FAQ’s

MINGO CLASSES:

Monday-Thursday: 9am-12pm and 3pm-8pm
Friday: 9am-6pm
Saturday: 9am-1pm

JENKS CLASSES:

Monday/Tuesday/Thursday: 9am-12pm
Monday-Thursday: 2:45-7:15pm
Friday: 2:45-6:15pm
Saturday: 8:30-12:00
Sunday: 1:30-5:30pm

The registration fee helps with the cost of administrative expenses. We also pay for insurance on each student with this annual registration fee.  Registration Fees are non-refundable.

Our indoor pools are kept at 89-90 degrees year round.

Consistency is a key component of swimming progress.

We are offering 2 options if you miss a lesson:

Option 1 –  A “Make-up Moolah” pass which allows you to attend five family swims for free.

Option 2 – We want your child to be able to get their lesson in and for this reason we will be offering 2 Make-Up Classes per swimmer per semester. Please honor the spirit of this privilege and use it only for illness or an occasional special event.

• A swimmer must be actively enrolled in weekly lessons to schedule a makeup class.
• Make-up classes must be scheduled 7 days in advance.
• Makeups are limited on times and space so they are available on a first-come-first-serve basis.
• Your current teacher may not be available for the makeup class.
• Make-up lessons have no cash value and are non-transferrable to other swimmers or sessions. If unused, they expire at end of the semester.

• It is imperative that you attend your scheduled make up. We do not offer make ups for make up classes.

Tulsa Location: Saturday and Sunday 4:00-6:00pm

Jenks Location:   Saturday 1:15-3:15pm

UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED*

Many moons ago, Miller tried to incorporate Trial Lessons into our program. It was an opportunity for parents to see how their children fit into our swim lessons. We found Trial Lessons to not be a good fit for our instructors or our swimmers.

Here are the difficulties we discovered with Trial Lessons.

1. One lesson was not enough time for the child to bond with a new teacher. The trial student rarely gained enough comfort in 30 minutes to be his best.
2. The regular students in the class intimidated the trial student. The skills of the regular students were already accelerated past what the trial student could do. This increased the trial student’s discomfort in swim class.
3. The class routine could be disrupted by a “guest” student in a Trial Lesson. The visitor could require too much attention from the teacher, which resulted in a less successful lesson for the regular students.

In short, we discovered that Trial Lessons do not benefit most students.

Based on our experience, 30 minutes is the ideal amount of time to capture a child’s focus. It also ensures that we can keep the child interested and work at a good pace the entire class time.

Miller Swim School is one of the premier swim schools in the nation. Because teaching swimming is our passion, everything we do is first class and costly. From training every instructor for 60 hours, and heating our pools to 90 degrees, to installing expensive ultraviolet light systems to keep our water pristine; you’ll see the value of your tuition immediately.

Teaching swimming is all we do…and we’re the BEST in town!

Yes, we do!

Mingo Location:
Family Swim: Saturday 4pm-6pm and Sunday 4pm-6pm
Lap Swim: Tuesday and Thursday 8am-9am

Jenks Location: 

Group Open Swim: Wednesday/Friday: 9-11am (must be pre-booked)
Saturday 1:15-3:00pm

Our training program has been developed so that our instructors are able to observe various types of class situations and have the opportunity to interact with various student personalities and temperaments. They also read and discuss articles and scenarios of fearful and/or upset children and are trained how to be sensitive to the child’s fears and how to best handle that situation with both child and parent. Our instructors are trained to use and gentle and supportive approach to first time swimmers.

All of our instructors are required to go through the American Red Cross Professional Rescuer Lifeguard and CPR course. They become certified in CPR, Lifeguarding, and First Aid. In addition to that our instructors undergo 40+ hours of training both in and out of the water. They also receive swim lessons taught in the “miller method.” Finally, before taking their own classes, instructors observe and co-teach with seasoned instructors.

For your convenience, we have a women and men’s locker room, equipped with showers, toilets and changing areas. We also have family dressing rooms where you may change multiple children of different gender. Miller does not allow children age 5 and over in the opposite-gender locker room.

