Roll over to next season without the scramble

Next season always arrives sooner than you'd like. The classes need to be copied and adjusted, returning dancers need a spot before registration opens to everyone else, and the first question in your inbox is always "my daughter turns five in October, can she take Kinder Ballet?"

We made several changes this fall to take the busywork out of rolling over, most of them because a studio asked.

Copy your classes, and your dancers with them

Copy from Season already copied your classes into a new season. It can now also enroll each class's current students in the copy, starting on the new season's first day.

Tuition and fees for the new season are charged the same way as when staff enroll someone. Each student keeps their payment plan (if the new season offers it) and any tuition adjustment, and sibling discounts apply on their own. If a class is over capacity, the extra students go on its waitlist instead of quietly overfilling it. Date-specific classes like workshops are copied without their students, since those don't usually carry over.

Studios that like returning families to choose again can leave it off and copy only the classes, as before.

One age cutoff for the whole season

Age ranges are where registration gets messy. A child who's four in August and five in October can enroll in different classes depending on the day her parent signs up.

Each season can now have an age cutoff date, like "must be 5 by August 17". Class age ranges are checked as of that date for the whole season, everywhere: enrollment, trials, online registration, and the age filters on your portal and public schedule. If you want to make an exception for a child, pre-approve them for the class.

Ages can also be a half year now. If your parent-and-me class takes children who are two and a half, set Min Age to 2.5.

Open registration on a date, by itself

A season can now publish on a date. Set it up whenever you have time, keep it hidden, and pick when it goes live and what turns on: visible in the family portal, open for enrollment, shown on the public schedule. At that time, it happens on its own, even if you're teaching or asleep.

Families see every open season at once

When summer camps, the end of the spring season, and fall registration are all open together, families used to click through a tab for each season. The portal's Browse Classes page now has an All Seasons tab that lists every open season's classes in one list, sorted by when each class next meets. Weekly classes show the dates they run. You can make it the tab families land on under Settings > Family Portal.

Late joiners pay for what's left

Two smaller changes help mid-season. A season can now charge late joiners per class for the classes left in the season, which suits semester-priced programs. And students who join late on a payment plan are charged only for what's left of the season, not the whole thing.

A rollover checklist

1. Copy last season's classes, with or without their students.
2. Set the age cutoff date and check any class ages that changed.
3. Pre-approve the children you're making exceptions for.
4. Set the publish date and choose what turns on.
5. Send families a heads-up with the date registration opens.