We hope your child has settled in to her classes by now. Our biggest priority with your child’s commitment to their team is finding value and learning in class. Being a part of APA, we want your child to experience MORE than just great arts education. You will see our Academy giving back and our teachers explaining why we do what we do and who we are helping. This month we are participating in Fox 6’s Coats for Kids. Read more about this by our donation buckets in our lobby. We are also doing a Free Trunk or Treat event on October 8th in Oak Creek and Franklin and asking those that participate to bring a canned good for The Salvation Army. Happy October!
More Important Info For You To Know
Choreography Camps: Don’t forget the Fall Choreography Camps have already started. Click on the link below to confirm your date and times. Click here.
Team Bonding Events: We would like to give more opportunities for our teams and dancers to bond outside of the studio before our lock in. Here are two events that you can sign up for at the front desk, but we will need parent chaperones instead of team coaches attending these events. Parents can decide which event they feel is age appropriate for their dancer.
Event 1 (All Ages): “Boo at the Zoo” at the Milwaukee County Zoo, Saturday October 14th from 6-9pm. Meeting place would be at the main entrance to the zoo, by the large Milwaukee County Zoo sign.
Cost: FREE with your Zoological Society Membership OR Adults: $9 each, Juniors Ages 3-12: $7 and parking is $7 per car. You pay when you arrive at the Zoo. Please RSVP to the front desk so we know who is planning on attending.
Event 2: “The Hill Has Eyes: Lights Out – Sunday, October 29th anytime after 6pm (exact time will be announced closer to event). Returning by request of the mutant cannibals, Lights Out is their favorite event of the year. It’s a night where our terrifying trails are only lit by our guests’ glow sticks. Are you brave enough to join our mutants on this exciting, pitch black hunt? ”
IF we have 15 or more paying attendees, the cost will be $22 p/p. The original price is $32. Please pay $22 by cash or check to the front desk by Tuesday October 24th. If we do not have a minimum of 15 attendees, we will return all money to you and you can still attend on your own and pay on site.
If you would like to volunteer to be a parent chaperone please sign up as soon as possible by emailing [email protected]. We must have a minimum of 2 parents for the older group event. One parent per dancer must attend “Boo at the Zoo” unless otherwise arranged with another parent or family.
Team Performance Dates: CLICK HERE – please check this each month in case we have updates.
South Milwaukee Christmas Parade: We have the South Milwaukee Christmas Parade coming up on Sunday, November 26th. All of our teams will be performing at this event (Pre-Team is invited to walk the parade route, but they are not required to attend if you feel they are too young to walk the parade route. If your pre-team dancer walks a parent must walk with them). Please have your dancer start learning the parade dance at home when we send out the link. This is the same dance as our 4th of July routine but with a different song. We will be sending out a video link by the end of October. Due to the lack of interest and participation last year, we will not have an in-studio parade practice.
For the parade, we will have everyone wear their warmup jacket (with layers underneath), any black yoga/jazz pants and any tennis shoes. You will also need to purchase a black pair of gloves and black headband to cover your ears. Please start looking for these items now! Details about when and where to meet for the parade will be in the November newsletter. Please remember this is a required Team event.
Logo Wear for Sale: You can click the link below and place your order online. Our store will close on the 10th of the month and will not reopen until the 1st. All orders will take 3-4 weeks after the store closing date and will be shipped for free to APA. Click here to order! This is the last month to order your team jacket and receive it in time before the November Team Parade Performance.
Practicing at Home: All competitive team dancers are expected to be practicing at home. When the dancers learn something in class, we want them to review and memorize it at home so we can move faster in our classes.
Absences: If your child will be absent for any practices please inform your coach AND send us an email. Remember there are limited absences allowed throughout the year unless it is an APA sponsored event, such as a dance convention with APA. The coaches do track attendance and tardies, so after the second absence you will receive an email to remind you of the policy and how many absences your child has. Please refer to the team contract for specific absence policies for each team level. All specialty teams (hip hop, poms, and tap are considered pink).
Hair and Makeup: Team students are required to wear their hair and make-up a certain way for most required events. We will have instructional videos for how to do performance hair and make-up by December. We will also have an in-person demonstration by Miss Sarah on Saturday, December 2nd after our lock-in from 8am-9am at our Oak Creek location. Due to Saturday classes, we cannot go past 9am. We recognize with parents and dancers schedules, it can be difficult to have and make-up checked during parent observation week. We are going to have Miss Sarah check everyone’s NEW hair and NEW make-up at the winter showcase.
Convention Details: For those of you who signed up for the Groove convention (October 8th) or Showstopper convention (Oct. 14th-15th), we will email out details as they become available. Please expect an email from us 1 week prior to the event.
