COVID-19 Update – Published on May 15, 2020
- Created separate entrances and exits.
- Staggered our class start and end times.
- Our parents seating and viewing area is clearly marked and spaced. In addition, we are allowing only 1 healthy caregiver to view.
- Designed a clearly marked facility layout to provide social distancing for our teachers and students while in class.
- Lowered our student to teacher ratio to ensure class management when necessary.
- Enhanced our focus on teaching techniques and skills that can be done safely and with less spotting from our teachers, while still keeping safety and progress as our top priority.
- We are able to scale the number of classes offered to fit the maximum occupancy loads recommended.
- According to the CDC, the chlorine in our swimming pools should inactivate the virus in the water. Chlorine is a disinfectant. There is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools.
- Our Ultra Violet Sanitation System kills 99.9% of bacteria in our pool water.
- Hired Hilyard, a local professional cleaning company. They completed a full walk through of our facility and designed a cleaning and disinfecting system/schedule unique to our building and the families we serve. This includes the use of Purtabs 3.3G disinfecting/sanitizing tablets that have a 1-minute coronavirus kill time to be used on surfaces.
- Providing masks for all dry staff inside the facility.
- Staff health screening including temperature checks and a completion of a questionnaire of our employees prior to their shift.
- Installing sneeze guards at our customer service desk. Because our registration and payments are online, there is very limited customer touch interaction.
- Providing numerous sanitation stations throughout the facility. All who enter will be asked to disinfect their hands regularly.
- Removing small teaching props that are unable to be disinfected.
- Setting up a schedule for our entire facility to be regularly disinfected even while we have classes in session.
- Providing signage throughout the facility to educate all who enter of the Covid-19 guidelines that are expected of our members.
- Shutting down drinking fountains.
WHY WE ARE AN ESSENTIAL BUSINESS.
- Learning to swim is a life-or-death skill.
- Drowning is the number one cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 and a leading cause for young people up to 14 years of age.
- Formal swim lessons between ages 1 and 4 can help reduce the risk of drowning by 88%, according to a study conducted in 2009.
- We believe drowning to be at an even higher risk now as the schools, daycares and other children’s activities are currently closed.
- Backyard pools are opening and parents have more distractions than ever, including remote working from home. Before this pandemic, 9 out of 10 child related drowning deaths happened when a caregiver was supervising.
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COVID-19 Update – Published on April 22, 2020
Thank you so much for being a part of the Barron Family. We truly miss the students at the swim school, and we have loved the videos and emails we have received from you!
Current Updates:
- The St. Louis County stay-at-home order is currently extended until May 15. We will continue to monitor recommendations for when and how we will be allowed to open and will communicate with you when we have an anticipated date to resume classes.
- Tuition for May will not be charged on April 27. We will continue to hold tuition charges until we know our anticipated resume date. You will be notified via email and Facebook before charges begin.
We hope you are enjoying our online content on Facebook and Instagram with ways to work on your swimming skills while at home. Our staff are working hard to bring you more online content, upgrade and deep clean the facility, and plan procedures for a safe re-opening. Please continue to reach out to us via email if you need anything during the closure.
Stay Healthy,
The Barron Swim Family
#barronstrong
APRIL UPDATES – Published On Thursday, April 2
Dear Barron Families,
We miss all of you so much! We just wanted to send an update about our status in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently our facility is closed due the stay-at-home order for St. Louis County in place through April 30th. While we hope to be able to resume in May, this is an ever changing and unprecedented situation. Barron will remain closed until restrictions have been lifted and it is deemed safe enough to resume classes and activities.
During our closure, we will not be charging tuition. Once we are able to resume, we will notify our families via email and provide notice that tuition will be charged. Check out our Accelerated Program that is offered over the summer at www.barronswim.com!
If you were signed up for the Spring Swim Meet on Saturday, April 18th it has been postponed until we resume. We will look to reschedule the swim meet a couple weeks after we resume to allow us to open registration and plan accordingly.
In the meantime, follow our Facebook and Instagram pages for creative ideas to bring Barron Swim School into your home with Barron Virtual Academy, an online information platform for our students that provides videos from your teachers, updates and much more to stay connected!
During this pause period, our facility is closed. Please email us at [email protected] if you need anything and allow extra time for a response.
We sincerely hope all of our families are staying well, and we can’t wait to see you again!
Stay Healthy,
The Barron Swim Family
#barronstrong
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TUITION UPDATES – Published On Tuesday, March 17
Dear Barron Families,
Thank you for your support during this difficult time. It is heartbreaking for us not to see the smiles, hear the laughter in the swim school, and most of all not be able to teach your children to grow and learn through this amazing life saving skill.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
MARCH – Current students have automatically had make-up classes added to their family’s account for missed classes during the pause for the month of March.
APRIL – You are at no financial risk for April tuition. We will guarantee your child’s class spot with no charge to you until you are notified via email of the date that we are able to resume classes.
We appreciate your continued support during this difficult time and look forward to welcoming you back to Barron in the near future. During this pause we will not have set office hours and we encourage our loyal customers to contact us via email at [email protected] and check your email and social media for updates.
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PAUSING OPERATIONS IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 – Published on Sunday, March 15
Dear Barron Swim School Families:
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak across the globe, we made the decision to pause operations at Barron Swim School beginning Monday, March 16. We are automatically adding make-up days to every family’s account for the duration of this pause and will handle the scheduling of all individual make-ups and other administrative challenges once we resume operations. During this pause we will continue to hold your class spot.
This pause is for all programs held at Barron Swim School.
Barron Swim School has made the decision out of an abundance of caution and to help protect our families, guests, and staff. Our goal is to be part of the solution in our local community by helping reduce the spread of COVID-19. Please check your email and social media frequently for updates on when we will resume operations, as our goal is to resume our programming as soon as possible.
During this pause, Barron Swim School teachers and customer service will continue to perform administrative duties, continued education, and cleaning of our facility. Barron Swim School will continue to pay and offer benefits to our valued staff during this time without requiring them to use vacation or sick time.
We will continue to carefully monitor and reassess the situation, and provide another update by Thursday, March 19th.
We appreciate your continued support during this difficult time and look forward to welcoming you back to Barron in the near future. During this pause we will not have set office hours and we encourage our loyal customers to contact us via email at [email protected].
Sincerely,
The Barron Swim School Family
#barronstrong
