Parent Policies

BAAY Parent Behavior Guidelines BAAY is all about fun, integrity, being in a community of friends and doing work of a high quality. In addition to asking students to be at their best, we also ask that parents behave their best and we expect all parents to inspire and model the right behaviors for their children.

Parents are required to: 1. Refrain from negative gossip, hurtful comparisons and slander. 2. Communicate all concerns directly to staff members. If you have concerns, make an appointment to speak with a staff member or write a note to David via email (david@baay.org) so that we are able to fully understand your comments, questions or concerns. 3. Parents and students are expected to refrain from using Facebook, blogs, or text messages to complain or gossip. BAAY appreciates your feedback when it is transmitted in an appropriate fashion. Some behaviors by parents will have consequences.  BAAY reserves the right to suspend families from participating in our activities if we feel they are being a negative influence on our happy situation. All parents will be required to sign a code of cooperation (it's on the registration form). 

A note on how we cast roles at BAAY: BAAY is designed to be a non-competitive place. Even though there is competition for roles, we try to create a culture where we are all rooting for each other. The ultimate goal would be to have students possess the ability to be happy for someone else who gets a role they might desire. When it comes to casting decisions, please understand how complex it really is. David has been doing this for 22 years and Lisa for 10 years. They are both highly trained at this skill. There are a multitude of factors to consider, in addition to the simple judgement call of who they think will best fit all the various parts in the show. They include: 1. BAAY mixes it up and has students go from a lead part to a smaller part if that is easily doable. Having kids move around like that dissipates ego trips, keeps the playing field level and spreads the responsibility around to more people. 2. We evaluate how well students did with their roles in past shows, especially their last show with us. 3. We evaluate the student's attitude and focus during the audition. 4. We evaluate the matchings on the stage as far as character relationships and which actors seem to click together on stage. Size and height relationships do come into play as well. 5. We try to take into account a student's commitment to BAAY over the long term. A student who has a great attitude and has not had the opportunity to have a role with a lot of material might have a better shot than someone newer to the program. But not absolutely. It really depends on... 6. What will be the best cast to put on the stage for the show? At the core, this is what drives decisions. Additionally... sometimes a really strong actor just doesn't exactly fit any particular lead role. It's a subjective choice, but it sure isn't personal or political. Sometimes the unexpected happens. Sometimes we might want to go a little bit out on a limb artistically. Sometimes we don't get the parts we want (or any at all). Here is a story David will tell students occasionally to give them perspective on the casting processes. "I want to share with you a story about when I was in high school and tried out for a play, a melodrama. I was getting a lot of lead parts in high school...pretty much every time I auditioned. This time I went in and read for the various parts. I was pretty solid on my reading for all the roles. I woke up the next day to look at the cast list and I was not cast in the show! I couldn't believe it. At first I was upset and sad, and then I decided to make an appointment to speak with the director, who I had a good repoire with. I sat down with him and asked him why I was not given any part in the play. The director (who was excellent) told me that although I read well for the parts, there was not one part in the play that I was exactly right for. And so he wanted to give some actors who he felt fit those roles better a chance to play them. I heard him and we ended our meeting. A couple of months later I went to see the play and he was right, it was a wonderful show and he cast it just the correct way." A lot of headaches and strife will be lifted off of families if they have a healthy goal for their children here at BAAY. This is not supposed to be a launching pad to an acting career, although our shows are good. BAAY is about creating community while working on worthwhile endeavors and building some specific skills in the arts. That's it. Knowing that, we don't have to worry about what part a child gets or doesn't get. It's the adults' job to role model a detached, 'I'm happy just to be in the show' attitude about casting. Again, it is natural for there to be challenges at times in a large organization such as BAAY, so please do give us feedback in an appropriate fashion so we can continue to get better at what we do, which is to show young people how much they have to offer the world. Thank you for your cooperation.