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Frequently Asked Questions
Helpful Info for Families New to Emler
We know that starting swim lessons comes with a lot of questions and we’re here to help. At Emler Swim School, we’re committed to creating a safe, welcoming place where your child can build confidence, learn life-saving skills and have a great time doing it. Below, you’ll find answers to some of the most common questions we hear from families.
Still looking for something specific? Reach out to your nearest Emler location, we’re always happy to chat and help you get started.
Advanced (6+)
Upon completion of Level 11, your child we be able to swim all 4 competitive strokes. We do recommend having your child join our recreational STEALTH swim team so they can continue to build up their endurance as well as fine tune their technique.
Yes, you are more than welcome to sign your child up for multiple lessons each week! Depending on your goals, there are advantages to having your child practice more often.
We use small belts to help with body positioning while we work on the technique and timing of breaststroke. This belt helps keep swimmers horizontal and their hips elevated on top of the water so they can practice a more streamlined technique.
No. We do teach proper starts and finishes from inside the pool, however for safety reasons we do not teach flip turns.
Upon completion of Level 11, your child will be invited to join team where they will get to continue to develop their technique as well as work on building up their endurance while competing with other team members at swim meets.
Class + Curriculum
Emler Swim School's award-winning curriculum has been effectively teaching children to swim for almost 50 years. Our expert techniques and methodology evolve annually, keeping us on the cutting edge of aquatic education, and establishing Emler as the recognized industry leader. Other swim programs may be less expensive but typically take longer to achieve milestone skills. Emler lesson plans are goal-oriented and keep parents informed all along the way. In the long run, you may spend less money on swim lessons by enrolling with Emler rather than paying for other programs month after month without seeing skills progression in your swimmer. Because teaching swimming is our passion, everything we do is focused on safety and quality. From training every instructor for a minimum of 40 hours, and heating our pools to 90 degrees, to installing expensive ultraviolet light systems to keep our water pristine, you’ll see the value of your tuition immediately.
Teaching swimming is all we do…and we’re the BEST in town!
Use the swim assessment to answer a few questions and learn more about your swimmer's level.
Our award-winning curriculum along with our nurturing environment accounts for such a high success rate. Your child will be evaluated by an Emler Manager once a month, or every four classes, to identify if your child needs extra assistance to reach their swim goals.
Emler swim classes can be no larger than 4 students for every teacher. Bathtime Babies & Level 1 classes are the exception with higher ratios, because they are parent-participation classes. Statistically, the average group class size at Emler is 3.3 students per instructor.
All classes except for the swim team are 30 minutes long. Although it’s possible to keep students in the water longer, experience has taught us that 30 minutes is ideal for students to practice the skills they know and learn new skills effectively.
Emler incorporates a variety of props and toys in class to make learning fun and proactive. As an example, fins are used during swim lessons because they assist in the improvement of body position and they enhance propulsion through the water. The younger the swimmer is, the more important the kick is. You will also see kickboards, various flotation devices, and dive rings being used in class (among other things)!
The props used in Emler swim classes are always a huge favorite among kiddos so props packages are available for you to purchase to use at your pool! You can purchase the props as a complete package by class level, or you can buy them a la carte! Help your little one sharpen their swim skills on your own time with the help of these props! You can purchase them here at this link: Props for purchase
Facilities
All Emler Swim School locations provide changing rooms and bathrooms for both you and your child.
Emler Swim School is one of the few facilities in town that has invested in an ultraviolet light system which is the only proven method to kill all dangerous germs such as cryptosporidium. Our pools are monitored continually and fed chemicals electronically the very moment a change in chlorine or pH is indicated. However, the pools are also tested manually throughout the day in case the equipment malfunctions.
Our indoor pools are about 88-90 degrees year round!
Free Trial
After class, you’ll bring your child their towel and hear a brief report from the General Manager about how your child did, and information on how to enroll if you’re interested. Stop by the front desk as you leave for your child to receive a hand stamp for a job well done!
