We had such a great trial class today! My baby turned 17 weeks today and I thought it would be fun to attend a swim class. It was very easy to create an account and sign up for a class. We easily checked in before class. The changing area is very tidy and clean. The walls were decorated so cute. My husband watched from the seating area. Our 30 minute class included 4 other babies. We sang songs, did stations, and finished with group time. It was just enough time to tire out my little guy. The instructor was great and was super helpful with making me and my baby feel comfortable. I loved learning new techniques to play with my baby when we go to the pool! I enjoyed the bonding experience with my little one. We certainly will be back! read more

Big Blue Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Falls Church, Virginia

I am sitting here watching my son. After now 11 minutes in the pool, he has had one interaction with the teacher and has mostly just stood on the side. 30 minutes with three kids in a class is not enough time. I feel like l he's not really learning anything. I'm going to update my review in a few months, but I do have concerns and it is very expensive. read more

My son is signed up for Big Blue and overall we have not had a good experience. First, we took a trial lesson on a Saturday morning which was a huge mistake. It was packed--every lane of the pool had 2-3 kids in it, the waiting area had standing room only, kids were crying, it was loud, siblings and kids were running around, and it was overwhelming for my son who had only ever been in a pool twice in his life. He cried the whole time. We did signup for lessons because they told us the weekdays were better. We were not informed of any plans available, we were simply told they had weekly lessons at like $33 a class and we said ok because we needed him to be safe and learn to swim. When we came for our next lesson and subsequent lessons afterwards, he had 2 other kids in his class for a total of 3 kids. At one lesson I witnessed him leave the wall 2xs in a 30 minute class. At that point I lost all hope that my son would learn to swim. I believe it was our 3rd lesson I found out that they had lesson plans and that if you committed to 4 months or more you received a discounted rate. We had already been for almost a month at that point and when I called to ask why we had not been informed of the plans the receptionist (via phone) told me, "we don't really tell people about the plans." What?? Why is that? Because you take in less money? I asked to move to the plan and have it prorated because I was not given proper information and she told me that was not possible. The manager did call me (and for the record he is very nice and professional) and he did remedy it by offering us a credit for the difference for the classes we had already taken and said they would mark our first lesson in June as the start of the plan. We also had an instance where I was chatting with someone via their text option and I inquired about moving a lesson to a different day for one week only because we had scheduled my other son for a pediatrician appointment. When the alternative options were not good, I told them not to change the lesson (I literally looked back at the texts on 2 occasions I said to leave the lesson as it was and I would move the other conflict we had) and when we got to swim the receptionist told is he was scheduled as missing that day and that his class was full (they put someone in as a makeup). I was really mad and they did make it work by shuffling the makeup student to another lane with another class that only had 2 in it, but the point is I said not to move it (TWICE) and still someone marked him as planned miss. I have a friend who loves Big Blue , but she goes in Springfield. She and I were texting and I was complaining to her and she asked me how he was doing. I told her he barely got any time in the pool and I was not happy. She asked me about his progress in the app and I said...WHAT APP? I asked Josiah and he was like nobody told you about the app?? NOPE. I expressed my concerns that my son had not been off the wall but 2xs in a 30 min class and the manager told me that a new teacher was starting on Mondays and they were adding times and because it was a new time/teacher there were no other students in the class so we shuffled some things around and moved over to Monday. The new teacher I found to be distracted a lot of the lesson. He was not very engaging with my child (said almost nothing to him, no good job or anything like that) and often was staring off into other lanes. I don't know if it is because he was new or because he was looking for reassurance from the other instructors, but it was noticeable. I did mention it to an employee (Josiah who is also a wonderful guy and very kind and professional) and he spoke with him, but after that the next two lessons were taught by someone different (like both times a different teacher so no consistency). Overall I finally felt like I was starting to feel good about Big Blue and the Monday class and I worked our fall family schedule around many things, swimming included and then I received a call from the manager. He told me they were doing away with the class we had just moved into..you know, the one I was finally happy with....and they gave me some other options that really do not work for us. The manager also told me that he mentioned the class could go away when we moved him to it (no, that was absolutely never mentioned). One issue is most of their time options are for 3:30pm and later and they offer few mid morning/early afternoon classes. I have 2 other kids, I work full time, my son (the one in lessons) has school 3 half days a week, and I almost refuse to do a Saturday based on our first experience for our trial swim + timing is hard. Overall I have not been impressed with the program, the constant time changes, the lack of information/what feels like withholding of information, distracted teachers, and mistakes. I just want my son to learn to swim, but will be soon looking elsewhere. I do appreciate the manager Eddie and Josiah, however. read more

Had our first free swim lesson today. Was a great experience and we are looking forward to coming back for more lessons in a few weeks!

