THPRD Swim Academy

Learning to swim is a skill for life.

Learning to swim is a skill for life.

Registration for Fall now open. Winter registration begins December 7, 2024.

The primary goal of THPRD's Swim Academy program is to teach all participants to swim to the best of their ability in a safe, fun and friendly environment. All classes are taught by trained Swim Academy instructors.

Philosophy

THPRD provides a fun and creative atmosphere to help children develop swimming skills. We believe in the value of swimming as a lifelong skill and as a healthy recreational activity, and are committed to the importance of water safety and training, for our staff as well as our community.

Registering for Swim Academy classes:

Set up your THPRD account, log into your portal to register, visit or call any nearby center to register for classes. Below are some helpful links.

• Find the swim center nearest you
• Search for classes online
• Class descriptions
• Refund/cancellation policies

For children new to swimming lessons:

Preschool students (age 3 through kindergarten) will begin in Preschool Level 1; register for Preschool Levels 1-3.

School Age students (1st grade through age 12) will begin in School Age Level 1; register for School Age Levels 1-4. Students will be assessed on the first day of class.

For children who have had lessons but are new to our program:

Most students should register for Level 1-4. However, if your student can confidently swim 25 yards of crawl stroke (this means head in the water in neutral position, using side breathing, steady, stretched leg kicks, and arm strokes recovering over the water) and 25 yards of backstroke (body in a horizontal position on top of the water, steady, stretched leg kicks, and arm strokes reaching straight up out of the water, registering for Level 5-7 is likely neeeded; students will be assessed on the first day of class, but if you are in need of an assessment before the start of lessons, please call your local center to set up and assessment appointment.

For returning students: Register for currently assigned level; students will be assessed on the first day of class.

Note: Swimmers tend to lose their "swim conditioning" after long breaks and can benefit greatly from a review of learned skills. If your child has not taken lessons in the past three months, please consider re-take your student's most recent level.

Instructor/Student Ratios

Swim classes are designed to have 1:5 ratio for preschool students and 1:6 ratio for school-age students. Specialty classes may have different ratios.

Occasionally, your child may work with two instructors in the same class. This occurs as part of our instructor training program. While providing assistance, the new instructor gains valuable experience working alongside an experienced instructor.

Class evaluations

We value your input and we do listen. At the end of each session, evaluation forms will send them to you via the email you provided on your park district account. We want to know about your and your swimmer's experience throughout the session. These evaluation forms are used to help us gauge the effectiveness of our program.