Due to limited characters - review is in images.
My daughter was enrolled in Forest Hill Dance from Fall 2020 to Spring 2023. We moved to this dance program because it was a program that wasn't running virtually at the time and the cost was great. My daughter had amazing adult instructors and the program fostered my child's love for dance. I am not a dancer. I know nothing about it so when I enroll my child into a program, my expectation is that the school/program knows exactly what they are doing to help my child grow and continue to love dance.
During Fall '20 to Spring of '22, My daughter had some amazing adult instructors (if you want names let me know and I can provide them). My daughter enjoyed going, made great friends, and I was satisfied that my daughter was continuing to be taught skills she should know at her level. There was always clear communication from the adult teachers via emails and face to face talks. When recital time was near, videos of their dance performance were provided and music selections were shared so that the students could practice at home. The adult instructors always came out into the lobby and spoke with us and always left the girls with a positive greeting goodbye. Instructions were provided on how hair and makeup should be and communication was usually answered within 48 hours.
I personally did not have a problem with the extra recital fees and costume fees as I knew dance could become expensive, but these are things that you may want to inquire about if you are looking to compare costs. During these years, the only real issue I had was that the person who would measure and order costumes would not consider any comment I made asking for one size bigger was always ignored my request as I knew my daughter always had a spring growth spurt. The response to the ill-fitting costumes would be that that's how it's supposed to be. But my daughter having red marks on her shoulders from the costume being too tight is not ok. My daughter's costumes had to be altered by my mother-in-law which is difficult as things to be taken out are far more difficult than to be taken in. All things that could be costly if you need assistance in taking seams out. So again, if this type of growth spurt pertains to you, please continue to speak up and have in writing what you are asking, and fingers crossed you will not be ignored.
Throughout these years, I had limited interactions with the chairperson. Honestly, the first time I had any communication was via email with the chairperson was December 2020 to give me a gift certificate my daughter won for Dango ... but it turned out I was not communicating with the chairperson and that it was another member of the dance committee. This just shows how little interaction the chairperson had with me, which is fine. There was no need at the time. The instructors did everything. The first time I identified her was at the first recital Spring 2021 when she introduced herself to the crowd. So, to say that I had more communication with the instructors is fact as there really was no need for me to communicate with the chairperson.
Fall 2022-Spring 2023 is when everything changed. During this past year, my daughter was provided instruction from student instructors who were still learning dancers themselves and in high school, one being the chairperson's own teen daughter. This was the year that Forest Hill Dance absolutely destroyed my daughter's self confidence in dance. It really should have been a red flag from the beginning, but I had faith in the program. Boy was I completely wrong. My daughter's classes were every Saturday from 12:30-2:30. During this time she was supposed to have hip hop, tap, jazz, and ballet. During Fall '22, my daughter communicated with me that jazz was not being taught. This was a problem as jazz was a genre my daughter loved. It was concerning that a whole 30 min class of jazz was not being attended to especially when I was paying for it.
When it was brought up to the FHRDANCE email, the chairperson's responses were that of, due to behavior issues there isn't enough time, the girls aren't changing their shoes fast enough so it's taking up time, or there is another dancer who isn't taking jazz and we have to wait for her to leave to start. All responses sounded like excuses to me and that of blaming 8-9-year-olds instead of coming up with solutions to mediate the problems. 5 out of 6 parents complained about the lack of jazz and nothing changed. The parents did all we could. We made a complaint, and no change was made. My only thought was the chairperson made no notion to fix the situation and only created excuses because it was her own daughter that was the student instructor of this class. This is the crux of all the issues this past year that I eventually concluded to. read more