Before Covid, students at both Hillcrest and Pine Avenue have had the opportunity to engage in swimming lessons at the high school as part of their physical education program. This opportunity is all about teaching students how to swim and advancing students who already have swimming skills. We know that all students’ swim skills are different. They will be met with instruction at their level during these swim lessons. Each classroom will have four opportunities during the month of March to go swimming as a part of the physical education curriculum. Swim lessons will occur during the school day. This note will provide some overall general information. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions.
***Just so everyone is clear, there is no need for students to be experienced swimmers to go. We make no assumptions on students’ levels of skill. There will be a lot of support in the pool and learning will take place for all levels of swimmers during these days.***
Start Dates: Swimming for Hillcrest begins on March 2nd. Please look at the schedule to see when classes will attend swim lessons. Students with P.E on Wednesdays will swim each Wednesday of the month. Students with P.E on Thursdays will swim each Thursday of the month.
Transportation: Students will be shuttled back and forth from Hillcrest to the High School by school bus.
Day of Swimming Needs and General Info: In talking with staff that took students to swimming in the past, here are some needs and recommendations:
Bathing Suit (Girls’ suits should be one piece or a two piece that provides coverage of their midsections.)
Towel
Personal Flotation Devices or Life Vests are not required. The lessons are structured in a way and groups are supported and monitored in a way that makes these unnecessary.
Bag (It is highly recommended that students bring a bag to carry wet things back to school after swimming.
Hair tie and Hair brush or comb (If students have longer hair, it is beneficial to pull their hair back while they are in the pool.)
Dressing Rooms (Will be monitored by staff, a male staff member for boys and female staff member for girls.)
Swim Goggles are available if students want them, but if students have their own they are more than welcome to bring them. (Students will be responsible for their own goggles.)
Actual Pool Time---35 minutes
Approximate Total Time out of the building is 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Pre-planning for early pickups or appointments is a MUST… Students will be gone for about 90 minutes at a time, so if we know about an appointment that takes place during their scheduled swim time, we will have the students stay at Pine Avenue and wait to be picked up there. (Depending on the situation, students will be put in with another class or do another activity during that time.)
