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*UPDATE (MAY 18TH, 2021)*

Please visit our “Illness Protocols” tab to review the most current CDC Covid-19 guidelines.

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*Email Sent November 29th, 2020*

Welcome back dancers!  

Our studio will be back open starting Monday, November 30^th, we are excited to welcome you all back.

Per the Governor’s newest proclamation, there will be a few classes that will need to follow a hybrid schedule. If that pertains to your dancer, you will receive an additional email with the instructions today.

Zoom Classes:  Please let us know as soon as possible if you are wanting your dancer to attend zoom only classes.  If at any time your dancer should need to start zoom classes (during quarantine), please contact us right away so we can plan accordingly.  We are not planning to zoom all classes, but will zoom only those necessary.  

We want to remind you of the safety protocols that we will continue to follow with a few additions.  Please read these carefully, as some restrictions have been tighten to ensure we can continue to teach in studio. 

• Masks are REQUIRED for anyone inside the building, AT ALL TIMES.  
• The lobbies remain CLOSED. No parents are allowed to sit in the lobbies at any time. 
• Parents of young dancers can send ONE guardian inside to take your dancer to their dance room then return to pick them up at class end time.  Please do not come early to drop off or pick up your dancers.  
• Please be aware of parking lot safety, it is best if you can come to the door to pick up your dancer.  We would like the dancers to wait inside until they can see their parent.  Please be patient, this process could take some extra time.  Your child’s safety is our priority.  
• If your dancer’s class is in studio D, please have them enter and exit using the southeast door (closest to 8^th street).  
• Please limit the amount of time your dancer is in the waiting rooms.  You can help with this by dropping them off and picking them up right at class times, and by picking them up during longer breaks.  
• Please limit the items your dancer brings into the studio to their dance bags and a bottle of water.  Clean out the dance bags to include only shoes and clothes needed for dance. 

• Please continue to use emails, phone calls, or electronic communications to contact the studio any time it is possible. Parents who need to purchase shoes/apparel/or tangible items will need to make an appointment to do so.
• Please review distancing protocols with your dancers as well so they can best distance themselves while waiting for class inside the building.  Dancers are expected to find an X on the waiting room floor and remain there until they are able to enter the dance room. 
• We continue to sanitize all dance rooms, bathrooms, door handles, light switches, etc. frequently throughout each night. Any equipment that is used for class instruction is sanitized between dancers. 
• Teachers will continue to prepare class lessons that maintain social distancing and safety for the dancers and staff. 
• Our Quarantine Protocols are up to date and reflect the most current CDC recommended guidelines. Please review this information on our website, www.patbartondance.com.  Let us know if you have questions. If your dancer will be absent from classes, please call the studio to let us know.
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• It is recommended that any dancer that travels out of state should follow the state recommended 14 day quarantine period from dance classes upon arriving back home. 

Thank you so much for your understanding and flexibility during this fluid situation. We will continue to do everything we can to keep everyone safe and working hard in the studio!

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*Email Sent November 18th, 2020*

Good morning, PBDS families!

As many of you know, we spent the day yesterday calling and emailing the Governor’s office for guidance as to what our expectations are and we have some great news! Late yesterday evening we did receive both verbal and written permission to open the studio prior to December 10th, to a more limited capacity and with stricter protocols. It is better than being shut down, so that is exactly what we will do! We will need to move to a hybrid dance model for any class that exceeds the maximum amount of people allowed. New Zoom options will be offered in addition for any class that moves to hybrid or any family that would feel more comfortable taking classes on Zoom for the month of December. Any class that is currently UNDER the maximum number allowed will remain in the studio each week. These last few days have been a whirlwind and we want to move forward in an organized manner that will cause as little confusion for our dance families and staff as possible, all while ensuring we meet the new criteria for re-opening. In order for us to organize our re-opening in the safest way, we will remain closed for the rest of this week so the staff can plan, set up the necessary equipment in the dance room, re-tape floors, etc. We will re-open for in-person classes on November 30th! Once we have everything arranged, we will send a very detailed email to you all and individual classes will be contacted as necessary. If you know that your family would prefer taking classes on Zoom for the month of December, please let us know as soon as possible so we can accurately count in-person class sizes.