I've had a good experience bringing my toddler here for introductory swim lessons. My hope was to get him comfortable being in the water and give him something to do to burn weekend energy. I didn't necessarily expect that he'd become a world-class swimmer from taking a 30-minute swim class once a week. But I've really seen growth in only two months of classes. He looks forward to coming to Big Blue and he's proud to learn new skills. It seems like he's getting a foundation to take with him when he's in a 'real' open swimming pool one day. The Big Blue facility is fairly new and clean. There is a large pool with chairs outside for parents and loved ones to watch their little swimmers. There is also a shower area, single-stall bathrooms, and single-stall changing rooms. My kid likes to spend some time playing in the play area before we leave. There is lots of parking in the shopping center outside, plus places to grab lunch or groceries when you're done with class. read more

DO NOT GO HERE. My son is now traumatized to go into the pool after being there for 15 minutes. We did a free trial. We checked in with the iPad guy and they told us which "lane" to go to which was a 5x5 box. The instructor was in the pool. She did not get out to introduce herself, ask my son's skill level or make us feel welcomed. Instead we were expected to just throw him in the pool. After some screaming and crying he got in and was fine. About 5 minutes in another child came in who was autistic which is fine but she was so out of control in the pool my son was scared and the instructor did not handle it well as my son was clinging to the wall scared for his life. I quickly pulled him out. As we were leaving the iPad guy approached us and apologized for the autistic child and asked if we wanted another free trial. I'd rather get a root canal than go back to that place. read more

Overall good place; we've been from 3 months old to 4 year old between our two girls. I see some folks complain about the simplicity of the baby classes, I think they work great for the age group. I will say that the scheduling software they use is hall of fame level awful. Even when chatting with folks in person or on the phone class schedules still can't get updated or changed properly. I was told today that our daughter won't have class for two weeks because "The system won't let me change her schedule twice in one month." read more

Great teachers that care! Genesis, Abdullah, Kiley and Salma. My kids love all of them and they always manage to turn fear and tears into smiles by the end of the class. read more

We won a group of 4 lessons through our school auction. My daughter is 9 and a decent but not great swimmer. All the kids assigned for her class were much younger. The lanes were very narrow so the kids were all bunched up. The lanes are at most 10-12 feet loso there is little room to actually swim. Too many kids in a class, my kid spent most of the time waiting. There is only one women's shower. We needed to get off to another event so we needed to use it, but there was a line. I told the front desk I do not want to purchase any lessons after the 4-session packet was over. Of course they automatically charged my card anyways. I called to tell them to reverse the charge, but NO one ever answers the phone and it takes for ever to get a call back. I am still waiting to get a call back. Maybe teeny kids can benefit, but this place is poorly run and a waste of money for older kids or those already with basic skills. The place is just too compact for swimming. Updated review- I kept calling the school and I finally got a person who was able to resolve the issue and refund my money. She was very apologetic about the delay and her words were appreciated. I understand things get busy, but it is important for clients to be able to talk to a person and not get a voicemail for days. She also gave me a better understanding of the school's instructional philosophy, which eased many of the concerns I expressed in my review above. This school is still not a good fit for my kid, but I trust that their system works for others. Hopefully the school will resolve some of the administrative issues and succeed. read more

This is big far the worst swim school I have ever had my child participate in. We have been attending over 3 years and my son's swimming ability is not where it should be. Some of the problems with this swim school is inconsistent teaching, random teachers that are not familiar with each student's level even though they have a tracker, they can have up to 5 students per swim instructor who does not balance time with each student. The instructors are not trained properly on advancing the students, with the class lesson date you select you will never have the same consistent teacher, the staff is rude, the teacher will have conversations during the instructional session taking away the time you have paid for a lesson for your child. You get 4 swim lessons a month that are only 20 minutes long for $200.00. Absolutely, not worth it. Please scrutinize these reviews very closely because they will call current parents to get them to change their reviews to make it seem like this is a good swim school. read more

Do not do business with these people. I took my son for his first lesson today and it wasn't great. The facility itself is very nice, but there was nobody around to help guide us. Not even so much as a direction of which pool to go to, etc. I could barely hear the instructor since there were so many other kids around and he didn't speak up. I decided the place wasn't for me, and I tried to reach someone to cancel due to the poor experience. That went even worse. On hold for over 20 minutes, tried chatting with someone online as well. The person online was somewhat responsive to my questions until I asked for a refund, then completely disappeared. Very poor service and borderline predatory practices - stay away. read more

Very bad experience. My child made no progress. Always substitute teachers. We wound up switching schools eventually.

