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By Bobby Williams
Curriculum Support Specialist, Life Skills Department
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
At Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), education extends beyond the classroom. Despite decades of promoting water safety and swimming instruction in our schools, drowning remains the leading cause of accidental death among young children aged 1 to 9, especially in urban areas with limited access to swimming classes.
To address this, M-DCPS has partnered with several organizations to launch the Zero Drownings Miami-Dade which provides swimming instruction to preschool and kindergarten students at local county pools.
The lessons are made possible through $1.8 million of funding from The Children’s Trust, with additional funds from the American Red Cross – South Florida Region, The Miami Foundation, United Way Miami, EDU Foundation and the Templeton Family Foundation.
“We’re involved in this program because it saves lives. It’s important that as a school district we not only provide instruction in reading math and science but that we also support children in swimming,” said M-DCPS Superintendent Dr. Jose L. Dotres. “We live in a beautiful community filled with pools, lakes, surrounded by the ocean and so it’s important for children to know how to swim and that their parents have the peace of mind that their children will be safe.”
Under this program, students are transported to nearby public pools during the school day. The initiative provides 30-minute swimming lessons for 10 days to four and five-year-old students from at-risk geographical areas.
There is one instructor for every six students. The program also serves M-DCPS Kindergarten students and preschoolers from Head Start programs and Children’s Trust daycare centers. So far, the program has helped 1,469 children.
The free lessons are conducted during school hours to ensure students have access to pools. This also increases the chances that students will finish the lessons.
Certified instructors use the Red Cross Learn-to-Swim Program curriculum to teach students the basics of floating, arm strokes, kicking, and breathing techniques, the building blocks of swimming.
The goal is to get these students to a skill level where they can be comfortable in the water and have the skills to get to the edge of the pool safely should they fall in or find themselves distress while playing in the deep areas of the pool. Depending on their skill levels some students may be swimming on their own after the lessons.
“This is very important. When I was growing up, I did not have the opportunity to participate in swim lessons,” said Barbara Severent, whose daughter participated in the initiative’s pilot program. “Now my daughter is only five and she knows how to swim. When I go to the pool with her, I will worry less.”
Statistics show that formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of childhood drowning by 88 percent. Parents are encouraged to continue swimming lessons at nearby Miami-Dade County pools so that these students and their siblings can further improve their strokes and become proficient swimmers.
“We know that one death in the water or one serious injury is way too much. We’re launching this initiative so that all children regardless of their culture, background, socio-economic status, all learn how to swim and stay safe in the water,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “This initiative is funding a long-term, large-scale water safety net in the Parks Department, with a special office dedicated to this swim program.”
Levine Cava also noted that the program also focuses on helping special needs students, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), to make sure they are safe in the water. This is an aspect is especially important to Superintendent Dotres. When he was principal of Hialeah Gardens Elementary, two students with ASD drowned.
Beyond the lessons, the initiative is also educating families about water safety in their homes and communities.
“We live an apartment where we have a pool, and we also go to the beach,” said Rebecca Charcon, whose son was in the pilot program. “Before, he never wanted to go in and was afraid of the water. Now we can’t keep him out. The fact that he now feels comfortable in the water is incredible.”
Aside from Zero Drownings Miami Dade, M-DCPS has been offering swimming lessons to pre-K to 2nd-grade students through the Red Cross Learn-to-Swim program for almost 50 years. P.E. teachers, who are also water safety instructors and lifeguards, use portable pools that are rotated to approximately 24 elementary schools annually throughout the school district. This program will continue alongside the new initiative.
Giving young students access to lifesaving swimming lessons and educating parents on the importance of water safety, is yet another reason why M-DCPS is your best choice.
For more information about initiative, visit, Zero Drownings Miami-Dade Initiative. To find out about the District’s Learn-to-Swim program, visit M-DCPS Life Skills Department .
