Thread: HELP! Another parks and rec question

I know there are tons of threads about this, but I am in a bind about how to answer many of the questions they are asking me. The parks and rec in my area is offering me the general 70/30 split, but they want me to fill out some other stuff too. Her goes:

1. How much will I charge per person per class?

2. Minimum number of students per class

3. Will I charge any registration fees or other fees (they said it is up to me)

4. How long the class will last and how many times a week.

Basically it seems like they let the instructor have a lot of say in how it is done, but I am used to being paid an hourly wage, plus commission. I need advice, suggestions, help.....

First of all, I need to make at the absolute minimum 25$ per hour. My math isn't that great, so what would you guys suggest I charge per person per class and how many minimum students?

How do you guys do the classes? Do you do one day a week? For how long? Do you do six week, four week, or ongoing? Also do park and recs do better with "dance" or "fitness" classes? They also said that was up to me.

What time slots do you guys do? Which attract more students? I can teach mornings, but it seems like people would be working? I have so many questions........I'd really appreciate any advice. THANK YOU MY BHUZ FAMILY! ..g.:

First of all, so much is going to differ depending on your area, and what you personally want your classes to be like. That said, here's what I do for my park & rec classes:

1. How much will I charge per person per class?

I looked at the current catalog and set the class fee equivalent to what was being charged for other adult fitness/dance/yoga classes. It's also very important to know what the other teachers in your area are charging for classes so you don't wildly undercut them.

2. Minimum number of students per class

This will depend on what you charge for the class, obviously. I use 5 because there's always a couple of people absent each class, and anything smaller than 2 or 3 people makes for a very low energy class, IMO.

If you charged $10/class, or $60 for a 6 week session, and had a minimum of 5 students, you would make $210 for the session, or $35 per hour. The math works like this:

Total session fee x .70 x minimum # students / # of hours in session = hourly income

But don't forget that you will have to pay your own taxes in at the end of the year on that amount, so that's just your gross, not your net.

3. Will I charge any registration fees or other fees (they said it is up to me)

To me this would depend on if you are doing any of the clerical stuff yourself (enrollment, collecting payments, what have you). For my park & recs they do everything, so I don't charge any additional fees. Although the students do need zills for Level 2 classes, and if they don't want to seek them out on their own, they have to buy them from me.

4. How long the class will last and how many times a week.

I do an hour long class once a week. For my Beginner student base, that's usually about as much as they can commit to, financially and time-wise.

I do 6 week sessions, but other teachers in my area sucessfully run 8 and 10 week sessions. I think it really depends on what you want to cover in your session - my recommendation would be to come up with a syllabus and then try to determine how long it will take you to effectively teach the material. For raw Beginners, definitely err on the side of it taking longer than you think it will.

I choose to list my BD classes as a dance classes rather than fitness, because they are technique-heavy. I do have a specifically cardio-based workout format class that's listed under fitness. Again, I think you have to decided what you want to do in the class, then choose the best category based on the content.

Finally, this TOTALLY differs from area to area, but I have never had any luck teaching a BD class during the day. Most of my students prefer a class that starts no earlier than 6pm and ends no later than 8pm.

Hope some of that helps!

Prime time in this area for classes: Mon - Thu 5 - 8 pm.

Laura 2, thanks so much for all the help. I appreciate it SOOO much. There is so much good info there. I now feel more prepared. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, Mon- Thurs 5-8 sounds good