TLDR: Assign instructors to frozen schedules

Why didn’t we do this in years past?

It was a legacy feature from a previous admin that staff would be assigned 1-2 days a week to lessons so we would have enough and not burn out people that didn’t like teaching (we were critically short staff and had to conscript lifeguards that didn’t like teaching to teach).

It took 4 years to go from 60 people working in a summer to 130; we’ve had 130 staff for each of the last two years: 2024/2025.

This year we assigned instructors with expectation that they would teach every Monday – Thursday from 9am – 12:30pm and we built their schedules around this instead of allowing total variability in role/time/location.

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For a very long time our summer swim lessons struggled with consistency. We trained everyone the same way. We had hours and hours of training, followed the same lesson plans, use a unified level structure that was the same across our different pools, and yet still, still, we struggled with instructors knowing the kids names and pushing them to improve.

During the summer we had so many people and so many shifts spread out across 4 different locations it was almost impossible to keep the same instructor with the same group of kids.

Parents hated it. Lesson Coordinators hated it. And I hated it.

In 2025 we nailed down the problem and implemented this one simple strategy: swim instructors would have a frozen schedule; the same shifts, the same days of the week, all summer long.

I know. It isn’t rocket science, it isn’t revolutionary, but it is a crucial and vital step that was overlooked.

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The Domino Effect of Inconsistency

Our previous approach, while well-intentioned, created a ripple effect of negative outcomes. When instructors were constantly rotating, the bonds between them and their students couldn’t form. A new instructor might not have been aware that a child was terrified of putting their face in the water, or that another had just mastered a specific skill the day before. This meant valuable class time was wasted on introductions and assessments, instead of building on previous progress.

This lack of continuity had a huge impact on student learning. Without a consistent instructor, students lacked the personalized feedback and encouragement needed to reach their full potential. The instructor’s ability to truly connect with and motivate a child was severely limited. This led to a frustrating experience for everyone involved. Parents saw their children’s progress stagnate. Lesson coordinators were constantly fielding complaints and trying to shuffle schedules. And for us, the program directors, it was disheartening to see our hard work and standardized curriculum undermined by such a fundamental organizational flaw.

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The Power of the Familiar

By implementing a frozen schedule, we didn’t just solve a logistical problem; we solved a human one. Instructors were no longer just a revolving cast of teachers. They became a familiar, trusted guide. The same instructor could welcome the same group of kids each day, immediately knowing their names, their personalities, and their specific goals. They could pick up right where they left off, building on skills and providing targeted, specific feedback that moved each child forward.

This stability also built a deeper sense of accountability and ownership among our staff. With a consistent group of students, instructors felt more personally invested in their success. They were able to track each child’s progress, celebrate their milestones, and identify areas where they needed more support. This created a more positive and effective learning environment for the kids and a more rewarding experience for the instructors. The simple act of creating a stable schedule transformed our program from a series of disjointed lessons into a cohesive, progressive, and effective learning experience. It proved that sometimes the most impactful solutions aren’t found in a new curriculum or fancy equipment, but in the small, fundamental details that are often overlooked.

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Putting the Strategy into Practice

We had about 60-80 swimmers in the water at the same time during each of our four lesson times. We maintained a 1:5 instructor to swimmer ratio grouped by level. Our lessons were the smoothest they’ve been in over five years.

Every instructor had an assigned group for each of the four time slots. They taught the same kids every day, and instructors knew exactly where to go and when to be there. This predictability eliminated the daily chaos of finding groups and getting organized. Substitutes were easier to manage, too. We could simply swap a sub in for that missing instructor’s entire set of classes for the day.

We conducted evaluations every two weeks for eight weeks. This allowed us to assess progress and, if a child had advanced, move them to a new level and a new instructor. While there was some shuffling, the new instructors could easily integrate these new swimmers into their existing, established groups. The stability provided by the frozen schedule made these transitions seamless.

Things ran so smoothly that at the end of the season we wanted to identify what was the major catalyst for the program’s success. It was the frozen schedule. If you taught, you taught every day, because the students came every day. This one simple change was the key to unlocking a consistent, effective, and stress-free swim lesson experience for everyone.