The Artistic Realm of Talentz

We are saddened to hear that you had an unpleasant experience here at The Artz. We responded to your email and here are our remarks for your comments.
On our site where the schedule is listed we make it clear that the schedule may change and is not set in stone. The teacher who normally teaches the juggling portion of the camp was not there at that time so the schedule shifted. We make sure that everything is done in the full day camp at some point. Your niece was registered for the half day program so by the time we got to that part of the program, she had already left. When clients sign up for the half day program, their session ends at 1:00 pm. Not only did she stay well past that time, we accommodated her for this extended time as well as another child that was brought and allowed by the parent to roam about the studio freely. We then had to stop our program to make sure the new child was not hit or harmed in any way seeing that it would be a liability on us as she was not registered. Only after the child ran through the studio was she called by the adult where she proceeded to disrupt even more by throwing a fit and started screaming.
Our students learned over 15 skills on the first day of camp and many of them were surprised as well as their parents as to how much they learned. Our camp is 100% active and there is a lot going on all the time. We are totally different from every other camp seeing that we have our kids sit down and watch first, then they have the chance to do it at the same time. With them being 1-2 feet off the ground, they are monitored and remain safe through out the day while being fully instructed by more than one person.
When students are not participating and put their lives or other students lives in danger, they are sent to sit on the couch. We don’t make our kids sit on the floor as a punishment. While on the couch, they can still learn and see what’s going on but they are away from anything dangerous. While this child had nothing to do with your niece, they were monitored and their parents were informed of their actions. If they were not monitored, we would not have known about the damage he had caused seeing that it was against the wall.
When a parent comes to pick their child up, we make sure that they are matched with the correct adult and that they have everything they need before they depart. Once that happens, we get back to the remaining children. Again, due to your niece staying way over her allotted time, we acknowledged the adult, child and additional child that came in. We can not neglect our other clients to cater to individuals that have gone past their time once they have been taken care of. This would put other lives in danger or grind our camp to a halt.
Again, having nothing to do with your niece, when the instructor was checking to make sure that the other girl and her sister had left on time, this was to make sure that she had indeed been picked up on time. It was to verify. We check and double check here so that all of our clients are safe. That student has been coming to our studio and camps for over 3 years and they never leaves the mats with out seeing their parents first. That parent also makes it a point to talk to an adult when they enter the studio. This again is to make sure everyone is safe.

In summary, yes we changed the schedule. It states on the website that this may happen. Yes a student was sat out because he endangered other students and he was monitored. No it was not a free for all. We don’t baby our students. We teach and let them learn at their own pace. No child leaves without us knowing because the “receptionist” is located by the main entrance/exit. We did notice when the client came in but we then went back to our other clients to make sure they were safe as they stayed well over their allotted time and brought another child who disrupted the activities that were going on. Safety is our priority and remains at the top of our list.
Your niece was a joy to have while she was here and on numerous occasions told us that she was having fun. When a child says they are having fun then we take their word for it. We are saddened to hear that her focus was taken away from the other activities but we took her smiling and laughing as a good sign before the adult arrived to pick her up.