Frequently Asked Questions

The late summer session, otherwise referred to as "session 3", for JAAR Program will be held at the EVEN Hotel in Eugene, Oregon. The hotel's address is as follows:
EVEN Hotel 2133 Centennial Plaza, Eugene, OR 97401. The pool is located on the first floor, and the door will be propped open with a towel.

We are maintaining safety protocols to remain as healthy as possible. We have an A/C group that works with Eryn and a B/D group taught by Alix. The participating adults are fully vaccinated.

For the first time, the groups have slightly different schedules although all lessons will be held from 11:30am-1:00pm. Children will either be in the water receiving private instruction from 11:30am-12:00pm or from 12:15pm-12:45pm. 

We allow 15 minutes of transition time between lessons and departure. Typically, participants spend 5 minutes in the hot tub, take 5 minutes to rinse off in the shower, and then have 5 minutes to change and go home.

Dates for JAAR Program Session 3 Group A/C (Eryn):
- Week 1: August 1st & 3rd

- Week 2: August 8th & 10th

- Week 3: August 15th, 17th, & 18th

- Week 4: August 21st & 25th

- Week 5: August 29th, August 31st, and September 1st

Dates for JAAR Program Session 3 Group B/D (Alix):

- Week 1: August 8th, 10th, & 11th

- Week 2: August 15th, 17th, & 18th

- Week 3: August 21st (make-up day in case of a missed lesson), 22nd, 24th, & 25th

- Week 4: August 29th, 31st, & September 1st

The Fall 2023 session, otherwise known as Session 4, will run from the week of September 18th through the week of October 23rd. Make-up lessons, due to instructor absences, will be available during the week of October 30th.
The Late Fall 2023 session, otherwise known as Session 5, will run from the week of October 30 through the week of December 4th. Make-up lessons, due to instructor absences and/or holidays, will be available during the week of December 11th.
Both sessions 4 and 5 will be held at the EVEN Hotel in Eugene, Oregon. The hotel's address is as follows: EVEN Hotel 2133 Centennial Plaza, Eugene, OR 97401. The pool is located on the first floor, and the door will be propped open with a towel.

Further details regarding the fall sessions, such as days and times of lessons, will be posted as we get closer to the starting date.

JAAR Program will pause during the holiday season and re-start in January 2024.

Currently, JAAR Program provides free, private water-safety lessons to children who are potty-trained and between the ages of 3-18. All participants must experience neurodiversity (physically, mentally, or both) that results in either a medical and/or school diagnoses. Children in the foster care system are also welcome to apply.

Please note that if you signed-up your child in 2023, they were likely placed on our waiting list. You should receive a letter of confirmation from us within 1-2 days of filling out the online form. In the interest of fairness, and the promotion of mental fitness, your child will be taught with a group of similarly aged peers whenever possible. We strive to create natural friend groups while maintaining the order of the waiting list to the best of our ability. 

Water-safety lessons are 45 minutes long. Participants are taught for 30 minutes in the water, and then have 15 minutes of transition time.  

Typically, sessions are six weeks long with instruction occurring twice a week. However, due to the availability of pools, instructor schedules, and the agenda of participants, our third session is only four weeks in length. We have increased lessons to three times a week, and are interested to see if the new frequency of instruction has a positive, negative, or null effect on data when compared to the other two sessions. What we learn will guide us in making decisions regarding the scheduling of lessons in Fall 2023.

The EVEN Hotel is being incredibly generous with its gifted pool time, so we do ask that all families respect the 45 minutes allotted for their child's water safety classes.

Our goals for children who take lessons through JAAR Program are for them to learn:

- how to stay safe when near water and when in water. 

- basic aquatic survival skills.

- concepts of a beginner's freestyle stroke.

- self-sufficiency in the water.

- how safe adults interact respectfully with children, peers, and other adults.

- some of the skills that go into making friends.

- that they are uniquely important, deserving of kindness and equity, able to gain skills, full of individual strengths, and to always take pride in their accomplishments and have confidence in themselves!
*We have the utmost respect for parents and guardians. If you have a specific goal for your child that is not listed here, please email us prior to your child's first lesson.

At JAAR Program, every child has private lessons with the same instructor for the duration of their session. Due to this set-up, we are able to meet each participant where they are skill-wise, and can teach them in their preferred manner. Children with previous aquatic experience will have the opportunity to develop and refine swimming techniques in all four strokes and flip-turns. Respectful yet fun interactions with instructors, and synergy with similarly-aged peers, are all geared towards increasing the mental fitness and resiliency of participants.

If you want to learn more about our program to see if it would be the right fit for your child, please feel free to call us at (541) 852-2997. We have our hours of availability listed on Facebook and will return any calls received after 6pm, or on the weekends, the following business day. Please feel free to leave confidential voicemails on that line.

If there is a child in your life who you believe would benefit from our lessons, please sign them up for our waiting list. This can be accomplished by clicking the button under the "Who is eligible?" question above on this same page, or by going to the "Contact Us" tab and answering the ten listed questions.

If you are interested in being hired as a substitute instructor or in joining the Board of Directors for JAAR Program, please email hello@jaarprogram.org.