Our Mission
Rainbow Fish Swim School is an inclusive, DMV-based swim instruction program, with a mission to provide individualized, safe, and trustworthy learning spaces for all people to grow their comfort, capacity, and skills in water.
Our Vision
Rainbow Fish Swim School strives to foster a community in which people of all ages, bodies, and abilities have access to personalized water safety and swimming skills lessons. We aim to intentionally address the historical lack of access between marginalized communities and adaptable wellness spaces, with a specific focus on swim.
Our Values and Culture of Care
Rainbow Fish Swim School’s values center a culture of care that is integral to the way we operate our business and deliver exceptional swim lesson instruction. We commit to treating our swimmers and swim families with care and respect, and our instructors will ask for the same treatment in return. In the unlikely event of the violation of this policy, our swimmers and swim families reserve the right to reach out to us with any concerns. Our team also reserves the right to refuse service to any swimmer/swim family in violation of our culture of care policy.
The values below represent our commitments to our swimmers, community, and team.
1 I Community
We define community as welcoming spaces where our mutual culture of care and love of water can bring folks from various walks of life together. We maintain an enthusiastic and compassionate energy in connecting with RFSS community members and our swim partners. We take pride in the services we offer, and understand that we are stronger because of the relationships we make and nurture.
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2 I Inclusivity
We believe in an emphasis on inclusive community and instruction, and value the diversity of swimmers we serve. RFSS is committed to expanding the stereotypical image of a “great swimmer” to fit what we know to be true: people in widely varied bodies, with varied strengths, abilities, learning styles, confidence, communication styles, etc. navigating water and wellness with ease. We denounce assumptions made about a person’s capacity to swim, learn swim skills, or participate in our program based on any of the above factors or any other demographic markers as this is not in line with our culture of care.
3 I Respect
Our community respects everyone at the pool, not just lesson takers. We do not tolerate ANY form of bullying, discrimination, degradation - this stands for both how we treat others and how we are treated.
4 I Autonomy + Independence
Each of our swimmers is the expert of their own body and of their own mind. We treat a swimmer’s report about their comfort level as accurate and true, while also challenging them to push themselves out of their comfort zone. We provide individualized, responsive swim instruction that both honors where someone is and pushes them to build confidence and skill.
5 I Communication + Accountability
We prioritize clear, consistent communication and emphasize consent while engaging in swimming and swim instruction.
Despite our best intentions, we understand mistakes will happen. We value remaining teachable, as we continue to evolve and reimagine what excellent swim community looks and feels like. We encourage all of our staff to practice active accountability and to learn from regrettable instances while under our employment. This includes open and proactive communication about what is going well and what isn’t. We prioritize communication between supervisors and staff members, as well as maintaining dialogue between instructors and our swimmer families.