Children's Theatre, School
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Cypress Academy was established in 1982 by my parents, Richard & Mary Ann Basham. While they didn't know too much about gymnastics, they loved children and saw the positive impact that gymnastics was having on my sister, Laurie, and me. In the beginning, Cypress Academy was a 5,000 sq. ft. building with just one of each Olympic apparatus and a single dance room on the second floor. The rings hung from the ceiling over the 40' x40' floor exercise mat that seemed to take up the entire gym. In 1984, with the Los Angeles Olympics around the corner, my parents expanded the facility to 11,000 sq. ft. With the U.S. men’s and women'’s successes, there was a great demand for gymnastics. As the business continued to prosper, they found themselves needing even more room. In 1992, they expanded to 15,000 sq.ft., and in 1995, expanded a final time to 30,000 sq.ft.
In the summer of 1995, I graduated from college (The University of Oklahoma - Boomer Sooner) and helped my parents finish the 1995 expansion. A few years passed and in 1998, we turned our dance studio into a Performing Arts Center. 1998 also saw the birth of our Cheer Program. We had forty girls, two squads, and a dream.
My father stepped out of the business in 1997 and fully retired by 2000. With his retirement, I was fortunate enough to purchase the family business. In the previous eighteen years, my parents poured their blood, sweat, and tears into Cypress Academy. In spite of all the trials and tribulations, they never lost sight of the most important aspect of our business- the children. My pledge to my customers, and to my mom & dad, is to carry on that vision.
In 2000 I coaxed my father out of retirement and together we expanded the business yet another 20,000 sq. ft. This gave us the room to expand our Performing Arts Studio to 6,000 sq. ft. and our Cheer and Tumbling Program to 10,000 sq. ft.
Well, in 2004 we went back to the drawing board. My dad, still comfortably enjoying retirement, was dragged back to his general contracting post after a little kicking and screaming. We added the FINAL 20,000 sq. ft. to the building. With our competitive cheerleading program going into it's fourth year, we needed more room. We increased the space dedicated to cheerleading and tumbling to 20,000 sq. ft. allowing us to add another dance room to the Performing Arts area, increase the size of our preschool area to 9,000 sq. ft., and allowing our girls program to spread out. Today, Cypress Academy is 70,000 sq. ft. and consists of over 5,000 students.
Parents entrust us with their most prized possessions - their children. I, along with my staff, take that responsibility to heart. Whether you are a former member, a current member, or just a fan, I hope Cypress Academy can impact you in a very positive way, instilling in you a love for gymnastics, performing arts, and/or cheerleading.
Please enjoy our website and our programs. If there is ever anything I can do for you, please do not hesitate to call me.
Thank you for your patronage and support.
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