JFD Policies

By permitting your child to swim with JFD, you are acknowledging and accepting these policies and will be responsible for any fees incurred as a result of not adhering to them.

OFFICE HOURS AND PERSONNEL

Vicki Collins is our Coach's Administrator. Amongst her many duties is running the finest lesson coach's training in the area. Email her at jfdcoaches@aol.com. Boris Cicmil is our Meet Coordinator. He can be reached at jfdmeets@aol.com. Jessica Tucker is our Office Administrator. She oversees bookkeeping, program registration and scheduling. Her email address is jfdbookkeeping@aol.com. Monday through Friday, you can contact JFD between the hours of 10am – 5 pm at (301) 916-1852. Joe Flaherty, our Head Coach, can be reached from 9am – 1:00 pm, or between 9 and 10:30 pm.

COMMUNICATIONS

Please do not consult the front desk or lifeguard staff at the facilities we rent. They have very little knowledge about our programs/schedule. Joe’s e-mail address is: joeadolfin@aol.com. Emails are efficient for quick exchange of info, but phone calls are preferred to discuss any matter. Messages are often checked away from the office, so we can respond more efficiently to those who include a phone number every time you call or email.

PAYMENTS

Accounting for over 1,000 swimmers per year is challenging. Please help us by clearly indicating who and what any check is for, with extra care when the last name on the check is different from the swimmer’s name. Please always include a phone number. All payments should be made by check or credit card and mailed to the office. Please make the checks payable to Joe Flaherty’s Dolphins (or JFD) Coaches cannot accept cash or checks. NOTE: A $25 fee will be charged for bounced checks.

REFUNDS

Please understand that until we receive a notice of your child dropping out, we are paying for the pool rental and coach for them to be swimming in the pool. If you choose to drop out for any reason, we will cheerfully refund the pro-rated fees for the balance of the season after two conditions have been met.
1. A written note of your concerns or reasons mailed, e-mailed or faxed to the JFD office.
2. JFD would like to end on a positive experience for your swimmer. After we are notified of your intent to withdraw, we will provide a three-week period during which we will make adjustments for your child, and present them with an awards certificate.

REFERRALS

As a bonus to our swimmers, for every family that joins for the remainder of the season, and records your name on their registration form, you will be given a $50.00 credit up through December 2007. After January 1, the amount will be $10 less each month until the end of the season. This credit can be applied to your current bill, future meet entries or any special events. Please let us know how you would like to spend it and we will apply it to your bill.

SNOW CANCELLATIONS

As so many families have differing driving constraints, a policy that will cover all locations and satisfy all families is unlikely. For future reference Quince Orchard does not cancel easily, and we do not cancel according to MCPS. Georgetown Prep will follow MCPS snow closings, but not normal holidays. If the roads are clear, we will hold practices the afternoon or evening that MCPS has been cancelled or delayed. If there is any doubt about cancellations, please phone the swimmer’s hotline at (301) 916-1852 one half hour before your practice; the main greeting will direct you to press “5” for our special events, meets and practice schedules update. Typically, Quince Orchard is our least likely site to cancel. However please use caution as walking through the pool parking lots. JFD is less likely to cancel our lane practices than our lessons. Please do not call the pools directly.

MAKE-UP PRACTICES

As always, we encourage make-ups. Since JFD still incurs the expenses for a practice even when a swimmer misses, there will be no refunds for classes missed. Since bonus practices represent additional pool rental and coaching expenses, bonus practices are not allowed to be substituted for make up practices. When scheduling a make up, first of all, please do so at least 24 hours in advance. Calls to the office about make ups for that day will most likely not be available as the coaches will not be aware that your child is coming. Please email us with the following information (preferably in this order): Date, time, level, category (lessons, clinic, etc), name (first and last), age, phone/email, and then any notes. Coach Flaherty will know most of this information, but if you type it out for him to read, it saves the office the time of searching for it if it is not known. If you are a lessons swimmer, this email will be forwarded to the Site Supervisor of the time requested, who may or may not know your child, this is why it is very important for you to include as much information as possible as to what level they are on, so that the Site Supervisor knows where to best place your child. Please do not forget to include both first and last name of your child, or assume we know your name by simply looking at your email address. If your email is received within 48 hours notice, in the above format, it is very likely that we will be able to grant your request.

BONUS PRACTICES

We don’t contract with our pools for regular practices during the Montgomery County Public Schools’ winter and spring breaks, and families are not charged for these weeks. Instead, we offer bonus practices. This gives each family the maximum flexibility in what can be a very busy vacation but can also represent a chance for extra concentration on swimming. It’s crucial we know you’re coming so we can contract for the pool and coaches. As you can imagine, walk-ins can upset the coach-swimmer ratio and may be turned down if that bonus practice is full. Bonus practices may not be used as make ups, with the exception of weekend swimmers who usually have more holidays than the weekday swimmers and end up missing some days. When MCPS’ has one day off: We hold our usual schedule and all swimmers are expected to come at their normal time. Swimmers, who are not scheduled on these days, may pay $13 extra and come to an additional practice or to a bonus practice in the morning. Swimmers may come earlier or later than usual if they call the office and clear it ahead of time. If you sign up and miss a bonus practice, you still must pay, but you are entitled to a make up at a regularly scheduled practice.

BONUS PACKAGE
You may purchase a package of all bonus practices offered in the year (Usually 30-40) for one very low price. Even if you only attend a few, this is still a very good deal. You still must register for each of the bonus practices as the details are sent out. All who signed up in time will be called when there is a cancellation.

SCHEDULE CHANGES

If a swimmer needs to change his/her practice times, first verify the new day and time with the JFD office.

Thank you for abiding by these policies!