Team Fees: We wanted to give another reminder that on January 1st we will automatically charging the account on file for competitive teams fees. Since this is the largest payment we want to give everyone as much time to plan as possible. Please remember this is per routine. 1st Routine fees: $349. Each additional routine is $222, including production.
Student of the Month: We are excited to recognize some of our students who are more than just great dancers. Teachers can nominate students each month. Some of the criteria includes (all apply to inside and outside of APA), attendance, attitude, work ethic, respect. Congrats to our Team Dancer of the Month, Erika Hysalliu. Find out more about Erika and our other Students of the Month on our bulletin boards in the studio.
October License Plate Winner: Congrats to license plate 943-WTA! One of our staff members spotted your Academy window sticker while driving! Please contact the front desk so we know who you are and you will receive a $50 tuition credit! To participate next month, grab a FREE window sticker at the desk!
Trunk or Treat Event: Please join us for a FREE event on Sunday, October 8th from 12:30-2pm at BOTH our Franklin and Oak Creek locations. NEW this year: Bounce house, games, prizes and more! Join us for a fun costume contest with great prizes. Join our “Food Fight” Food Drive for a chance to win a prize!! Click here for more info! If you are a business and would like to host a FREE trunk to advertise for yourself, please contact Cara at [email protected].
Kringle Fundraiser: Order form is due Monday, October 2nd. Franklin Pick Up – Thursday, October 19th 3pm-6pm and Oak Creek Pick up – Friday, October 20th 3pm-6pm. You must pick up from the location you ordered from. Anyone that does not show up between those times will be charged $10 to their account on file. If you do not pick up your food that night, your frozen food will not be good as we do not have a freezer on the premises. Profits from the fundraiser will be in your individual account before October 15th.
Coats for Kids: APA is proud to be participating in Fox 6’s Coats For Kids again this year! Donations will be accepted starting October 2nd. Donation bins will be in the lobby at both locations. Please start checking your closets for coats that can be donated to those in need of these items in the harsh Wisconsin winter weather. All sizes are needed.
Kudos! Program: We’re teaming up with local businesses to offer exciting perks to our APA families. Everyone would have received a Kudos! Card inside your student folders handed out the first week of class. If you are a business owner (this is great for at home businesses too!) and want exposure to hundreds of families, this FREE opportunity is perfect for you! CLICK here for more details or email Cara at [email protected].
Yard Sign Contest: This continues through the month of October! Grab a yard sign from the lobby of either location and place it in your yard. If we spot your house during October you could be our next $50 tuition credit winner.
Referral Program: Share us with a friend. When a new family registers and mentions your name, you will EACH receive a $50 tuition credit. (Credit given after 2 months enrolled and there is no limit to the number of families referred!)
DANCE SHOWCASE INFORMATION BELOW ——
2017 Winter Showcase Times: Our Showcases are set for Saturday, December 16th at the South Milwaukee High School PAC. Our shows will be approximately one hour in length and at the following times: 930am, 1130am, 130pm, 330pm & 530pm. We will announce our teams’ performance times in our November newsletter – some teams could be asked to perform in more than one showcase time. Technique classes, with the exception of upper level ballet classes, will NOT perform.
SIBLINGS IN DIFFERENT SHOWCASE TIMES: We spend hours creating our winter showcase performance order and unfortunately we cannot get all siblings in the same showcase. We understand this is a huge inconvenience! If your students are not scheduled in the same showcase, please email us at [email protected] with your student’s names. We will post a credit in your account for $44 (cost of 4 tickets) before 12/15 tuition payment. Because of South Milwaukee’s online ticket sales, we do not have capability to give free tickets on their site. You will still need to purchase these tickets on your own through South Milwaukee PAC.
Winter Dance Showcase Ticket Sale Days:
*ONLINE ONLY – Monday, November 6th ALL SHOWS on sale at 10am.
*IN PERSON OR OVER THE PHONE – Monday, November 13th at 10am
Tickets: Tickets cost $11 per ticket and must be purchased through the South Milwaukee Box Office. If seats are available the day of, tickets are $13 at the door. All seats are reserved seating. Ways to order Tickets at the South Milwaukee Box Office: Online (preferred method) http://www.southmilwaukeepac.org/smpac_boxoffice.html In Person- 901 15th Ave. South Milwaukee Hours are Monday-Friday 10am-4pm Phone – (414) 766-5049 Hours are Monday – Friday 10am-4pm
DVD’s: Our winter show is professionally videotaped and available for purchase. Forms will be available at the event (the Spring Showcase includes a free DVD of the performance).
Volunteers: We will need a limited amount of volunteer’s back-stage to help with our little ones; volunteers do not have to purchase a ticket. The sign-up will take place in November.