ABOVE: Photo of a young participant reaching the top of the stall bars.
What should my child wear to gymnastics?
Clothing must be tighter fitting, and free of buttons, zippers, snaps or similar. For safety purposes, the participant’s torso must be fully covered, to protect against friction with surfaces, mats, and equipment.
Leotard
A leotard is the standard gymnastics uniform. Properly fitted leotards are tighter fitting, and avoid the risks associated with loose, baggy clothing that can get caught against gymnastics apparatus or instructor’s hands when spotting. Biker style shorts are also a common pairing.
Leggings, Sweatpants, Shorts and a T-shirt
Athletic style shorts or pants and a tucked-in t-shirt may be worn. We encourage comfortable clothing with a tighter fit that allows full body movement. Avoid loose, baggy clothing.
Bare Feet
Bare feet are the safest practice for participants. Better sensory contact with the various soft and firm surfaces provides better balance and agility for gymnasts navigating new and uncertain movements. Socks may be slippery on some surfaces, and shoes are not allowed.
Hair
Longer hair must be pulled back and secured in a ponytail, braid, or similar. As participants will commonly turn upside down as a normal movement for gymnastics, avoid hair styles that will obstruct vision or swing into the face.
Jewelry
Remove all jewelry and hats. This includes necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and anything that could risk injury to participants, or instructors who are commonly assisting participants with movement. We also do not recommend wearing smartwatches or similar. Stud earrings are appropriate, but participants may be asked to remove hoop-style earrings.
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My child missed a class. Do you offer make-ups?
At this time, Novato Gymnastics is not offering make-ups for missed classes. Most of our sessions are between 7 and 10 weeks in length. Sign-up for the sessions that work well for you and your families activity schedule.
What do I do when my child is sick?
We ask participants to stay home when they are sick! Participants exhibiting cold or flu-like symptoms are not allowed to participate in class. Cold and flu-like symptoms include but are not limited to the following: fever or feeling feverish/chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, nausea, diarrhea, and fatigue.
Staff reserve the right to accept or decline participants based on their assessment and discretion of any apparent signs or symptoms of illness. Thank you for your understanding.
Drop Off and Pick Up
Classes are scheduled to begin and end on time. We recommend that all participants arrive 5 minutes early to use the restroom, settle in, and prepare for the start of class. Arriving on time ensures that your child participates in warm-up, which is an important part of injury prevention. In addition, we ask that parents/guardians make every effort to pick-up their child on-time. Our instructors teach classes back-to-back. It is very difficult for them to supervise a child who has not yet been picked up while simultaneously teaching their next class. We understand that, on occasion, circumstances may arise that cause you to run a few minutes late.
If your child is not picked-up on time, you may incur a late pick-up fee of up to $1.00 per/minute.
What is priority registration versus open registration?
Novato Gymnastics offers priority enrollment to currently enrolled class participants before opening up registration to new and returning participants. Priority registration is a week-long registration period reserved for currently enrolled class participants, only. During this time, you can register for any class (day or time) your child meets the qualifications for. Please note, enrollment in camp programming does not qualify your child for priority registration for classes.
Open registration is available to all participants, new and returning!
We accept registration online at www.novato.org/regforfun and in-person Monday through Thursday from 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
We encourage parents/guardians to regularly check-in with their child’s gymnastics instructor. We recommend speaking with them before or after class. Please note, our instructors teach classes back-to-back and only have a couple of minutes in between classes. You are always welcome to contact the Front Office at (415) 899-8279 or gymnastics@novato.org with any specific questions/concerns.
How should I communicate with my child’s instructor?
How do I know when my child is ready to move-up?
Novato Gymnastics staff assess a student’s readiness to advance based on the following criteria: mastery of gymnastics skills in their current class, sufficient strength and flexibility, behavior and attentiveness in class, and attendance. This is in alignment with industry standards.
Please note, our instructors evaluate participants on an ongoing and rolling basis during regular classes. Participants can advance to a Shooting Star, Comet, Rocket, Level 1 or 2 class by an instructor’s recommendation. When a child is ready to progress to an advanced class, it is by invitation only, and their instructor will give them a “Move-Up” slip detailing registration procedures.
Our gymnastics instructors have been trained on the “Move-Up” procedure and will consult with a program supervisor as needed. We encourage parents to check-in and discuss their child’s progress with their gymnastics instructor(s) on a regular basis. We kindly ask parents to respect any decisions made by our gymnastics instructors regarding a child’s advancement. Our first priority is to ensure the safety of all participants while fostering a fun and positive learning environment.
It is important to note that if a participant takes more than one session away from their Shooting Star, Comet, Rocket, Level 1, or Level 2 class and then wishes to return to gymnastics, they may be asked to enroll at a lower level. This ensures that returning students can still safely perform the skills they learned previously and are prepared to continue in their advancement.
