North Iowa Figure Skating Club

Learn to Skate

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2025-2026 Season

The Learn to Skate – North Iowa program promotes recreational skating, figure skating, and hockey power in the North Iowa community by providing safe, fun, & high-quality group instruction per the Learn to Skate USA Curriculum. This program is run by the North Iowa Figure Skating Club, its coaches & instructors, and volunteers.

During the 2025-2026 season, we will offer (4) 6-week sessions. Skaters may choose to participate in one, two, three, or all sessions! All classes take place on Sunday afternoons between 4:00 and 6:00 PM. The schedule is based on current registration, coaching availability, and arena schedule. The Mason City Arena is located at 111 S Washington Ave, Mason City.

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Little Explorers: This class is mainly off-ice and designed for children 2-4 years to acclimate new skaters to instruction and the fun skating environment. When offered, classes will meet mostly off-ice, often in a warm environment, and focus on learning key skills off-ice first, including falling down and getting up, dips, and marching. The skaters will be introduced to the arena spaces, taught different types of ice skates, and have the opportunity to try on skates and wear them for their off-ice classes. This class will include ice skating instruction as well as other ice skating-related activities. (Cost: $60/session)

Snowplow Sam 1-4: Designed for children ages 3-6 years with no prior skating experience to build confidence while learning the basic skills of skating. (Cost: $90/session)

Basic 1-6: These levels introduce the fundamental moves of ice skating: forward and backward skating, stops, edges, crossovers, three turns, mohawks, and spins. Basic 1 is for beginners and those with little experience AND ages 6 or older. All skaters start in Basic 1 and must complete the levels in sequential order. (Cost: $90/session)

FreeSkate 1-6: Introduction to more advanced figure skating skills. Skater must complete Basic 6 to register. (Cost: $90/session)

Adult 1-6: These levels are designed for Adults. Teens aged 16 and are new to ice skating may choose to register through the basic skills or adult programs. (Cost: $90/session)

2024-2025 Session Dates

Session 1 – (6-week session) – Sept 7, 14, 21, 28 & Oct 5, 12
Session 2 – (6-week session) – Oct 19, 26 & Nov 2, 9, 16, 23
Session 3 – (6-week session) – Jan 11, 18, 25, Feb 1, 8, & 15
Session 4 – (6-week session) – Feb 22, Mar 1, Mar 8, Mar 15, Mar 22
*Get 5 dates for the price of 4! $60 – session
New! Session 5 (7-date session) – April 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, & 30th
(Sundays 4-5:30 pm & Thursdays 5-6:30 pm)
*Get 7 dates for the price of 6! $90 – session

Little Explorers & Learn to Skate Cost includes: Weekly 30-minute lesson with an LTS USA Certified Instructor, skate rental (if needed), Learn to Skate USA membership, end-of-session evaluation form, certificate, & patches, as well as lots of FUN!

Tentative Weekly Schedule:
4:00-4:30 pm – Synchro groups & Snowplow Sam levels
4:30-5:00 pm – Snowplow Sam levels & Basic 1-4 levels
5:00-5:30 pm – Basic 5 & 6 & PreFree Skate – FreeSkate 6 levels
Times are tentative based on registration numbers – full schedule will be sent out prior to session start.

Synchro 1-4: Synchronized skating features intricate elements performed by teams of 5-20 skaters. The team sport is introduced in the Synchro 1-4 curriculum and is a fantastic way to introduce synchro to anyone participating in group lessons. This program focuses on the five main elements, Block, circle, line, wheel, and intersection, using prescribed handholds. We recommend that all skaters who have passed Basic 3 or higher try Synchro for one session. Skaters who participate in both group lessons and synchro lessons typically advance more quickly than those with only group lessons. This season, due to the nature of synchronized skating and building skills and programs, there will be two opportunities to join, in September and January. ALL Synchro skaters must have their own skates within one (1) month of joining Synchro.

Synchro Cost: $140 Sept – Dec and $120 Jan – April (skater must be registered in a group lesson OR an active regular member of NIFSC club skating w/minimum of Synchro 2 passed). Cost includes weekly 30-minute lessons and participation with costume rental in the Winter show (Sept-Dec participants) and the Spring Show (Jan-April participants).

*NEW for 25-26 Season: ALL skaters who participate in Synchro will have the opportunity to participate on a competition team if registration numbers allow. A separate $200 competition fee will be assessed to help cover the cost of registration, costumes, and additional coaching. If you participated in the Summer Concert Fundraiser, you will receive a $100 credit towards this fee.

Off-Ice Class: Off-ice skating classes focus on developing fundamental strength, balance, and flexibility to enhance performance on the ice. This class incorporates exercises and drills that improve agility, coordination, and jump technique, complementing on-ice training. Class is offered most Sundays prior to Learn to Skate lessons; specific times will be sent out in the newsletter. Cost is $8/class walk-on rate OR purchase a punch card for $50 for 10 classes. Punch cards may be used at any time during the ’25-’26 season.

Locker Room Access: NEW for the ’25-’26 season, NIFSC will be offering the option to rent a space in the official NIFSC locker room. Cost includes a reserved space with a personalized nameplate. Each skater can store their skates & accessories, hang their jackets with no need to haul things back and forth each time they skate. The NIFSC locker room is accessible during NIFSC-sponsored ice times and is locked at other times. Cost is $60 for a half-season rental or $100 for a full-season rental.

Full Season Registration: NEW for the ’25-’26 season, we are offering a discount to those who want to register for all four sessions of Learn to Skate. Cost $320 Winter Show Participation: ALL Learn to Skate participants can choose to participate in the Learn to Skate group program in the annual Winter Show in December. More information can be found under the Winter Show Events Page.

