Studio Update: COVID-19

As a studio, we are committed to preserving a sense of normalcy and routine in these trying times for our students, staff, and all KKD families.

We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support over the past months since announcing our decision to suspend in-studio classes. We have a responsibility to do our part in minimizing the impact of the COVID-19 virus throughout our community and the safety of our dance families is our number one priority.

COVID-19 Dance Class Guidelines

Please read through these guidelines to update yourself and your child with our new procedures.

• Parents must conduct their own health assessment of their dancer prior to arriving to the studio. This includes taking temperature and making sure your child isn’t experiencing any symptoms.

• Parents and students MUST wait in their cars until the previous class has vacated the building.
  
• Parents will be allowed in the waiting rooms in shifts to adhere to building occupancy limits.
  • Last names A-I will be allowed in the week of November 30 – December 5.
  • Last names J-Q will be allowed in the week of December 7 – 12.
  • Last names R-Z will be allowed in the week of December 14-19.

• Dancers will have to be dropped off at the entrance and wait for your child’s teacher to check them in (ONLY 5 minutes prior to class time). Parents may wait with their child outside until we allow dancers to come in.

• Students MUST be picked up promptly!

• Dancers are required to sanitize their hands upon entering the building, we will provide hand sanitizer.

• Dancers must arrive in dance attire, there will be no changing allowed in the bathrooms.

• Anyone age 6 and up must wear a mask to enter the building. This includes staff. DANCERS WILL ONLY WEAR THEIR MASK WHILE IN THE WAITING ROOM AND BATHROOM. DANCERS WILL HAVE THE OPTION TO PULL THEIR MASK DOWN TO THEIR NECK WHILE DANCING TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN BREATHE EASILY.

• PLEASE have your child use the restroom prior to coming to the studio. Being that parents will not be permitted in the building this makes it more difficult on staff.

• The drinking fountains are CLOSED until further notice. Dancers are encouraged to bring their own water bottle (if they have multiple classes) labeled with their name. No SHARING!

• Floors will be wiped down in between classes.

• Food is NOT permitted in the studio at ANY time.

• All parents will need to sign a mandatory participation waiver before your child attends class.

KENNER DANCER ENTRANCE AND EXIT:

• Large side students will come in through the FIRST door to the right by the staircase to check-in and will exit through that door as well.

• Small room students will enter through the waiting room as normal, and exit that way as well. Parents should be waiting close by on the balcony or by the staircase waiting for your child.

DESTREHAN DANCER ENTRANCE AND EXIT:

• All students will enter through the FRONT parking lot door and will exit through the BACK. Parents should be waiting in the back parking area.

MANDEVILLE DANCER ENTRANCE AND EXIT:

• Large room students will enter through the BACK hallway door and will exit from inside the large room through the BACK door. Parents should be waiting in the back parking area.

• Small room dancers should enter through the DRIVE-THRU waiting room door and EXIT through the inside door in the small room that leads out to the drive-thru side. Parents should PICK UP by the door in the drive-thru lane.

• The drive-thru will be blocked off for cars for the safety of our students and parents.

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding through all of these new changes. We appreciate everyone’s commitment to safety and we can’t wait to see you in class!

COVID-19 Studio Updates

Fall registration for 2020-2021 will open for current students and their siblings on Wednesday, July 1 at 10am.

Fall registration for new students will open on Friday, July 17 at 10am.

Unfortunately, we will not be holding a summer session this year.

Classes for the 2020-2021 year will begin the day after Labor Day, Tuesday, September 8.

We have been working hard behind the scenes to continue on a path to holding our revues. We realize so much has been up in the air, and we have been doing our best to plan around very uncertain circumstances.

Since the revues and rehearsal are now scheduled in August, we will be rescheduling our summer break.

The summer break usually held in July and August will be moved to the remainder of May and June. May and June tuition installments will cover July and August. (June tuition was already paid at the time of registration.)

Classes will resume to finish preparing for the revues on Wednesday, July 8th. Hopefully, by this point, we can have in-studio classes leading up to the revue.

The last day of classes for 2019-2020 will be Tuesday, August 11th.

