Staying put for now?
So here is the update. If you find it silly that I am worrying so much about gym placement for a 5-year-old at the beginner levels, then please don't bother to read any further.
My daughter went for a trial class/evaluation at another gym. They said she needed more work on some of her skills, but liked her attitude and ability to make corrections. I have no quibbles with this assessment. The kids in the rec classes at this gym seemed to be getting good instruction, and all looked stronger and had cleaner skills than the kids in our current gym's rec program. The class was run in an orderly fashion, and there didn't appear to be any time wasted or drama happening. However, something about the gym just didn't feel right. There were literally several dozen kids in a small facility, in several rec classes and at least two large team groups. There appeared to be a very well organized rotation schedule to ensure that each group got time on the equipment, but the kids in each group were crowded together on the equipment, which looked to be placed awfully close together. There was a good student-instructor ratio in the rec classes, but I had a hard time observing any coaching going on with the team groups. There was no observable communication between the staff and the parents. It just seemed, well, like a big noisy gymnastics factory. Moreover, this gym's preteam program is very small in relation to the size of the rec program that feeds it (reducing the odds of selection), and is already full for next year. To further complicate the decision, my daughter has finally started to make some real progress in her current class over the past couple of weeks, even though they don't consistently work on the same skills. The current gym is also more conveniently located, and fits our schedule better. Both gyms seemed about equally safe.
Our dilemma is whether to switch to the big unpleasant place where she would probably get better instruction in the rec program but where we are not terribly impressed with the developmental program, or to stick it out where we are, where the rec program is terribly loosey-goosey but where we like the looks of the developmental program. Chances of advancement to the developmental program within the next year are apparently slim in both places. Logic tells me that we should switch to the gym with the more rigorous rec program, given that she has little chance at preteam anywhere for at least another year, but for some reason it just doesn't feel right. So we are currently leaning towards sticking it out at the current gym through the end of the summer and just hoping for some kind of breakthrough. (Recent events have raised my hopes just a tiny bit.) We do plan to have a serious conversation with the rec coach about our daughter's goals, and to add a second weekly class during the summer. If she is still stuck in rec purgatory at the end of the summer, we may revisit the decision or try a third gym that is even farther away. I know it sounds crazy considering all the grousing I have done about the quality of instruction and the selection philosophy at the current gym.