Our printable coloring pages are a great tool to help you explain to your child what swimming lessons will be like.
We recommend: a swimsuit, towel, bag for wet items, change of clothes, dry diaper for after class (if applicable), goggles (optional), two pairs of reusable swim pants for children under 3 (you can purchase them at the location if needed, or online here). If your child is doing a free trial lesson for Bathtime Babies, Level 1, or Level 2, please bring a one-piece bathing suit or swim trunks, and a t-shirt for the parents/guardian who will be joining the child in the water.
If your child is in Bathtime Babies, Level 1 or Level 2, there will be parent participation in the water. We suggest coming to swim class ready to get in the water, but our locations are equipped with restrooms and changing rooms if needed. For parents/guardians who aren’t in the pool, there is an observation room with chairs, or you can watch from the pool deck where there are benches.
We recommend arriving 15 minutes prior to your class time on the first day. This will give you time to check-in, sign any forms, and get a quick tour. The school’s General Manager will be there to greet you and your child and introduce you to your instructor.
When you call, our customer service team will help find the level that’s right for your child based on their age and prior swim experience. We will place your child in the class level that they would be in if you were to enroll in swim lessons with Emler. For example, if your child should be placed in Level 6, we will schedule your free trial to be with a Level 6 class.
Please call us at 855-232-2006 and our customer service team would be happy to get your scheduled.
Instructor
New and veteran instructors work at Emler, and we love filling our pools with teachers who have a caring heart and display a passion for water safety. We can’t wait to introduce you to all of our great teachers!
Emler Instructors are required to complete online curriculum training and pass an exam to continue with in-water training. If passed, our instructors will complete 30 hours of in-water training beside one of our certified veteran teachers, complete an intensive In-Water Orientation course, and pass an in-water assessment before teaching classes of their own. Emler instructors also participate in workshops and several H2O (Huddle 2 Optimize) Meetings a year. These meetings include new teaching techniques and safety improvements. EAPs (Emergency Action Plans) are also practiced regularly by each shift of teachers, so Emler instructors are ready for an emergency.
Kids (4+)
We teach children to do a rollover breath because we want children to know that if they are ever swimming and they get tired, they can rollover on to their back and float while taking a breath.
We introduce treading water in Level 8.
Each semester the students are introduced to new strokes and longer distances than they have swum before. Utilizing fins near the beginning of a semester will give extra propulsion so the students can accomplish new strokes and longer distances. As the students become more proficient in swimming, we remove one fin and eventually both fins.
Emler incorporates fins during swim lessons because they assist in the improvement of body position and they enhance propulsion through the water. The younger the swimmer is, the more important the kick is.
We teach a gradual progression of 4 different types of breathing in our Kids levels. Those 4 will be a front breath, a rollover breath, a rolling breath and lastly a side breath. We believe it is important for children to be able to learn multiple ways of breathing when they are swimming.
We use toys and play in our 3-year-old classes, and at the end class, your 3-year-old swimmer will swim out to a final prize that they get to take home with them!
Emler Instructors are required to complete online curriculum training and pass an exam in order to continue with in-water training. If passed, our instructors will complete 30 hours of in-water training beside one of our certified veteran teachers, complete an intensive In-Water Orientation course, and must pass an in-water assessment before teaching classes of their own. Emler instructors also participate in several H2O (Huddle 2 Optimize) Meetings a year. These meetings include new teaching techniques and safety improvements. EAPs (Emergency Action Plans) are also practiced regularly by each shift of teachers, so Emler instructors are ready for an emergency.
Our award-winning curriculum along with our nurturing environment accounts for such a high success rate. Your child will be evaluated by an Emler Manager once a month, or every four classes, to identify if your child needs extra assistance to reach their swim goals.
Level 1 is specifically for our infants who are learning how to swim. As a 4+-year-old, your child needs to be in an independent class (non-parent participation) with other children their age to see the most progress.