THANK YOU ALL for your compassion, support, and understanding these last 48 hours. It has been nuts, right? But we are very thankful to get the opportunity to re-open and will make sure we keep your dancers safe, healthy, and DANCING during this crazy time. Stay tuned for important updates, and we hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving with your families!

Much love,

PBDS Staff

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*Email Sent September 14th, 2020*

Hello, PBDS families! 

It was SO fun to have everyone back in the studio last week, we are so excited for this season! As we kick off this new dance year, we have a few reminders and updates for you:

• Our “Comfort Band” system has changed just a bit. If your dancer fits in to the “green” category, you do not need to wear any bands. If your dancer fits in to the “yellow” or “red” categories, please pick up a band at the front desk. You will keep that band with you in your dance bag and wear it every week to class. These bands help to alert teachers of how you would prefer us to safely instruct your child. For category definitions, please see the chart posted below.
• In an attempt to limit the amount of people and exposures in the studio, please pay online and use email and/or phone calls to the studio whenever possible. Unless you need to be in the studio to speak with a secretary, parents should plan on dropping their dancers off at the door shortly before class start time and returning at class end time. If your dancer is very young, you may walk them to class and use the “X” marks on the floor to line up at a safe distance. If your dancer is old enough to walk to class on their own, please plan on dropping them off at the door and returning at class end time. Older dancers: please wait to come in to the waiting room until shortly before your class time to avoid adding congestion to the lobby.
• Masks are required in the waiting rooms, hallways, and bathroom areas. Masks are NOT required for the dancers once they are in the dance room, however they can dance in them if they choose.
• All dance room floors, equipment, and benches are sanitized between each class.
• Drinking fountains are shut down, please send a water bottle to class with your dancer.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to welcoming our Monday night dancers to the studio tonight!

Thank you!

PBDS Staff

 

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*Email Sent 9/3/2020*

Welcome Dancers!

Classes start next week, Tuesday September 8th, 2020.  Monday classes will start the following week, September 14th.

Please take some time to review our Covid – 19 safety protocols on our website.

Everyone who has registered should have received an email with their schedule and an invoice for tuition. Tuition is due on your first night of dance. If you have auto pay set up, the payment will run on September 8th.  For all other months, the payment will process on the 1st.  We strongly recommend setting up auto pay or paying invoices on your parent portal to reduce contact with staff.

Please double check your class schedules and tuition amounts to make sure they are correct before next week! Please email or call the studio with any questions or concerns. We will be monitoring the emails and calls to make sure we can make any corrections before the start of classes.

If you did not get your shoes at one of our open house dates, we will try to help you next week. It is possible that it may be just too busy to size shoes, we will try but please be patient. If you want to get your shoes for the first day, you can go to Marks Dancewear to purchase. He has all of the shoes that we use except for the black tap shoes.

If you ordered shoes at open house, most are in and we are hoping the others will be in soon. Please stop in the office to check before your class.

Please put your dancer’s name in their shoes.  All dancers should wear some type of dance wear to class.  Remember, ballet technique classes and pointe classes require pink tights and black leotards.  Hip hop dancers can wear anything that is comfortable and clean tennis shoes.

Your little ones may be nervous for the first class.  Please know it is best to let the teachers take them into class even if they are crying or upset.  They usually settle down once the class begins and come out with big smiles!  Make sure that you take all the littles to the bathroom BEFORE class.  Once one has to go, they ALL have to go! 🙂

We are so excited to welcome you (or welcome you back) to our Pat Barton Dance family!

We can’t wait to begin our classes next week!

See you all soon –

The Pat Barton Staff

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*Email sent August 15th, 2020*

Hello, dance families!  Our newest illness policies and Covid-19 information are posted on our website for you to review!  Go to Patbartondance.com and check it out!

Also, don’t forget to get registered for our 2020-2021 dance season!  

       If you registered for classes before August 13^th, you can now go out to your parent portal and check your class times!  We will continue to work on registrations as they come in, please allow a couple of days after you register for the schedule to be loaded on your parent portal.  Some team and technique placements are still being worked on so they may not show on your schedule at this time.