Rehearsal is Wednesday, August 12th. We have plans for the rehearsal to begin in the late afternoon if school has started. If school has not resumed, the rehearsal will begin early afternoon.

For those of you who have danced with us before or attended one of our shows, you know the show that we are capable of putting on for parents and guests. Depending upon what phase we are in in August, this year’s show may be different. It is possible that only parents will be allowed in attendance. Again, we do not have answers yet, we wish we did. Please know that we are trying our best to give advance notice at a time when we do not have advance information.

Please be sure to fill out your child’s trophy information.

As always, we truly do appreciate your patience and understanding as we try to navigate our way through this.

• REVUES – We will not be able to hold our revues in June. We have been working closely with the Pontchartrain Center to acquire back-up revue dates in August.

TENTATIVE DATES for August are:
Rehearsal – Wed, August 12
Mandeville – Mon, August 17
Destrehan – Tues, August 18
Kenner – Wed, August 19

Nothing is finalized yet, but we want you to be able to keep these tentative dates in mind on your calendars.

If you are on Facebook, please like our public page and join our private parent group if you have not done so already. The facebook group is an easy way for us to quickly get information out and answer questions. To join the private group, you must be a parent or guardian of a current student and answer the membership questions so that we can verify you.

In following guidelines from our community officials, we will continue to pause our regularly scheduled classes at the studio.

Physical activity, movement, mental stimulation, fun, and social interaction are all going to help kids (and adults!) get through this trying time. While this situation will impact our classes inside the studio, we will continue to deliver the experience you know and love at KKD, just in a different way.

Thanks to technology, our studio staff will be providing you with an online studio experience for our dancers to keep them moving, learning, and interacting with their friends while having fun during this time.

Virtual Dance Classes

We have transitioned all of our scheduled classes online. We aim to offer the same classes your child/children are used to, as well as additional resources to improve strength, flexibility, and new skills.

It is also a WONDERFUL way to keep some normalcy in your daily routine and to keep the boredom away!

We will be providing all recital music (as well as choreography for the little ones who may not remember on their own) so you can continue to learn and practice for the recital.

All of our current students may join our online group classes for lessons both pre-recorded and live.

Online classes are held during your child’s regularly scheduled class time beginning Monday, March 23. Please check your emails for instructions from your teacher to log on to class.

Many, but not all, of our teachers are also forming private class groups on Facebook to share music, videos, and virtual class links. Please check your email for exact instructions from your child’s teacher.

If you are not receiving emails from us please logon to the parent portal and double-check that your email address is correct. If it is correct and you are still not receiving emails, they may be going to your “junk” folder or getting caught by a spam filter. You can view all previously sent emails in the “Messages” section of the JackRabbit Parent Portal.

We are working to find ourselves a new normal for the time being, and we are committed to continuing to offer you the best customer service and studio experience during this time. Your patience and cooperation are greatly appreciated. Our staff has worked very hard on learning a new platform to be able to connect with our students. There will be a few hiccups along the way as this is new to all of us.

Zoom Tips

We’ve learned a few things in our first virtual classes. Here are some tips for using Zoom.

• The first time, log on a little early to give yourself adequate time to set Zoom up on your device.
• If you would like to enlarge the teacher’s window, click the pushpin icon that’s found in the corner of their window.
• If you want to see more of the other students in the class, connect on a laptop instead of a phone or iPad.
• If you have a smart TV, you can cast your device to the TV screen.
  • For a laptop, make sure your laptop and Smart TV are hooked to the same wifi. Open Zoom in Google Chrome. Click the three dots in the top right corner of the Chrome window and select “Cast”. Click the “Sources” drop-down and select “Cast from Desktop”. Then select your Smart TV.
  • For an iPhone or iPad or Mac, you can use AirPlay.
• If you do not have a Smart TV, you can connect your laptop to your tv with an HDMI cable.
• Unless your teacher asks you to unmute or asks you a question, please keep your window muted. You can mute/unmute by clicking the microphone icon on your window.

We deeply thank you for your support while we are navigating through this crisis the best way we can. Your continued dedication to our mission to provide your child with invaluable life skills through the performing arts ensures that we can continue doing the work we do.

We will continue to send emails and update this page as new information becomes available.