We do our very best to have the same teacher in class every week because we know it is important to build trust and comfort in class. However, we do periodically have substitute teachers in class if your current teacher had a planned vacation, isn’t feeling well, or other unforeseen reasons. Don’t worry, though! All of our substitutes go through our same teaching training as your assigned teacher.
Three times a year your swimmer will learn how to put on a lifejacket, swim and float in that life jacket, yell for help (if they ever need it in a pool or body of water), and other life-saving skills in class. These weeks are fun for your swimmer because they get to sit in a blow-up boat and experience different things outside of their normal swim lesson structure, and you can be assured that they are being taught important lessons. As an example, do we jump in to help a friend who is in trouble in their pool? No, we yell and go tell an adult!
We celebrate your swimmer’s milestones in a few different ways. We’re big fans of high fives and celebratory clapping at Emler—which always brings smiles to the faces of our swimmers! We also give hand stamps, ribbons, and do other fun celebrations to let our swimmers know they are doing a great job.
Three times a year, we have our swimmers come to class with a set of clothes on top of their bathing suits! At the very beginning of class, we will practice our safety skill - the Jump, Turn, Swim - so that they can experience the sensation of being in the pool with their full set of clothes. We want them experiencing what would happen in an emergency situation in a safe and nurturing environment so that they can increase their confidence in getting back to the wall to safety.
99% of all students learn to swim alone within the first 4-5 months they are enrolled at Emler. The award-winning curriculum along with nurturing, professional teachers account for such a high success rate. The watchful eye of an Emler Manager can identify and assist those students who struggle reaching their swim goals. Each Emler student is evaluated for progress by a manager every four lessons (once a month). As your swimmer meets the goals of their class, we will update you on their progress, and when they pass all of the goals of their class, we will promote your swimmer into the next level by finding them a new class!
There are many things parents can do during swim class!
- Check in at the front desk for attendance and to fill out any paperwork.
- Encourage your child to use the toilet before lessons.
- Get your child changed into a swimsuit and/or swim pants.
- Wait in the observation room for your child’s teacher to hold up a card with his/her name.
- Walk your child out to his class. Pick up any necessary swim equipment your child uses in class.
- Wait in the observation room during lessons or in a chair on deck near your child’s class. Please do not leave the facility during lessons.
- Watch for a wave from your child’s teacher near the end of the lesson to come out on deck for a demonstration of today’s goal.
- Allow your child to rinse off under the shower on deck. Wrap your child up with his/her towel.
- Use a changing room to allow your child to change back into clothes.
- Stop by the front desk so your child can get a stamp on his/her hand to celebrate developing swim skills.
Littles (2-35mos)
Yes, our infant swim teachers go through additional training to be the very best instructors for your baby! This is a special program, and we want you to experience the very best of Emler Swim School as we look to make an impact on the water safety skills of our infants and toddlers.
Emler Swim School does not use backfloat drown-proofing to teach babies survival in the water. Although we agree that there is a real and present danger of drowning for toddlers, we disagree philosophically with this survival method of teaching. Emler Swim School does successfully teach babies and toddlers to swim. More importantly we teach safety techniques that have resulted in hundreds of our students recovering from accidental falls into pools by saving themselves. We have devoted the past 40 years to developing effective young swimmers by using nurturing and effective teaching techniques. We invite all families to visit their nearest Emler facility to witness babies jumping into the water and swimming back to the wall while smiling and laughing.
Yes, we have learned that young children learn best when their parent (or another loved one) joins them in class. They love and trust YOU, and our instructor can use that trust to build comfort in class and in the water, which results in faster progression towards water safety.
Newborns are fresh from the aquatic environment in the womb. They don’t know they’re land animals. This is a perfect time to introduce your little one to the water. We invite you and your baby to our Bathtime Babies® classes or our Level 1 class to learn more activities along with other parents.