       To check your schedule, go to our website (www.patbartondance.com), click on Parent Portal and use the link provided to sign into your parent portal. Your username is your email address.  Make sure in the season column you use the drop down to choose the 2020 -2021(not registration 2020-2021) season to view your current schedule. *Please note: schedules are subject to change based on enrollment*

There are sure to be a few errors or conflicts to be worked out.  If you see a conflict or if you have questions about your schedule, please call or email the studio directly and we will get it corrected for you. Don’t stress, we have plenty of time to get your schedules corrected before the season starts!  About a week before dance starts, you will receive a finalized schedule that will include your tuition amount!

Our Open Houses, Shoe Fitting Day, and Performance Team Tryouts are next week!

      To keep the crowds down and maintain social distance, the open house times are only for new students or those interested in enrolling for the first time. 

The Shoe Fitting day is for returning students who need to purchase new shoes. New students may purchase shoes during one of our Open Houses. 

-Open House – Monday, August 17^th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm – New students only

-Open House -Tuesday, August 18^th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm – New students only

-Open House -Thursday, August 20^th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm – New students only

 –Shoe Fitting Day – Saturday, August 22^nd from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm – Returning students needing shoes

–Performance Team Tryouts (for new members only, 2^nd grade and older). Returning members do not need to tryout. Saturday, August 22^nd at 1:00 pm.  For more details on tryouts, visit the “Performance Team” tab on our website Patbartondance.com

To avoid the lines during our Shoe Fitting Day, we encourage you to save a credit card on your Parent Portal so that we can bill your account later.  This will help with the potentially long lines and our slow credit card system!   

Tuition:  Tuition amounts are figured as classes are added, it will not be correct until all of your classes are placed and final. The family max of $300 has not yet been applied, but will be before invoicing. We will wait to invoice tuition until we are sure that no changes are needed.  September tuition will be invoiced around the 1^st of September, and it will be due September 8th.  After tuition has been invoiced, you will be able to pay your tuition online with a credit card or ACH. With auto pay your invoices will be automatically paid on their due date.  Tuition is due the 1^st of each month, and this will be invoiced around the 15^th of the month before.

*New this year!  We are encouraging everyone to set up for auto pay or pay your invoices on the parent portal to limit contact with staff and limit the number of people in the studio.

Thank you for your patience during this busy registration time!  Please do not hesitate to call or email the studio with any questions or concerns!  Although we do not have set office hours until classes start, we are checking the phone and email messages and will get back to you as soon as possible.

Classes will start right after Labor Day, Sept 8th!   

We are excited to start the 2020-2021 dance season!   

See you soon!

Your Pat Barton Staff

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Our “Quarantine Friendly” Picture Days are coming up on June 27th and 28th. To abide by current CDC guidelines, we will be offering individual, family, and buddy pictures only (up to 4 dancers in one photo). We highly encourage everyone to come and be photographed, as no purchase is necessary. We understand times are hard for many of you, so our photographer will keep the pictures available for order in case you would like to order at a later date.

On July 11th and 12th, the photographer will be at the studio from 1:00-6:00 p.m. on both days. These will be open houses for all dancers that were photographed to stop in to the studio and view the picture proofs. You can write down the number that is on each one of your dancer’s proofs, and you can either choose to purchase photos at that time or simply give the numbers of your dancer(s) to our photographer. We also encourage all dancers that are photographed to attend one of these open houses, even if you do not wish to purchase pictures at that time. It is very important that the photographer receives the proof numbers that correspond with your dancer so that, in the future if you wish to purchase pictures at a later date, he can easily pull past photo proofs for your dancer. He will keep the numbers, make files for each dancer, and be able to easily access the pictures at a later date.

Protocols for Picture Days to keep you and your dancers safe:

-Only ONE adult/chaperone can attend with each dancer. No males will be allowed in the female dressing rooms.

-At your dancer’s scheduled picture time, we will let you in to the studio to set up your changing areas. We will have hand sanitizing stations set up at the entry way and will require everyone to sanitize prior to entry in the studio. As soon as your dancer is dressed and ready, you may proceed to the line up for pictures. After their picture is taken, you can go back to the changing room and get ready for your next costume or you can leave as soon as you are done.