All children not potty-trained are required to use a reusable swim diaper. Per the Health Department children must wear a washable, reusable swim diaper, not disposable swim diapers or any other diaper that may dissolve in our pool. We do have the required swim diaper for sale at our facility, should your child need one.

A Deck Supervisor is available to answer your questions regarding your child’s progress, a technique we are using in swim lessons, a discrepancy during ribbon week, or any other concern you may have on the day of your swim lesson. We encourage you to speak with the Deck Supervisor regarding special needs or learning styles of your child, concerns you may have with instructors or any other swim related need!

Yes! All items found during the day or at night in the locker rooms are placed in a blue tub right outside of the Family Dressing Rooms. If, you find an unclaimed item, please turn it in to the Front Desk and we will place it in the lost and found. After several months of items remaining in the lost and found, they will be donated to Goodwill.

We, at Miller, believe that floatation devices give children and parent’s a false sense of security. We encourage the children to feel the water and to recognize how it affects and moves their body. The floatation devices allow the children to swim in a more vertical body position and do not allow children to discover their natural buoyancy.

No, it is not harmful for young children to swim. Sometimes this statement is made because people feel that if a young child is taught to swim, then the parents will be more likely to let them swim while unsupervised. The skills that your children learn at Miller are NOT a replacement for parental supervision. You may also refer to the revised APA statement regarding swim lessons from 2012 on the blog section of our website.

Diaper Dolphins is an introductory course, so there is no need to repeat the class. We designed the curriculum for Flippers, the class that follows Diaper Dolphins, to allow for a smooth transition no matter the age or ability at the end of the Diaper Dolphins course.

Yes! Refer to our Songs and Lyrics page on our website for songs most commonly sung in Diaper Dolphins, Flippers, Minnows, and Level 1 classes. We encourage parents to learn these songs and sing them along with their children during bath time to reinforce the skills learned during class.

Frequently, the term “ear infection” is used interchangeably to describe really 2 or 3 different problems. The ear is divided into 3 parts: outer, middle, and inner ear. Each part has a distinct function, and an infection in one part means something very different compared to the others. An infection in the outer ear is commonly called swimmer’s ear, but really can occur for many different reasons. The ear canal is a dark, warm, moist place. This makes it the perfect breeding ground for infection when water or moisture of any kind become trapped. In the middle ear, there is no evidence to suggest swimming causes, or places children at higher risk for ear infections. A middle ear infection, usually has swelling in the middle ear space, behind the eardrum, which causes the eardrum to become red and allows for fluid to collect behind the eardrum. Inner ear infections are rare, they can cause hearing loss, dizziness and imbalance. Generally, children with inner ear infections are very ill. So, as you go swimming this year and consider enrolling your little one in swim classes, don’t worry about the risk of getting an ear infection, but do recognize the symptoms of otitis externa, ask your doctor if you are concerned, and have a great time! *if your child is prone to ear infections or has tubes, please ask to your deck supervisor for information on pre/post treatments available for little one’s sensitive ears!

You may speak with a deck supervisor or a pediatrician about ways to remove the water from ears after swim lessons, showers, and baths.

No, once your child is completely potty trained, they are no longer required to wear a swim diaper. If your child has an accident while in the pool, we do ask that they wear a reusable swim diaper from there on out.

It is not required that you participate in any skill during the 6-week course that you do not feel comfortable doing. We do, however, ask that you attempt each skill once before you decide against it. Please communicate with your instructor about your fears, worries, or desires to not participate in a certain skill throughout the course.

Absolutely not. Water related accidents occur regardless of an individual’s swimming ability. We strongly advice parents to supervise their children at all times, in and around the water. Never assume someone else is watching your child. We also encourage you to participate in our ThinkSafe program where child and parent can become educated about water safety in and around the pool.

We know there is more than one way to teach a child to swim.  However, we don’t endorse techniques that include letting go of babies on top of the water and allowing them to sink underwater if they don’t lie still. We understand that these well-meaning teachers are simply trying to protect these babies from drowning. Miller Swim School agrees that that steps must be taken to reduce drowning, the #1 reason for the accidental death of US children under the age of five.

At Miller, we promote a more gentle way for babies to survive in a swimming pool. We promote independent back floats as well as swim-float-swim and jumping in and turning back to the wall.