These half-hour classes once per week give you and your baby the unique opportunity to enjoy buoyancy in a non-threatening, warm environment. With the guidance of an experienced swim instructor, activities in class are designed to familiarize tiny students with the comfort and joy of water play. Soon both you and your baby will look forward to this favorite activity of the week.
Each level of our Swim Script® curriculum is designed to prepare your child for success at their next level. The advanced comfort and coordination your baby will learn in these classes will put them at the head of their class!
Makeup Lessons
Emler swim lessons are fully guaranteed, and we are committed to delivering a world class swim lesson and experience. We promise to do whatever it takes to ensure your child achieves the goals of the session in a positive, nurturing, and safe environment. In support of the Guarantee and commitment, Emler continually invests in our facilities and equipment. Likewise, we commit significant resources to training our teachers and staffing so your child has a path to continuous improvement. As a result of these commitments, Emler’s lessons are non-refundable.
Active Duty Military
Refunds will be issued to any active duty military customer who requests a refund and provides evidence of permanent change of station (PCS) orders occurring during the registered semester.
<!--Each location offers make-up lessons. You can find your location’s make-up lesson schedule on their respective location page here on our website, or by asking the staff at the location you attend. Makeup Lesson Policy
- Makeup Lessons can be purchased for $15.00 each and are issued in the form of Makeup Tokens
- A limit of 2 Makeup Tokens can be purchased per semester.
- Makeup tokens can be redeemed for any open spot in your class level no more than 6 days in advance.
- Makeup tokens will expire 4 months from the issue date.
- Makeup tokens will not be re-issued for missed makeup lessons.
- No refund will be issued for unused tokens.
- All unused makeup tokens will expire on your drop date at the end of the semester.
-
Pool Parties
- Certainly! We welcome anyone to host parties at our pools. You do not have to be enrolled at Emler Swim School to host a party at any of our locations.
- Learn more about pool parties
- We sure do! Emler Swim School offers an amazing weatherproof venue, where you and your family can make a splash for any celebration all year long!
- Learn more about pool parties
Preparing for Lessons
- Swimsuit
- Two pairs of washable, reusable swim pants if your child is age 3 or younger. The 2 pairs of reusable swim pants should be placed underneath the child’s bathing suit, or can just be worn without swimsuit bottoms over them if preferred. There is no need to wear a swim diaper in addition to this, just the 2 pairs of reusable swim pants
- Need to buy swim pants? They are available at your school’s front desk or you can buy online here
- If your child is in Bathtime Babies, Level 1 or Level 2, the parent/guardian who will be in the water should also bring a bathing suit (one-piece for women, swim trunks for men) and a t-shirt to wear on top (any t-shirt is fine)
- Towel(s) for child and/or parent/guardian, if applicable
- Optional goggles, if your swimmer prefers them
- Bag for wet clothes and towels
- Change of clothing for you and/or your child
- Dry diaper for after swim class, if applicable
Swim lessons at Emler are FUN, and we want children to be excited to come to class each week, but we know that sometimes with new adventures, little ones can have many emotions going into it. Be sure to tell your child where they are going and what they will be doing, and help answer any questions for them in a positive and excited tone. We also find it’s helpful for families to make sure they prepare themselves for swim class ahead of time (such as getting swimsuits and towels ready) so that it's not a hurried and stressful time getting to and from class.
On your first day, consider arriving 15 minutes early so that you and your child can get a quick tour of the building and sign any forms that may need your signature. During most swim days, we recommend arriving about 5 minutes early.
Each Emler Swim School location has its dedicated parking lot on site. Please reach out to the location directly if you have specific questions about parking.
Registration
Yes, we offer free trial classes for families who prefer to start with that. Please contact us to learn more
Yes! We offer a 10% sibling discount for the first three months of enrollment. This discount applies when multiple children from the same family are enrolled at the same time. It’s our way of helping families make swim lessons more accessible for everyone.
Yes, Emler charges an annual registration fee. The registration fee helps with the cost of administrative expenses. We also pay for insurance for each student with this fee. Registration fees are nonrefundable.