-We will be sanitizing all dance floors and surfaces in between each scheduled class picture time. Because we need this time to sanitize, we will not be allowing anyone in to the building prior to their scheduled time unless the full sanitizing procedures in the studio have been completed. We ask that if you are early for your scheduled time, to remain in your vehicles until we announce it is your time. No one will be permitted in the building prior to their scheduled picture times.

-We will have taped squares on the floors in the studios that are safely distanced 6ft or more apart. Please pick a square for your dancer to change in. Make sure all belongings stay within their own “square”.

-Individual and buddy pictures (up to 4 dancers) will be taken in any costume that you would like, in any order. We have allotted a certain amount of time for each set of classes based on the amount of people we can have in the building at one time, safely at 6 feet apart. You will be able to have your dancer(s) put on any of their costumes, in any order, then get in line for their photo. You can take pictures in any costumes you would like. See the attached schedule for each classes’ allotted photography time.

• If you would like buddy, family or sibling pictures, you can bring them to any scheduled time to get their picture taken.

-If you have a no-contact request (ie: would like the teacher who is posing the pictures to not touch your dancer for posing, or if you would like a buddy photo that is free from contact with the other dancers), please let us know and we would be happy to make sure your dancer is “contact free”.

-If your dancer, you, or any family members have suffered any fevers, cough, or signs of cold or illness within 7 days prior to these dates, we ask that you refrain from attending.

Please see below for your schedule picture time

Thank you, and we hope to see you at pictures!

PBDS Staff

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**Don’t forget, in honor of what was supposed to be our 51st Recital, we will be hosting an End-Of-the-Season/Senior Send-Off car parade THIS Saturday (June 6th) from 11:00am-12:00pm! We invite ALL dance families to drive through the parking lot, wave at ALL of the teachers and seniors, view the senior’s memory boards, and help us end this season with happiness and an outpouring of love! THE FIRST 200 FAMILIES WILL RECEIVE A FREE “PBDS DANCER LIVES HERE” YARD SIGN!! Please send a HUGE THANK YOU to the very generous Aulwes family for funding and designing these signs as a gift for our very amazing dance families! We have had such an amazing amount of kindness and understanding from all of you during this very trying time, and we cannot thank you all enough for sticking with us! We can’t wait to see you all of your smiling faces this weekend, WE MISS YOU!

Below we have attached the Senior Bios that would have normally been in our recital program. Please take the time to read about our seniors to see all of the amazing futures these PBDS dancers have in front of them. Oh, the places they will go!

Lastly, information will be coming out very soon regarding Picture Weekend and In-Studio Summer Classes! Private and private group lessons, camps, classes, and intensives will all be held this summer per recommended CDC guidelines! We are working hard to finalize schedules and details and will be sending that out very soon. WE CAN’T WAIT TO HAVE DANCERS BACK IN THE STUDIO!

Thank you all so much, we hope to see you Saturday!

PBDS Staff

*This situation is ever-changing and incredibly fluid. After the posting of this update, Governor Reynolds did decide to open youth sports to some capacity on June 1st. No guidelines have been given as of yet. We expect to hear by next week and will adjust our summer classes appropriately*

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*ATTENTION any dancer that is in a non-competitive hip hop class:

Normally, for recital hip hop costumes, I would have used our apparel company to design shirts for each routine. I usually do this in the early part of April. However, since we went on lockdown during Spring Break I put a hold on designing those items until we had a better idea of what we were up against. Since the quarantine is lasting much longer than I anticipated, I will not be ordering shirts for the hip hop routines this year. The studio simply does not have the cash flow to purchase all of those items at this time and this will also save you all a bit of money as well. Your accounts have not been charged for any recital hip hop costumes and you have not paid any deposits on those. If your dancer is enrolled only in hip hop and has no other costumes, you will not need to attend the “Costume Pick-Up” days next week.

Stay tuned for a “Recital T-Shirt Contest Alert” coming out soon, it will give your dancers and families a chance to design our t-shirts for this year! We will announce the contest on Facebook, Instagram, and Team App very soon!

Thank you, Bless you all!

Ali

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