If you will give us your email address, we’ll send you a link to videos of Emler students performing these skills and testimonials of parents whose children have survived a water accident. 
You are also welcomed to register for our TURBO class. You can experience firsthand how swim lessons can make your baby safer AND be one of his or her fondest childhood memories.

As soon as a child can crawl, they are at risk for drowning. Water safety then becomes a necessity. At Miller, beginning lessons at 6 months of age allows a pleasant bonding time for child and parent as well as a necessary water safety education for both child and parent. Swim lessons can enhance psychological development through stimulation of the senses and socialization as well as improve the development of gross motor skills. Children at this age also do not know fear, so learning to respect and enjoy the water will create a positive association with water activities.

While continuous progression is ideal for any activity, we are well aware that children excel at different rates. Factors that affect this progression may be: prior exposure to water, time spent practicing skills at home, parental attitudes and expectations, acceptance of new learning situations, and the child’s natural learning abilities. We do our best, at Miller, to make progress as rapid and consistent as possible. Therefore, we recommend maintain classes throughout the year in order to maximize skill retention.

No. We believe that abruptly removing your child from a lesson with only reinforce any anxieties or fears that they currently have. Some children may simply be suffering from separation anxiety and this will go away as soon as the child gets to know and trusts the instructor. As any new activity, anxiety may be associated with the unknown, and a few tears may be shed, but this too will go away with time. Our instructors are trained to be sensitive to these fears and anxieties and will help ease the child into the water compassionately. Patience, reinforcement, and lots of love and encouragement from both parent and instructor are key in this situation.

Miller Swim School does not use “drown-proofing” techniques to teach babies survival in the water. Although we agree that there is a real and present danger of drowning for toddlers, we disagree philosophically with this survival method of teaching.

Miller Swim School does successfully teach babies and toddlers to swim. More importantly, we teach safety techniques that have resulted in hundreds of our students recovering from accidental falls into pools by saving themselves. We have devoted the past 60 years to developing effective young swimmers by using nurturing and effective teaching techniques.

Unfortunately, no person is exempt from a drowning accident. We believe a consistent, comprehensive swim program that covers a multitude of safety techniques for many types of water emergencies is the best method by which we could give your swimmer the skills and confidence they need to perform those skills when it truly matters.

Since you’re the parent and not the instructor you aren’t able to make that promise. Advise your child to express those feelings to the instructor. This will increase the bond of trust between child and instructor and will also allow the instructor to approach that specific skill with more sensitivity.

We have two observation rooms built specifically for the viewing pleasure of our parents. The rooms have glass windows so parents can watch their children swim anywhere in the pool area. We have found that children are often distracted when parents are poolside. Our goal is to have the child focused on the instructor and the lesson for the entire 30-minute class time. Parents are welcome to step out on the deck with 2-3 minutes remaining in class to take pictures and participate in a “show and tell” time with their child’s class.

Our experience with teaching swimming has shown us that typically, children perform better in a group setting. Our small class size (4:1) allows time for each child to have sufficient individual attention and instruction, as well as the opportunity to interact socially with the other students in the class. Having more than one student also allows for learning through observation and demonstration. We do, however, recommend private lessons for individuals with special needs and/or those who have a time line to meet a specific goal.

Miller Swim School COVID-19 Vaccine Disclosure Policy:

At Miller Swim School, we take seriously the safety of our staff, swimmers, and families.  Our Safety Guidelines are designed to minimize the risk of the introduction of and the transmission of COVID-19.  We understand that the decision to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination is driven by both personal choice and medical conditions.  In addition to respecting the privacy of our staff, we must also adhere to federal and state laws which prohibit the disclosure of certain protected information.  Accordingly, in an effort to comply with such federal and state laws, Miller Swim School will not disclose whether our staff have received a COVID-19 vaccination and we cannot permit customers to directly contact our staff for the purpose of requesting vaccine status.  If so asked, we have advised our Staff to respond that they are prohibited from disclosing any COVID-19 related information except that which is disclosed by Miller Swim School.  This COVID-19 company policy is susceptible to changes with the introduction of additional governmental guidelines. If so, we will update you as soon as possible by email.