Homeschool PE through cheer and tumbling in Broward County
The Personalized Education Program, or PEP, is the Step Up For Students scholarship built for Florida families educating at home rather than in a private school, and physical education is one of the categories families routinely need a real provider for. The Stingray Allstars Fort Lauderdale is an approved Step Up For Students direct service provider with a gym in Deerfield Beach, and our daytime and afternoon class schedule works well for homeschool families who are not tied to a school bell. This page covers what PE at a cheer gym actually looks like, how to document it, and how to fit it around the rest of your week.
Last updated September 4, 2026
Why a cheer gym works as homeschool PE
Homeschool physical education has a structural problem: most youth sports are built around the school-day calendar, so the good options fire off at 5pm on weekdays and compete with everything else. A gym-based class program does not have that constraint, and it delivers something a backyard or a park cannot.
Tumbling is a strength and skill discipline. An hour on a spring floor is real conditioning: core, shoulders, hip mobility, landing mechanics, balance, and spatial awareness under load. It is progressive, so an athlete has a visible next skill at every stage, and it is coached, so form is corrected instead of reinforced badly. For a homeschool family trying to give a student genuine physical education rather than logged activity hours, that combination is hard to beat.
- •Progressive skill ladder: an athlete always knows what they are working toward.
- •Coached technique rather than unsupervised activity.
- •Full-body conditioning: core, upper body, hips, balance, and landing mechanics.
- •Group setting with consistent peers, which homeschool families often specifically want.
- •Year-round, so PE does not disappear over the summer.
How to fit it into a homeschool week
Most homeschool families we work with build PE around two or three sessions a week. A common pattern is one weekly tumbling class plus one Open Stunt and Tumble session, which together give a couple of coached hours plus open practice time without a season-long commitment.
Families who want more structure move up to Rays Ready, our pre-team program, which meets twice a week for 90 minutes at $140 per month. That is three hours of coached training weekly on a fixed schedule, which is enough to anchor a PE plan around, and it does not carry the competition, travel, and uniform costs of a full team season.
Our gym runs weekday afternoons and evenings and Saturday mornings. Call (954) 988-0488 to talk through which slots have room, since the schedule shifts through the season.
Documenting PE for your PEP records
Whatever your scholarship or your county requires, the documentation problem is the same: you need something that shows what the student did, when, and for how long. We can help with the gym side of that.
Ask us for an itemized receipt or invoice for anything you enroll in. It will show the student's name, the program, the dates, the session length, and the amount, which is the same set of facts a purchasing platform, a portfolio review, or an evaluator wants to see. Keep those alongside your own attendance notes and the record is complete.
- •Request itemized receipts rather than card slips.
- •Note session length: our classes are 55 minutes, Rays Ready sessions are 90 minutes, clinics are two hours.
- •Keep your own attendance log; the gym's receipt shows enrollment, your log shows participation.
- •Save confirmations from every reimbursement or payment request you submit.
What Step Up For Students decides, and what we decide
We decide what our programs are and what they cost. Step Up For Students decides what your PEP funds may be spent on. Those are different questions, and we are careful not to answer the second one on their behalf.
Physical education is one of the service categories Step Up For Students recognizes for approved direct service providers, and the current-year purchasing guide for your scholarship is the authority on the specifics. Read it before you enroll, and contact Step Up For Students directly with anything ambiguous. Award amounts, funding timelines, and approved expense categories are all set by them and can change between school years.
Where we are and who we serve
Our gym is at 1907 SW 43rd Terrace, Bay F, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, right off the Broward and Palm Beach line. Homeschool families reach us easily from Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Parkland, Pompano Beach, Boca Raton, Lighthouse Point, and the rest of North Broward.
Because homeschool schedules are flexible, families from further south in Broward often choose earlier afternoon slots and skip the traffic that makes a 6pm class across the county miserable. If you are driving in from Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, or Wilton Manors, ask us which times run lightest.
Who decides what your funds cover
The Stingray Allstars Fort Lauderdale is an approved Step Up For Students direct service provider. Eligibility, award amounts, funding timelines, and which expenses may be paid from your account are all determined by Step Up For Students and the state of Florida, not by the gym, and the rules differ by scholarship program and are updated between school years. Read the current-year purchasing guide for your scholarship, and contact Step Up For Students directly with anything ambiguous. We will give you accurate pricing and itemized receipts; we will never tell you an expense is covered when that decision is not ours to make.
Step Up For Students official siteFrequently asked questions
Can PEP scholarship funds be used for cheer or tumbling classes?
Physical education is one of the service categories Step Up For Students recognizes for approved direct service providers, and The Stingray Allstars Fort Lauderdale is an approved direct service provider. Whether a specific class is an approved expense for your PEP funds is determined by Step Up For Students in the current-year purchasing guide, so confirm there before enrolling.
Do you have daytime classes for homeschool students?
Our gym runs weekday afternoons and evenings and Saturday mornings. Homeschool families most often take the earliest afternoon slots, which are quieter and easier to drive to. Call (954) 988-0488 for current availability, since the schedule shifts through the season.
How many hours a week is enough for PE?
Most homeschool families here build around two to three coached hours per week, typically one weekly class plus an Open Stunt and Tumble session, or Rays Ready, which is two 90-minute sessions a week. What your records require is set by your scholarship and your county, not by us.
Will you give me documentation for my records?
Yes. Ask for an itemized receipt or invoice and it will show the student's name, the program, the dates, the session length, and the amount. Keep that alongside your own attendance log.
Does my child have to compete?
No. Weekly classes, clinics, and open training are standalone programs with no team commitment. Athletes can train with us for years without ever competing.
Build your athlete's PE around real coaching.