I am pretty sure this is the fourth swim school our kids have been in. That might sound more dramatic than it is, we moved along the way. Anyway, we are big fans. The facilities are clean and the changing area is likely the best around (when a global pandemic doesn't have the world turned all sideways). We have two kids running through the program and they both love it and are making great progress. The instructors do a great job with them. They are intentionally sparse during covid era. One of my two is in a class by herself that has room for one more. The other is in the side pool with two others, but it's spread out and she really isn't near the other kids. Temp checks on the way in. Antibacterial stand staring you in the face when you walk in. Folks sitting apart in waiting area. Masks while not in pool. Instructors wearing those cool covid face shields. My kids wear swim goggles, which takes away half of the (four) places covid would enter her body. Plus all the chlorinated water you can drink. That last part was obviously a joke. Don't drink the pool water. read more

DO NOT GO HERE. Very short 1st time lesson consisted of two songs, then some barely explained independently done stations, then a walk across a raft. I was totally confused the entire time, the instructor barely interacted with us, then it was done. My daughter learned nothing and had very little time in the pool. Complete waste of money. I would HIGHLY recommend parents go elsewhere. The facilities were nice but we would have gotten more out of just spending time alone playing around instead of a few minutes of confusing nonsense then having to get out as soon as we got in. Will not be going back. read more

Great School! This certain instructor called "Mr.Moose," was a great instructor! I also love the staff and managers very friendly filled with positive energy! read more

First, TDSS has done a fantastic job setting in place and maintaining the highest standards to help prevent spreading the coronavirus. The bathrooms and changing areas are cleaned after each use. They have separated the seating in the parent area, and all of the instructors are wearing face shields in the water. They have reduced class size and have invested in stands so they can keep the children on different sides of the pool during lessons. They check temperatures on arrival and send an email before each scheduled class to ensure families do not have symptoms or have been in contact with known cases before arriving. I am impressed and pleased, and, most importantly, feel safe. Even before the pandemic, we loved TDSS. My son has been swimming at TDSS for about a year. Everyone here is kind, smart, respectful, and incredibly invested in their students and families. The organization and physical location are well-run and they are incredibly responsive to emails and phone calls. read more

My kids love this place! Instructors are professional, patient, and great with kids. My son overcame his fear of swimming! The establishment does a great job at making sure that social distancing measures are enforced and they constantly clean waiting area chairs and other surfaces. read more

What a terrible experience. We signed my grand daughter up, paid and agreed to their recurring charge and then the disaster began. They failed to store the credit card, insisted I add it to their web site, whit it turns out won't let log in until they have credit card on file. So, essentially you can't put a payment method in until they have a card number, which they've lost. CRM Software so cheap and easy to get as a service, it's hard to believe any business owner would tolerate this mess. I'll look at private lessons elsewhere. read more

I had a not so pleasant experience with their front desk staff recently. I stopped by sometime in June to inquire about summer camps/camps or classes for my 10 year old daughter. One of their front desk staff asked me if I have already registered and I said no. It seemed like I needed to register before she could me out so I went home and went on their website to "Register" my daughter for classes online. A staffer called me the following day regarding my interest for their classes. Unfortunately, I was in a middle of a conference call at work, so I asked if she can call me back. Unfortunately, she never called back so I stopped by the school 3 weeks later. I spoke with one of their front desk staff, Foriah. She asked if I registered and I said, I did several weeks ago and that someone called me regarding my inquiry. She kept saying "I don't know, I can't find it!" She asked if I entered my credit card information, I told her their website did not give me that option. So I went on my phone to "Register" all over again on their website right in front of her. After I submitted my registration, I asked her if she can pull up my information now. And she still couldn't. She kept saying, "I don't know, it's not here!" So I asked her, okay, I've "Registered" several times and this is obviously not working, how do I get registered so I can enroll my daughter for swim class?" She goes, "I can register you." I said, "Alright, how do we go about doing that? do you have a form I can fill up? She said "no, you can just give me your information." I replied, "Okay, what information do you need from me?" It was only then that she started to "Register" my daughter on their system. Their staff could obviously use some customer service training in showing their customers empathy and being more helpful with their customers. I felt the registration process with their front desk staff was like pulling teeth! After this experience, I was hesitant to move forward with the swim classes for my daughter this summer but I am hoping our experience with the instructors will be much better that our experience with their front desk staff. read more

