable clothing they can easily move in. Parents, please come into class (please leave your shoes outside the studio room) with your dancer to introduce your child to their teacher, meet the teacher, and hear from your instructor directly about the class. Sometimes little ones have a difficult time separating from mom and dad at this age – so we will use the beginning of our first class to practice saying “bye bye” and having dancers stay in the dance room independently. This may take a few tries at this age, and that’s completely normal! If your dancer truly needs you to stay in the room, we do allow that for the first few weeks of class. It is our goal – and our class is designed – for dancers to be in class independently. Our instructors will work with dancers or families that need extra support with separation, and work to have dancers enter classes on their own 🙂

Dance & Discover (1, 2, and 3) – Dancers need tap and ballet shoes, and will enter class wearing tap shoes (we will always do tap first!). Please have girls wear a leotard and tights, boys should wear athletic bottoms (pants or shorts) and a solid color or PSD top. Parents, please come into class (please leave your shoes outside the studio room) with your dancer to introduce your child to their teacher, meet the teacher, and hear from your instructor directly about the class. Sometimes little ones have a difficult time separating from mom and dad (especially Dance & Discover 1!) – so we may use the beginning of our first class to practice saying “bye bye” and having dancers stay in the dance room independently. Our instructors will work with the dancers in their classes to make this positive and successful 🙂 Parents, we suggest packing a bag just with your dancer’s dance shoes and a water bottle – dancers will change their shoes during class. To keep class moving and reduce distractions, instructors will help with shoe changes and we will keep dancers in the dance room.

Chance to Dance – Parents, please come in to the studio room (leave your shoes out in the lobby) for the first few minutes of class to meet Miss Denise and her assistants for the school year. Miss Denise will give some announcements and reminders, and this is a great time to share any important information that would be helpful for our instructional team to know about your dancer. Chance to Dance is our only class on Fridays, so the parking lot and lobby are usually very open.

All Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Lyrical/Contemporary, Pointe, and Acro – Parents, please come into class (please leave your shoes outside the studio room) with your dancer to introduce your child to their teacher, meet the teacher, and hear from your instructor directly about the class. This will just take a few minutes, and then our teachers will dive right in and get the class moving!

The school year just started, but our Nutcracker plans are well underway! Registration for you dancer to participate with their class in this year’s performance of The Nutcracker begins Monday, August 28th. You will receive a separate email from us on Monday containing the Performance Handbook and Registration Form. Sign Ups will continue through September 22nd. We are starting this process way earlier than with the Holiday Showcase in the past to give more time for dancers to learn and perfect choreography and to make sure we can get the costumes in on time. Here is what you need to know right now:

• All Ballet classes Level 1 and up will have the opportunity to participate in The Nutcracker. Participation in this performance is optional.
• We will not be announcing which scenes are being assigned to which classes until after Registration closes.
• Your registration for your dancer will include choreography, costume rental, 4 tickets to the performance, and a Nutcracker cast T-Shirt.
• All participants must be present for the Dress Rehearsal on Friday, December 15th (evening) and both performances on December 17th (1 & 3 PM). Both of these events will be in the Linn-Mar High School Auditorium
• If your dancer is in a Dance & Discover, Beginning, or Chance to Dance class – we will have a separate Holiday Performance opportunity available to you! Details coming soon!

Did you know that we offer free trial classes for new-to-The-Pointe families – and we have a sweet deal for you if you refer a friend to our program? Families can schedule a trial class easily – just have them send us an email and we’ll take care of it!

When a family you’ve referred signs up, please have them list your name in the “Where did you hear about us?” form in online registration. We will send them a $20 gift card to our boutique to help them get the gear their dancer needs for class – and as a thank you, we’ll send one to you, too! Trial classes are easy to schedule online, and are FREE for a limited time!

• Click the links on your phone to download the BAND app and join these groups 🙂 
• Please join the Studio-wide BAND here: https://band.us/n/a7aa9b43OcwbP
• If your dancer is in COMPANY, please join the Company BAND here: https://band.us/n/a1ae9741O1XbO (dancers can and should join, too!)
• If your dancer is in COMMUNITY TEAM, please join the CT BAND here: https://band.us/n/a7ab9544OeY4B (dancers can and should join, too!) 
• Families have received an email with a unique link to join the BAND group for each class – if you’ve joined us after that message went out, please find your dancer’s instructor after class to get access or shoot us an email ([email protected]) and we’ll get you added!

We’ve added another easy method of communication to get relevant information directly to families – right on your phone!

Have a wonderful weekend!
– Miss Vanessa & your PSD Staff