The initial intro class went well. My daughter seemed interested, so I decided to go ahead & enroll her. The young lady who was in charge of registration was very sweet & made the process very simple. I don't believe she is still there, as she mentioned she was going away for college. I want to make it clear that this review is not based on her at all because she was very kind & helpful.
My daughter joined RTA very excited & looking forward to learning more about dance & theater since she already loves to dance & perform at home.
The class she was introduced to was an ongoing class where students can join at any time. Looking back, I don't think that format worked well for a new student, especially because the girls were already familiar with the routines & each other. We went to a couple of classes & I could see my daughter feeling left out & trying to keep up with dances she had never done before.
As a parent, you notice when a teacher genuinely makes an effort to engage with a new student & help them feel welcome. I didn't get that impression here. There were moments when I felt like my daughter could have used more encouragement or guidance, especially when the other girls were already comfortable partnering up with one another. I understand that it can be difficult for a new student to come into an established group, but I also feel that is an important part of a teacher's role.
Moving forward, an email was sent saying that videos would be available for the girls to practice their dance routine. Every time I checked, there was no video posted.
After the third class, my daughter was completely discouraged & no longer wanted to go, which is very unlike her. She plays golf, plays musical instruments, interacts well with others, & generally enjoys trying new activities.
We didn't show up to the following classes & I will be fair & say that I could have reached out myself to let them know we weren't planning to continue. However, it honestly seemed like no one even noticed that my daughter had stopped attending. Given that we had enrolled & were being charged monthly, I would have expected at least some type of follow-up or check-in to see how we were doing.
Instead, the monthly payments continued to be withdrawn for months.
Overall, I was disappointed because my daughter started out genuinely excited about RTA dance/theater & within just a few classes she felt discouraged enough that she didn't want to return. I think there is a lot of potential for a program like this, but I would have liked to see more effort put into welcoming & integrating new students, better communication regarding the practice videos & some type of follow-up when a student suddenly stops attending. read more