The term open and costume sizing checklist

Six weeks before the term opens

• Lock the class grid before you publish a single time slot.Set level, day, studio room and teacher for every class first. Done looks like a grid with no teacher double booked and every level in a room with enough barre space for its expected size.
• Set the full term price and the installment split.Price the whole term of classes, then divide it into the number of payments families will actually see. Done looks like equal installments that finish before recital week rather than trailing past it.
• Set the costume order deadline backward from recital day.Start at the performance date, subtract supplier lead time, subtract your fitting buffer, and write that date on the wall. Done looks like a deadline every faculty member can name without checking.
• Decide the recital fee and what it covers.Write one line for parents naming theater, costume, program and crew. Done looks like a fee you can defend at the front desk without opening a spreadsheet first.
• Publish the placement day schedule to returning families first.Give returning dancers their placement slot a week before enrollment opens to new families. Done looks like most of your returning roster confirmed before the public sees a single class.

Placement day and level rosters

• Run placement in level groups, not one dancer at a time.Bring each candidate level in as a class and watch them together at barre and in center. Done looks like a whole level assessed in one session with faculty agreeing in the room.
• Record one line per dancer before the group leaves the studio.Note the level, any second choice and one specific reason. Done looks like every dancer having a written reason you could read aloud to a parent without embarrassment.
• Balance section sizes before any result goes out.Move borderline dancers to even out sections rather than letting one class run to twenty four and another to nine. Done looks like every section within a few dancers of its neighbors.
• Send results with the class time attached, not just the level.Parents care about Tuesday at five, not about Level 3B. Done looks like a message a family can act on immediately by confirming or asking for a different section.
• Hold two spots in each level for late movers and transfers.Keep a small reserve rather than filling every section to capacity on day one. Done looks like room for the August enrollment and the dancer who moves into town in October.

The sizing window

• Open a two week sizing window and close it on the stated date.Announce the open and close dates together, with what happens to anyone who misses it. Done looks like the window closing on the day you said, without a fourth reminder.
• Measure every dancer under about eight yourself, in class.Take girth, height and chest during a normal class with a second adult recording. Done looks like the youngest levels fully measured without a single parent email.
• Record measurements against the routine, not just the dancer.A dancer in three routines needs three costume lines. Done looks like each routine having a complete list with no dancer appearing in a number she is not sized for.
• Chase the missing families twice, then measure the dancer at pickup.Two reminders, then you take the tape measure to the lobby. Done looks like an outstanding list that reaches zero before the order deadline rather than on it.
• Size up when a measurement sits between two sizes.Children grow between measuring and recital, and a seam can be taken in but not let out. Done looks like a written rule your faculty apply the same way every time.

The costume order and recital billing

• Reconcile the order against the level roster line by line.Count costumes per routine and match that count to enrolled dancers in that routine. Done looks like two numbers that agree before you send anything to the supplier.
• Order a small overage in the most common sizes.A few spare costumes in the middle sizes cover growth, damage and the late enrollment. Done looks like an overage you decided on rather than an emergency reorder in April.
• Start the recital fee installments the month the order goes in.Bill families when your money leaves, not after the costumes arrive. Done looks like the first installment landing before the supplier invoice is due.
• Put your costume withdrawal policy in writing before you order.State plainly that once ordered, a costume is charged whether the dancer performs or not. Done looks like a policy families agreed to at enrollment, not one you explain in March.
• Check in every costume by routine on the day the boxes arrive.Open everything, count by routine and flag shortages the same day. Done looks like problems reported to the supplier inside the window where they can still be fixed.