Starfish Swim School

Starfish is year round swimming instruction dedicated to teaching kids to swim in a safe, warm, loving and FUN environment.

2007—The BIGGEST NEWS in Starfish History

1988: Starfish was conceived as Kids First Founder, Jeff Metzger watched his young children struggle to learn to swim in an outdoor pool. As the summer progressed, it became obvious that the success of any particular lesson was directly related to the temperature of the water that day. “That poor instructor. It didn’t make any difference how hard she tried, on days when the water was cold the kids’ bodies and brains just seemed to shut down” Jeff recalls. “I learned first hand that blue lips and learning to swim just don’t go together and I began planning a warm water, specially designed pool that teaches youngsters to swim safely and easily.”

1998: After its opening in April, 1998, with its warm, 90° water and loving teachers, STARFISH quickly became known as the premier place for Tri-State area kids to learn to swim. Since, STARFISH has taught over 10,000 children how to be SAFE and COMFORTABLE in the water, many of those children going on to become successful competitive swimmers.

2007: Drawing on 32 years of experience teaching children, 9 years of experience teaching swimming and 4 trips to Australia learning from the world’s best swim teachers, STARFISH continues to reinvent itself by unveiling a brand new, SIMPLIFIED Curriculum® that is guaranteed to better help your child learn to swim safely, comfortably, with less stress.

The BRAND NEW, Starfish Simplified Curriculum®

In developing the BRAND NEW Starfish SIMPLIFIED Curriculum® we sought to accomplish two main goals:

• To emphasize acknowledgment of individual achievements (‘Celebrations’, as we term them) and de-emphasize ‘levels’.
• To present the curriculum in a manner that is SIMPLE and logical so you, the parent, can ‘follow along’ as your child’s swimming skills advance.

Differences from the Previous Curriculum

• The previous ‘level testing’ (using rainbow colors) no longer exists.
• You now register by age, rather than ‘level’ (color). Each class will be divided into homogeneous teaching pods of similar age.
• Progress is tracked and acknowledged by milestones we call ‘Celebrations.’ A ‘Celebration’ does NOT denote a ‘level,’ but, rather, a personal achievement. Although there is a logical order to the ‘Celebrations’, they may be achieved in any order which eliminates ‘sticking points.’
• The daily lesson plans are structured around four SIMPLE categories of movement:
• Comfort & Safety (includes floating)
• Legs (kicking)
• Arms (stroking)
• Breathing

We are Looking for reliable, energetic Teachers:
Looking for reliable, energetic teachers for our warm water year around program. A.M., P.M. and weekends available. Call Jessica Smith at 489-7575, extension 151 or email her at jsmith@kidsfirstsports.com