It may be cold outside, but the water will be warm inside the new Kids First Swim School in Laurel when it opens in early February.
The regional swim school — with locations in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia — will open a Laurel location on Route 1 on or around Feb. 9, according to Jennifer Wester, current manager of the Kids First Finksburg location.
The Laurel school will be Kids First's 25th location — its first location opened in Perry Hall in 2000. The Columbia Kids First Swim School, in the Columbia East Marketplace, is the largest Kids First school.
"In that general area, location wise, another school was absolutely needed because of pool space, the interest we had and the number of kids we have in that particular location," Wester said of the Laurel school.
One aspect unique to Kids First, according to Wester, is its warm-water philosophy as they keep pools at 90 degrees and the room temperature at 92 degrees.
"If you have a 3-, 4- or 5-year-old and you're trying to teach them, if they're cold and they're in that water, in that cold, they're not learning. They're not able to pay attention, they're not able to focus," she said.
Kids First's patented eight level swimming instruction technique has programs available for children as young as 3 years old, according to Wester.
The school also offers classes for toddlers as young as 3 months old and parents in their "Mommy and Me" program, which acquaints young children with water, to help them from becoming afraid of water as they age.
At the age of 3, children can be enrolled in small group or private swim lessons where they no longer need to be accompanied by a parent. The schools do teach adults as well, although typical age range is 3 to 12 years old from level one to level eight, Wester said.
Located inside the former Petco store on Route 1, the school will include one rectangular pool inside that goes from two-feet-deep to about five-feet-deep.
Wester, who lives in Ellicott City, has worked for Kids First for nearly three years and has managed the Finksburg school since April 2014.
She said she hopes to bring a sense of community to the Laurel location and focus on having an inviting atmosphere inside the school.
"It really is a family base type of environment when you come here," Wester said, referring to the Finksburg store she currently operates. "We try to really include the kids in everything we do here."
Wester said she has already been receiving calls about the new location. While construction is ongoing, the Kids First Swim School logo has been erected on the storefront since December.
"I think it's going to be very popular once it's open," she said.
At this time, Wester said anyone looking for more information may reach her at the Finksburg school.