General Information 2023-2024
Welcome to EPIC Twirl! We are celebrating our 35th year and we are proud to offer the highest level of baton twirling instruction in Central Florida. Our group is one that you can be proud to be a part of. We have won numerous awards in parades and competitions. Our individual competitors and competition teams have won many State & National Championship Titles. We have had 15 of our students become majorettes at UCF, FSU, UF and USF over the past few years! Most recently four of our students competed in the World Baton Twirling Championships and are the world’s silver medalists.
We want your child to have a great experience and to feel good about what they are learning. In our group, your child will always be treated with kindness and respect. Students will be encouraged to be the best that they can be. While we do have high expectations, we do realize that everyone progresses at their own pace and we will be sure that each and every student has one-on-one attention to help their progression. As students’ progress, they may be invited to be a part of our competition team. Our students range in age from 5 to adult and we teach all levels of ability! I encourage you to call or email us if you have any questions, concerns, or if your child has any special needs. We have an amazing staff who will take great care of your child. We hope you and your child enjoy being a part of our group.
CLASSES - Studio and after school classes generally last for one hour with the exception of the studio classes which will last for forty five minutes. Parents are not permitted in the practice area at any location. At the schools you may wait in your car until the last 5 minutes of the class. If at the studio, you can wait in the waiting area. Parents are not required to remain at practices. FRIENDS AND S
SIBLINGS are not allowed to stay at any practice where I am expected to be responsible. Only students who are registered are allowed in the practice areas.
ATTENDANCE & PICK UP - All students are expected to attend as many classes as possible. It is very hard to get caught up on routines and new tricks when a student doesn’t attend. Students must be picked up on time from every class. This is very important as we have other classes sometimes in other locations.
PRACTICE - All students are encouraged & expected to practice at home regularly. Everyone will be learning 3-4 different performance routines throughout the year.
DRESS CODE FOR PRACTICE - Students at all classes are asked to dress appropriately. This means shorts, leggings or loose fitting comfortable pants and a tee-shirt or tank top. Shoes must be tennis shoes or baton shoes. Students who arrive in sandals or shoes that we feel could be unsafe will be asked to sit and watch practice and will not be allowed to participate. Students are asked not to wear skirts, dresses or tight fitting pants. Hair must be pulled up out of the face. Please make sure that you check how your child is dressed on baton day! Students should have their name written small on the end of their baton at all times. Please use an ink pen and not a sharpie! Batons are used for performances and we want them to look nice!
BEHAVIOR - All students are expected to show respectful behavior during the class. If a child exhibits continual negative behavior that takes time away from other students, that child’s parent will be contacted about the situation so it can be corrected. All students are encouraged to be kind to and support their fellow twirlers. Batons and hands must be kept to themselves at all times.
PAYMENT - All payments must be kept up to date. We ask that everyone sign up for autopay, which will debit on the same day each month after you sign up. This can be done through our website. If you are unable to sign up for monthly recurring payments, please contact our office to make other arrangements. If you choose to pay with check or cash, you may be required to pay for three months at a time in advance. A late fee of $20 may be added to payments that are not received by the first of each month. The payment is $50.00 per month throughout the school year for afterschool and studio recreational classes. (Competition team fees can be found in the team contract) This is based on a 4 classes per month class schedule. Some months have more practice and some may have less. There may be extra rehearsals that there will be no additional charge for. We also offer a discount for siblings. This year we have hired an office manager who will be sending out emails, letters and/or phone calls as needed to aid in the collection of past due tuition before it becomes a problem. There is a $35 fee charged for returned checks. If your check is returned and you do not contact us, we will present it again. Anyone who has one returned check will be required to pay by cash, money order, or PayPal from then on. All parents are required to pay through the parent portal.
PARADE & EVENT PARTICIPATION - Our parades and community performances are not mandatory however we encourage you to attend as many as possible. The annual recital and trophy presentation is mandatory. All students will perform for their families and will receive their own trophy at our end-of-the-year recital. This event is mandatory.
SCHOOL POLICY - Please do not contact the schools for baton information. If your child forgets her baton, we will have extras. When batons are carried to school, they must not be shared or played with during the school day. They need to stay in a backpack or in a baton case.
SCHOOL BAD WEATHER POLICY - We do not cancel baton unless we are under threat of a hurricane or there is a tornado warning. We will find a safe location on campus to get out of the weather if there is lightning. We will ALWAYS show up at the school during bad weather and will make sure that your child is safe from lightning. It is very seldom that we have to leave the pavilion to go inside but we will if necessary. If Lake County schools canceled after school activities, due to weather, we will contact every parent directly. We ask that you respond immediately to these messages so we know all families have been reached.
AFTER SCHOOL CARE PROCEDURE - If your child is enrolled in the after school program offered at your school, she/he can still attend baton and we will walk them into the facility and check them in with the appropriate people after baton class. If they attend the ELC afterschool program at their school, they will be required to check in before they come to baton class. Please make sure you let your ELC Director know that your daughter will be registered for baton class. Please be on time to pick up your child. Any student that has picked up late on a regular basis, may be subject to a late pick up fee and/or dismissed from the class.
CONTACT - The best way to contact us is by email. If you call, please make sure you leave your name, your child’s name, and a clear phone number. We do ask, if you have a question and need to call, that only the parent call us and not allow your child to make the call. Please use text for urgent issues.
COSTUME/HAIR/MAKEUP POLICY - Again, we take a great deal of pride in how we look while performing. There will be a link on our website concerning this before our first performance. All students are expected to comply with these policies and if a student arrives at a performance and has not complied, they may not be allowed to participate. You will have a hand out on this and it will be on the website with a video lesson on how to do the hair and makeup according to our policy!
COSTUMES - This year our costume package will consist of a performance T-shirt, shorts, hair, accessory, and jazz shoes. In the past we have ordered costumes for our events. We have decided to make a change this year to keep expenses lower for our families. The girls will still look incredible. Only students on competition teams will wear costumes in the parade. There will be a fundraiser available to help with this expense.
MEDIA AND SOCIAL MEDIA - We take a ton of photos of events and share them on our various platforms. Please notify us by email if you do not want us to use any photos or likeness of your child.
WEBSITE - We will work hard each week to make sure we keep this site updated. Please check on the WEEKLY UPDATES link regularly for a copy of the newsletter. You will receive an email newsletter regularly informing you of schedules and deadlines. Please read the note thoroughly before calling with questions
COMPETITION TEAMS - We offer competition teams to those who have at least one year experience and are looking for more challenging and exciting opportunities in twirling. If your child is interested in this opportunity, please contact us right away as we are forming new competition teams for the 2023/24 season.