[Anonymous]

Those pools that offer private swim lessons – How do you structure your lessons and how are your instructors paid? We are looking at restructuring how we run our private lessons and would love the input from those that already run private lessons through the city. Thanks for the assistance. Stay safe and have a great holiday season.

Respectfully,
Kathy Guyer, Director
West Union Parks and Recreation

[Hannah Angstrom]

Fort Dodge – we set up ours the same as group lessons format. The person signs up for a specific session with time and dates, they do not get to pick days and times with an instructor. We find the instructors, they can request an instructor but we say we may not be able to accommodate it. We charge $60 for 4 30 min lessons, and we pay the instructor.

[Ashley Bjork]

North Liberty – We offer sessions of private lessons just like our group lesson set-up. The participant registers for the session and then I have a set amount of instructors for each time. We charge $52 for 4 30 minute lessons or $65 for 5 30 minute lessons, breaks down to $13 per lesson. Instructors for private and group sessions of lessons are paid the same. We also offer super private lessons where families email me and request these lessons. I email out to instructors and see if anyone is available to pick-up extra lessons. Once I get a response I email the family back and cc’ the instructor to the email so they can directly communicate and schedule lessons that work for both of them. Instructors know the best times the pool is available and these lessons are more flexible with scheduling and cancellations. These lessons run at $20 for a 30 minute lesson. Instructors are paid $20 an hour.

[Faron VanNostrand]

Ours are like a group lesson. Student signs up for a class. Half hour long, we pay the instructor. Our city policy does not allow a private individual to “make” money while using a city facility.

[Jill Burt]

We do it two different ways in Ames: scheduled private lessons and unscheduled private lessons. The scheduled lessons are similar to group lessons – advertised as a session and signup available through our registration software. Typically a session is 4 lessons but it can vary depending on the situation.

The other option is to fill out a request form. We match with an instructor and they coordinate lesson times. They can set it up lesson by lesson or start with a commitment of several lessons and go from there. Typically these private lessons are offered during our open swim times.

Either way, the fee is the same – $27 per 30-minute lesson.