Question about gymnastics (and other) classes
So I was pumped because my husband agreed to take the girls to gymnastics every Saturday, which means alone time for me. Woohoo! But today was their first day and there were "hidden costs" we weren't aware of. In addition to monthly tuition there is an annual enrollment fee for each kid, last months' deposit and they follow the school calendar so no class during holiday weeks, spring break and two weeks at Christmas. Tuition is the same each month and they don't allow make up classes if you miss a class. We had already accepted that given our frequent travel we would probably miss a class at least every other month dor that reason. But now we're unsure about this as we'll miss add'l classes due to the class schedule. I understand why they have these policies but I'm just not sure this is a good fit for us.
So questions: is this how most places work? Do any allow for make up classes? Or pay for a set # of classes? Anyone have rec's for gymnastics in NW Austin? Thanks!
Re: Question about gymnastics (and other) classes
That would annoy me, too. Is there a Y near you? Granted, we're in a smaller town, but our Y has a great tumbling/gymnastics class and we pay $25/kid/session. Each session is about 7-8 classes, and there are no other enrollment or deposit fees.
I'd say shop around. Hopefully someone has a rec for you!
(read it. you know you want to.)
anderson . september 2008
vivian . february 2010
mabel . august 2012
sounds pretty similiar to dd's dance school's policy.
that's one reason why i can't commit to saturday classes, i feel like we'd always be missing. maybe try little gym - i think they have a gymnastics class.
We pay a monthly fee where DD is (she's in a ballet, tap, and tumbling combo class) and the cost stays the same whether you miss a class or not. They shut down for two weeks at Christmas and cancelled class on Halloween (it's a Monday class).
So what you're dealing with seems pretty typical. We had "hidden" costs of a recital fee and costume fee that we didn't know about ahead of time.
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As a business owner (not of a gymnastics place, but of a music school), I understand this. I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but I am short at least a couple of hundred-$500 each month because of issues such as these. I pay my teachers on the 15th, and inevitably, there's someone who quits after I've paid the teachers and then refuse to pay the last month. Or someone quits during december and just writes the check for 1/2 the month (because they only had 2 lessons) and then walks away. Or someone buys books, but doesn't have their checkbook, and then never returns, etc. When I ran my own studio out of my house, I NEVER dealt with this because the families I teach are families that I've taught for 6 plus years. But it is fairly common occurrence in this industry, I've learned.
We don't have a last months' deposit or an annual enrollment fee, but I totally understand why they are doing this. It covers the costs of those that walk away without paying. The fees that we do have in place, however, are not hidden. We do charge a one time family enrollment fee and recital fees. However, we give students both a printed copy and PDFs of the policies that explains this. We also explain that yes some months have 3 lessons, but some have 5. So it does even out.
As a parent, I would expect such policies in a written format so that they are not hidden. Yes, as a business owner, I expect that most places follow such policies like those you mentioned. To avoid that, I would explore short term options (like the Y) that offer 6-8 weeks of classes. We do summer classes that are 6-8 weeks long too, so maybe that's an option in the gymnastics world?
For DD's dance class, we had a registration fee, paid first & last month's tuition, and we have a set rate for each month regardless of how many classes they have/we attend. But we knew that up front and I wouldn't have registered had it been "hidden" from me. It sucked at Christmas to pay the full month when we only had a couple classes, but I know that other months we get more than 4 classes, too, so it ultimately evens out in the end.
As for missing classes, we go to Houston pretty frequently to visit my parents and we have just gotten into the habit of scheduling travel around class. We make a point to be in Austin for dance class and TBH, DD would probably be pretty upset if we missed. She talks about dance class every.single.day.of.the.week so I would hate to intentionally deprive her of that activity. And we just look at this as training (for us) for when school starts - no more travelling on a whim because we feel like it. DD's got activities and we commit to them, no matter how inconvenient it is for us.