About

Why ISR

Founded in 1966 by Dr. Harvey Barnett, ISR is now the global leader in the industry it pioneered: survival swimming lessons for infants and young children. Our team of nearly 450 highly trained ISR Instructors provides the safest and most effective survival swimming lessons available. The ISR Self-Rescue instruction our students receive today is the product of over 45 years of research and achieves unparalleled results.

Today, our mission, “Not One More Child Drowns,” is the foundation of everything we do and is the driving force behind ISR’s employees, our independent ISR Instructors, and our major corporate partnerships. We believe the successful prevention of the leading cause of accidental death for children under the age of 4 in the U.S. will require a large group of caring and capable professionals whose sole focus is to save lives. To date, we have delivered more than 8,000,000 ISR Self-Rescue lessons and saved more than 800 lives.

ISR believes pool fences, supervision, and pool alarms are important parts of a necessary multi-layered approach to drowning prevention. However, traditional lines of defense break down, and the over 4,000 drowning deaths per year bear a grim testament to the fact that traditional approaches are missing a key component: the child. ISR’s core conviction is that the child is the most important part of a drowning prevention strategy and our over 300,000 ISR graduates and 800 documented survival stories are proof that children can save themselves. Children are curious, capable, and have an uncanny ability to overcome obstacles like pool fences; at ISR we take that ability and teach them skills to potentially save themselves if they find themselves in the water alone.

More Info

ONE-ON-ONE LESSONS

All ISR lessons are one on one, student and Instructor. This allows the Instructor to focus fully on the individual needs of the student as all children are unique in their personalities and their cognitive learning abilities. ISR lessons are student directed lessons, tailored to the changing needs of the individual child throughout every moment of each lesson. Although lessons are one on one, they are not "closed" to other students and/ or parents. It often helps children to stay engaged when other children are watching their progress and cheering them on.

10 MINUTES

Lessons are approximately ten minutes a day. ISR lessons are kept short to avoid muscle exhaustion. ISR students work hard to achieve their float and the swim-float-swim sequence and although they are given rests throughout the maximum ten minute lesson, their muscles can fatigue quickly while learning these new skills.

SCHEDULE

The swimming season begins in February. Lessons are held at the same time every day, Monday-Friday, for the duration of the session (typically 4-6 weeks). Once your child’s start date and time are reserved, they will stay the same throughout the session. Registering your child soon will ensure availability and flexibility for your family’s schedule. Please contact Robyn Lamoreaux directly at r.lamoreaux@infantswim.com for lesson times and availability.

Registration: Each student’s registration must be completed online in order to hold/secure their time slot. The registration fee is $105 for new students and $35 for return/refresher students. The registration fee allows our Registration Evaluation Team to screen each student’s medical history prior to the lessons.  Certain medical conditions will require approval and may require a release from your doctor. Once the registration is completed and approved, a Welcome Kit will be sent to each family.  You will also be given a redemption code to use towards purchases in the online ISR Seal Store. To obtain the unique URL for online registration please contact Robyn Lamoreaux directly at r.lamoreaux@infantswim.com

WEEKLY TUITION

Children that are floaters (6-12 months) and children learning the swim-float-swim method will be charged a flat rate of $600 dollars (30 lessons that can be broken into 2 payments). The ISR program can take anywhere from 5-7 weeks for a child to complete and master their skills, so if it takes more than 6 weeks you won't pay for the additional weeks. 

Returning students (refresher lessons) will be charged $100 dollars a week.

MAINTENANCE LESSONS

Upon completion of lessons, you may see behaviors in the child's swimming at home that is not consistent with what your child was doing during lessons. This is a natural progression for your child. As he becomes more comfortable and confident in the water, he will begin to experiment and explore the aquatic environment. It is important to know that this does not mean that your child has "forgotten" the skills learned during ISR lessons. However, it may be necessary to schedule a Maintenance Lesson.

Maintenance Lessons are designed to fine-tune your child's skills or to prevent problems from developing in your child's technique. A few months after completion of ISR lessons, your child may develop unwanted habits out of regular play time in the pool. For example, your child may begin to swim farther without rolling over for breath or may try swimming with her head out of water. Some habits formed from normal exploration in the water may begin to affect your child's ability to swim and float.

During Maintenance Lessons, I will discuss with you different ways to swim with your child to reinforce the correct swimming behaviors and how to control the swimming environment to avoid negative behaviors. There are no set time frames for Maintenance Lessons. They are contingent upon the behaviors being exhibited by your child. In most cases, behaviors can be reinforced or corrected in one or two Maintenance Lessons. However, some parents choose to bring their children for maintenance Lessons once a week or every two weeks throughout the summer to consistently reinforce proper swimming behaviors.

REFRESHER LESSONS

ISR recommends that all students, especially between the ages of 12 months and 4 years, return to an ISR Instructor once a year for Refresher Lessons. Refresher lessons usually last about half of the time if took the child to become fully skilled the first season. 

Children grow physically, emotionally, and mentally very quickly in the first six years of their lives. Their center of gravity will change as their limbs become longer and their concept of water changes as their brains become more advanced.

Refresher Lessons help our students assimilate their new bodies and minds to the skills they previously learned so they can continue to swim safely and effectively. It is important to remember that your child does not "forget" the skills acquired with ISR. However, most children are not regularly in the water in the winter and during this extended period of time your child will mature mentally and physically. Refresher Lessons are designed to help your child adjust her swim and float to her new more mature body and mind and to reinforce her confidence in the water.