- You can register online
- If you prefer to register via phone, feel free to give us a call – 855-232-2006 – Press Option 1
- Walk-in registrations are also welcome! If you happen to be near a location, our friendly teams can register you onsite!
Tots (3 years)
We do our very best to have the same teacher in class every week because we know it is important to build trust and comfort in class. However, we do periodically have substitute teachers in class if your current teacher had a planned vacation, isn’t feeling well, or other unforeseen reasons. Don’t worry, though! All of our substitutes go through our same teaching training as your assigned teacher.
Three times a year your swimmer will learn how to put on a lifejacket, swim and float in that life jacket, yell for help (if they ever need it in a pool or body of water), and other life-saving skills in class. These weeks are fun for your swimmer because they get to sit in a blow-up boat and experience different things outside of their normal swim lesson structure, and you can be assured that they are being taught important lessons. As an example, do we jump in to help a friend who is in trouble in their pool? No, we yell and go tell an adult!
We celebrate your swimmer’s milestones in a few different ways. We’re big fans of high fives and celebratory clapping at Emler—which always brings smiles to the faces of our swimmers! We also give hand stamps, ribbons, and do other fun celebrations to let our swimmers know they are doing a great job.
We use toys and play in our 3-year-old classes, and at the end class, your 3-year-old swimmer will swim out to a final prize that they get to take home with them!
Three times a year, we have our swimmers come to class with a set of clothes on top of their bathing suits! At the very beginning of class, we will practice our safety skill - the Jump, Turn, Swim - so that they can experience the sensation of being in the pool with their full set of clothes. We want them experiencing what would happen in an emergency situation in a safe and nurturing environment so that they can increase their confidence in getting back to the wall to safety.
Emler Instructors are required to complete online curriculum training and pass an exam in order to continue with in-water training. If passed, our instructors will complete 30 hours of in-water training beside one of our certified veteran teachers, complete an intensive In-Water Orientation course, and must pass an in-water assessment before teaching classes of their own. Emler instructors also participate in several H2O (Huddle 2 Optimize) Meetings a year. These meetings include new teaching techniques and safety improvements. EAPs (Emergency Action Plans) are also practiced regularly by each shift of teachers, so Emler instructors are ready for an emergency.
Our award-winning curriculum along with our nurturing environment accounts for such a high success rate. Your child will be evaluated by an Emler Manager once a month, or every four classes, to identify if your child needs extra assistance to reach their swim goals.
Level 1 is specifically for our infants who are learning how to swim. As a 3-year-old, your child needs to be in an independent class (non parent participation) with other children their age to see the most progress.
99% of all students learn to swim alone within the first 4-5 months they are enrolled at Emler. The award-winning curriculum along with nurturing, professional teachers account for such a high success rate. The watchful eye of an Emler Manager can identify and assist those students who struggle reaching their swim goals. Each Emler student is evaluated for progress by a manager every four lessons (once a month). As your swimmer meets the goals of their class, we will update you on their progress, and when they pass all of the goals of their class, we will promote your swimmer into the next level by finding them a new class!
There are many things parents can do during swim class!
- Check in at the front desk for attendance and to fill out any paperwork.
- Encourage your child to use the toilet before lessons.
- Get your child changed into a swimsuit and/or swim pants.
- Wait in the observation room for your child’s teacher to hold up a card with his/her name.
- Walk your child out to his class. Pick up any necessary swim equipment your child uses in class.
- Wait in the observation room during lessons or in a chair on deck near your child’s class. Please do not leave the facility during lessons.
- Watch for a wave from your child’s teacher near the end of the lesson to come out on deck for a demonstration of today’s goal.
- Allow your child to rinse off under the shower on deck. Wrap your child up with his/her towel.
- Use a changing room to allow your child to change back into clothes.
- Stop by the front desk so your child can get a stamp on his/her hand to celebrate developing swim skills.