Why Gem City has Evaluation Week

It’s a fun week at Gem City because it’s evaluation week. It’s a great opportunity for coaches, athletes, and parents to take a step back and celebrate the progress that’s been made! Each athlete will receive a written evaluation from their coach for their recommended class for the next session.

During evaluation week, class instructors use a standardized list of skills for each specific level to see what skills your child has accomplished this session. If your child has mastered all the skill standards they will move up to the next level class.

Evaluations are helpful because they give both our coaches and athletes concrete goals to work toward. The list of skills our instructors use during evaluation week is the same list they use all session to guide their coaching. This means children are very familiar with each skill before evaluation week arrives.

The other reason Gem City uses evaluations is that it allows us to place children in the appropriate class. Nothing is more frustrating than being in a class that is either too difficult or too easy. (This is frustrating for coaches too!) A coach can better emphasize needed skills and efficiently manage time if the children in a class have the same approximate skill level.

Sometimes a child is really close to doing a skill. Coaches will often comment “Almost” or “Getting close!” on evaluation sheets in these cases. Coaches look for mastery of skills with fluidity, confidence, and consistency when a child performs a skill. This is why we don’t just move a child up to the level when they can sometimes or almost perform a skill.

If you have questions about your child’s evaluation please feel free to speak with your child’s coach.