Health & Safety

APA has been providing quality dance education to children and young adults for over 15 years and are proud to be affiliated with More Than Just Great Dancing™. As a Safer Studio™, we believe that dance should be safe, educational and fun. We are committed to giving your child the best dance experience possible and our Tech-Enabled™ studio allows classes to be streamed online directly from our studio, while in-person classes are in session. Our goal is to develop happy and healthy dancers!

Girls in doorway watching ballet dance class

CURRENT STATUS

Operating with Modification
MASK POLICY: RECOMMENDED BUT NOT REQUIRED

Our goal is to keep as many kids experiencing the benefits of physical activity as possible while minimizing disruptions to the schedule. We’ve considered the updated CDC guidelines as well as the policies implemented by local school districts when formulating our policies.

We continue to ask that any student exhibiting cold and flu symptoms or that has immediate family members exhibiting cold and flu symptoms to please stay home.

Starting March 1st, we will allow parent 1 to wait inside of APA during your students’ class time if you feel comfortable. Our lobby areas are not big enough to social distance so please be as courteous as possible to other families. If you are waiting inside of the building, masks are HIGHLY recommended. We will continue to monitor this and if we need to close the lobby again, we will notify our families.

Please note: we reserve the right to contact parents to immediately pick up their student if the student comes to class exhibiting cold and flu symptoms. We will continue to do our best to keep all of our students and staff as healthy and safe as possible.

Masks

Anyone who feels concerned may choose to continue wearing their mask. Some dancers and musicians may be contending with additional health problems, might have a particularly vulnerable family member at home, or they might simply choose to wear their mask—the studio warmly welcomes each family to make the choice that is right for them.

  • Masks are highly recommended for all students over the age of 4 regardless of vaccination status. 
  • Masks are highly recommended for all parents/adults entering the studio.

CDC Quarantine and Isolation Guidelines for Students, Parents, and Staff Members (Source: CDC Media Release 12/27/21)

If You Test Positive for COVID-19 (Isolate)

Everyone, regardless of vaccination status:

  • Stay home for 5 days. If you have no symptoms or your symptoms are resolving after 5 days, you can leave your house.
  • We recommend students stay home from APA classes until symptoms have resolved – physical activity when feeling under the weather can be unpleasant even if not contagious.
  • Continue to wear a mask around others for 5 additional days.


If you have a fever, continue to stay home until your fever resolves.

If You Were Exposed to Someone with COVID-19 (Quarantine). **If a member of your household has COVID, please follow CDC Guidelines when determining when to attend classes at APA:

– If you: Have been boosted OR Completed the primary series of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine within the last 6 months OR Completed the primary series of J&J vaccine within the last 2 months:

  • APA REQUIRES you to wear a mask around others for 10 days.
  • Test on day 5, if possible.


If you develop symptoms get a test and stay home.

-If you: Completed the primary series of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine over 6 months ago and are not boosted OR Completed the primary series of J&J over 2 months ago and are not boosted OR Are unvaccinated

  • Stay home for 5 days. After that continue to wear a mask around others for 5 additional days.
  • If you can’t quarantine you must wear a mask for 10 days.
  • Test on day 5 if possible.

If you develop symptoms get a test and stay home.

Modifications in class capacity and curriculum material have been made with great care to ensure our return to in-person classes is as safe as possible, with options for families to continue dancing at home.

  • Classes shortened by 5 minutes to allow disinfecting, hand hygiene, and social distancing in-class transitions
  • Social distancing in classes by marked spots on the floor in studio rooms
  • Water fountains disconnected
  • Additional cleaning and disinfecting!
  • Added hand sanitizer stations at each entrance, required hand hygiene at entry to building for all students and staff
  • Students and staff are required to stay home if they show any flu-like symptoms, a fever of 100.4 or greater, or if they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. There is no negative consequence for students or staff staying home for these reasons.
Dance class students at APA wearing masks

In the instance we have to cancel a class due to staff shortages, we will alert families via email and text. Please join our texting list by texting “APA” to to receive these updates.

We continue to encourage the same kindness and generosity which you have shown since the very beginning, and which makes us so proud to call you “our” dancers and musicians. Thank you for your continued support!

If you have additional questions, please call us at (414) 768-0101 or email us at [email protected].
If we do not pick up, we will get back to you as soon as we can.    

We are so proud that since March of 2020 we have worked tirelessly to execute our Safer Studio™ plan, implementing numerous Covid-19 protocols quickly and smoothly, and keeping the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff always at the forefront of every decision. Vaccines are now widely available, Wisconsin’s Covid positivity rates are declining, and city, county, and local mandates are lightening or lifting. The CDC issued new guidelines which state that fully vaccinated individuals can feel safe without a mask regardless of location, activity, or crowd size. It is after thoughtful consideration of these factors that we make the following announcement:

As of July 5th, APA will be transitioning from a policy of mask requirement to a policy of mask recommendation. All programs from July 5 onward (barring any significant changes in the progress of the pandemic) will be mask optional.

Our studio staff that have been vaccinated will also have this option. Any APA staff members that have NOT been vaccinated will continue to wear masks. Although the studio will no longer temperature check staff as of July 5, we will continue to self-monitor for symptoms of any kind and stay home if ill. Covid-positive staff members and students will still be expected to quarantine until they are out of the CDC recommended isolation window. We continue to ask that any student exhibiting cold and flu symptoms or that has immediate family members exhibiting cold and flu symptoms to please stay home.
Please note: we reserve the right to contact parents to immediately pick up their student if the student comes to class exhibiting cold and flu symptoms. We will continue to do our best to keep all of our students and staff as healthy and safe as possible.

Although many of us will feel relieved to read this announcement, many also will feel concerned about returning to a pre-Covid lifestyle and may choose to continue wearing their mask. Some dancers and musicians may be contending with additional health problems, might have a particularly vulnerable family member at home, or they might simply choose to wear their mask—the studio warmly welcomes each family to make the choice that is right for them.

We continue to encourage the same kindness and generosity which you have shown since the very beginning, and which makes us so proud to call you “our” dancers and musicians. Thank you for your continued support!

If you have additional questions, please call us at (414) 768-0101 or email us at [email protected].
If we do not pick up, we will get back to you as soon as we can.