Spring Show Participation: ALL Learn to Skate participants can choose to participate in the Learn to Skate group program in the annual Winter Show in December. More information can be found under the Winter Show Events Page.

If your skater is aged 3 years to 6 years and has NOT participated in a Learn to Skate program please register them for Snowplow Sam 1. If your skater is aged 6 years or older and has NOT participated in a Learn to Skate program please register them for Basic Skills 1. If your skater has participated in a Learn to Skate program, you should register them for their current level. If you are unsure please register them for Basic 1 and make a note on their form that they have participated and you are unsure of their level. All skaters are informally evaluated the first day of the session to make sure they are in the correct level.

Skaters are asked to dress in layers. Wearing a thin sock, like a dress sock or tights is ideal for a proper skate fit. If you prefer, we will have skate socks available for sale in our merchandise store. Wearing leggings, athletic pants, or another type of easy to move in pant with a t-shirt or long sleeve shirt with a sweatshirt or jacket on top. Hat and mittens are also encouraged. Often skaters get warm and want to shed a layer during lessons. We discourage snow pants and heavy winter coats as they make it more difficult for skaters to move around in.

Skaters should bring themselves, hats/gloves, and a water bottle. If you have your own skates, bring those. If not, we have an extensive skate library that includes quality figure and hockey skates that skaters can borrow for their lesson. Skates remain at the arena and are not available outside of lesson times.

NIFSC Learn to Skate will utilize email as a form of communication. Please make sure your email is up-to-date and if multiple parents need communication that we have all emails for your skater. Weekly there will be an check-in table that will have one of our volunteers available to help handle questions and the weekly check in/check out process. Also please take a minute to follow us on Facebook “North Iowa Figure Skating Club” & “Learn to Skate – North Iowa”. We will post information here also.

Registration closes the day before each session starts. If you would like to register the day of or after a session starts, please contact us! Classes do fill up, but if there is room we will do our best to accommodate your skater.

We do our best to keep each level in their own class. In the event that registrations are low for a particular level, we may combine two levels. In order to provide a positive experience for all we typically will keep our class sizes to 6 skaters to 1 instructor for Snowplow levels and 10 skaters to 1 instructor for the Basic Skills & FreeSkate levels. Often in our Snowplow and Basic 1 levels we will have a Skate Squad Helper in addition to our instructors.

Each six week session will conclude with evaluations on the final class day. These evaluations will be given by a certified LTS instructor and include all the skills for the level the skater is registered for. Skaters will perform each of the skills in their level and given a pass or needs improvement score. When a skater demonstrates they have mastery for each skill in their level they will receive a passing score and advance to the next level. Evaluations are done once per session with the exception of new skaters or returning after a lengthly break skaters, who are evaluated their first day and placed in an appropriate level. As levels increase, so does the difficulty of the skills. On average skaters should anticipate spending two sessions in each Basic Skills level and three or more sessions in each FreeSkate level.

At this time we are not offering a try-it option for skaters outside of our public event days. Watch our Facebook page and website for the most up-to-date information on try-it opportunities throughout the season. These typically are themed events and open to the public.

Once class registration is completed and the first class is attended, no refunds will be offered. In the event you register and cannot attend the session, you may receive a credit for another session during the current season or request a refund (minus any processing fees and Learn to Skate USA membership fees) and it will be reviewed by the NIFSC Board of Directors.

Synchronized skating features intricate elements performed by teams of 5-20 skaters. The team sport is introduced in the Synchro 1-4 curriculum and is a fantastic way to introduce synchro to anyone participating in group lessons. This program focuses on the five main elements, Block, circle, line, wheel and intersection using prescribed handholds. We recommend that all skaters who have passed Basic 3 (or higher) try Synchro for one session. Skaters who participate in both group lessons and synchro lessons typically advance quicker than those with only group lessons.
Synchro lessons will take place on Sundays for 30-minutes following the last scheduled group lesson. Typically between 5:30-6:00pm. The $50/session fee includes the 30-minute lesson, skate rental (if needed), end of session evaluation sheet, certificate & patches. At the end of each session each level will have a pre-scheduled performance that will serve as their evaluation time. These performances may be the last day of the session or at a local hockey game. Skaters are individually evaluated for their knowledge of the skills and overall ability to skate within the team. Skaters should expect to stay in a synchro level for two or more session on average.
Synchro 1 – for skaters who are new to synchronized skating (regardless of age) and have passed a minimum of Basic Skills 3. Skaters registered in Synchro 1 must participate in group lessons in their skill level during the same session.
Synchro 2 – skaters must have passed synchro 1. Skaters registered in Synchro 2 must participate in group lessons in their skill level during the same session.
Synchro 3 – skaters must have passed synchro 2. Skaters registered in Synchro 3 must participate in group lessons in their skill level during the same session OR be an active NIFSC member, taking either club group lessons or private lessons.
Synchro 4 – skaters must have passed synchro 3. Skaters registered in Synchro 4 must participate in group lessons in their skill level during the same session OR be an active NIFSC member, taking either club group lessons or private lessons.
*In order to be considered for the NIFSC Performance Team, skaters must have passed a minimum of Synchro 2 and PreFreeSkate.

Club skating is designed for skaters who wish to advance their skating skills through competition, private lessons, extra practice ice time, additional classes, and formal testing. Each session we will hold an information session on joining club and all its advantages, this is a great time to get your questions answered. You can also refer to our NIFSC club page for more information!

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Regular sessions throughout the season / One form per skater / *Denotes required field

PAYMENT

Times are tentative based on registration numbers – full schedule will be sent out prior to session start.
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REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Skating Under the Sea | Saturday, April 4, 2026 @ 5:00 PM

PAYMENT

*Little Explorers & Snowplow Sam skaters DO NOT qualify for Theatre on Ice (Little Mermaid) portion of the show.
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