By Foss Swim School
Moving to a new city is always exciting, and it’s no different for Foss Swim School. Long established in Midwestern cities, FOSS is opening four new schools in the Denver area in the fall of 2025, in Northglenn, Westminster, Castle Rock, and Lone Tree later in the year.
For FOSS, opening a new school means bringing people trained and experienced in the Foss Swim School curriculum and our approach to customer service – our swim schools are owned, not franchised. So, Denver is also now home to two veteran FOSS managers, Josh Rangai and Kyle Carlson, who will be helping establish the schools. They are on their own adventure learning about life in Denver and making connections in the community.
“I’ve lived in Minnesota for 27 years. I’m a big outdoors person and a skier, so I jumped at the opportunity to move to Denver,” said Kyle. “I love all the hiking, and I love the weather in Colorado. Professionally, I also know I learn the most when I take on new challenges.”
Josh agreed: “It’s a lot of community engagement and meeting new people. I started with FOSS as a teacher and have had the opportunity to hold a lot of positions and grow into the role of general manager. This is a chance to do something totally new.”
Joining an engaged, active culture
What Josh and Kyle have already noticed is the dynamic, active culture present in Denver. “Just driving around, it’s amazing to see the number of parks and open spaces. Everyone seems to be community involved. The community centers are just popping,” said Josh. He attributes this not only to the many outdoor activities natural to the region, but also the number of younger, transplanted families who have moved into the region for work and quality of life.
“I’ve met a lot of people from the East coast and from the Midwest who migrated here in the past five years,” he said. “Those are families that are familiar with water safety and swim lessons, and we will be able to bring a swim school experience like what they have known.”
The plentiful streams and lakes in the mountains where people recreate means swim skills and water safety knowledge are important, Kyle said. “Everyone is an outdoors person here, and there are so many times they’ll be around water in Colorado or when they travel. If you’re going to be an outdoor active family, water safety is an important lesson.
Making inroads in the community
Both personally and on behalf of FOSS, Kyle and Josh are spending lots of time exploring and meeting new people. They are introducing themselves to local schools, childcare providers and community organizations, and they have plans to attend numerous community events where they can spread the word about water safety and introduce residents to FOSS.
While there are already places to learn to swim in Denver, Josh and Kyle believe the FOSS experience will be new to many, with its dedicated pools designed for learning, warm 91-degree water, infant-specific programs, and consistent curriculum delivered by highly trained professional swim teachers.
Personally, each of the pair is exploring all Denver has to offer. Kyle is into hiking, skiing, and describes himself as a foodie excited to explore new restaurants; Josh is a skateboarder and snowboarder and is diving into the vegetarian food scene in his new home city.
But for the next few months, a lot of their time will be focused on getting their new schools up and running: hiring and training instructors, keeping an eye on the final stages of construction, promoting the schools, and opening registration in early June with plans to be fully operational for the fall session.
From babies being introduced to water for the first time to competitive school swimmers, Josh and Kyle look forward to helping more people in Denver discover that they love water. “From what we’ve heard, there’s a lot of excitement for FOSS,” Josh said. “Word of mouth is going to grow. We get this chance to bring in new FOSS families and have them grow with us.”