My two oldest children (4 and 3 y/o) started taking lessons at TDSS when they first opened in Falls Church earlier this year, and we could not be more pleased with the results we've seen! The instructors are amazing, and the staff is wonderful. My oldest went through a pretty intense regression when the summer started, and I was absolutely amazed with how the entire staff worked together to get him through it. They communicated ahead of time with every instructor he had (for make-up lessons, clinics, and subs) as well as the managers on duty to make sure everyone was aware of his particular situation and help him through it. They were incredible! They stayed in constant communication with me as well, offering feedback and recommendations. They worked so hard to get him out of it, and he was quickly back to swimming on his own, better than ever. I was so, so impressed. Both of my children absolutely love the instructors and get so excited every week for lessons. It's really been our most successful activity to date! They have a blast in the water and often times can't contain their energy, but every instructors are all so patient and kind :-) I also love how there are toys in the waiting area (which is a nice wide open space!) so my youngest child can play while my others are in their lessons. In fact, many days we end up just hanging out and playing for a while even after they're all done! TDSS has become one of our happy places and we love going there! read more

If you're thinking about enrolling here, don't. The facility is nice enough and the instructors are fair, but the admin is a disaster. Countless instances watching my child stand next to the pool rather than swim in it because of missing, miss scheduled or unaware instructors. At 30 minutes per class 5 and 10 minute delays begin to really add up. Further, the instruction method is far too rigid to allow for improvement on the skills scheduled to be taught last. They teach the same techniques in the same order each week. Combined with the aforementioned start delays, there is a significant abilities gap between the first skills and the last. Finally, there is no consistency for the progress review for students. My child has gone months without an update, which makes it difficult/impossible to provide reenforcing on skills that need work outside of their facility. If you can go somewhere else I recommend you do. read more

We loved Tom Dolan so we're giving Big Blue a try. The model is pretty much the same and instructors seem great. I was surprised and disappointed today to see that all Covid precautions have been abandoned - with no notification (unless I missed an email!). No more temperature checks. Four kids per lane in every lane. I just don't understand because zero of the kids are vaccinated. Seriously considering pulling out of lessons until there's a kids vaccine if this is how it's going to be. read more

What a great swim school! All of the front desk staff are great and friendly. The night manager, Ben, rocks and my son's instructor Katelyn is OUTSTANDING! She is always happy and smiling. Send your kids here for swim instruction; you won't regret it. read more

Someone with a little more customer service savvy talked to us. We're going to stick with the school a little longer to see if those issues were flukes or not. So far the classes have been fine. read more

We have been generally happy with the Falls Church classes but will not be returning due to the kneejerk reduction of covid safety measures. Within hours of the CDC announcement that vaccinated adults no longer need to wear masks in public spaces, we received an email announcing the swim school would no longer require adults to wear masks. The decision is up to a business's discretion, but to quickly change Big Blue's mask rules when it is a crowded business full of unvaccinated children is irresponsible -- until children can be vaccinated as well, the school should be implementing the guidance as a school or childcare center would (continuing to require masks). At a minimum, I would expect a more thoughtful response with information on how the school would continue to prioritize safety. The hastiness of this decision has led us to withdraw our children from the school and we will not be returning, as it's clear safety is not a priority. read more

I have been thrilled with my kid's swim lessons at Tom Dolan Swim School. I have an 8 year old, 7 year old, 5 year old and a 1 year old enrolled at the swim school. They started taking lessons when the school first opened and I have seen tons of improvement with their swimming ability and how comfortable they are in the water. The swim school is very well organized and clean. There are activities for your kids to do while waiting for class to begin, plenty of chairs for parents and/or caregivers to sit and watch the lessons take place, convenient showers for kids to rinse off after lessons, and dressing rooms big enough to fit child and parent (and strollers, if needed!). The swim lessons are well planned and the instructors are prepared for each lesson. The class size is perfect; it allows the instructor to give appropriate attention to each child during the 30 minute lesson. Every few weeks, there is a parent check in with the teacher where you can go into the pool area and hear about the skills your child has been working on in class. Each instructor that I have met has been excited about what their teaching and friendly to the kids and parents. The front desk is always welcoming and willing to help and ask questions. I have appreciated updates through phone calls and emails and the online portal is extremely convenient when checking class schedules. I would definitely recommend the Tom Dolan Swim School for all families who want their children to learn how to be safe in water and work on improving their swim skills! read more

I trusted my child's life with Sidney and I couldn't be happier with the results. My child is now confident in the water looks forward to his next lesson. Sidney has truly been a delightful instructor and I hope he says for a long time! read more

Tom Dolan is a fantastic swim school for young children. The instructors are consistently very good, the pool is warm, classes are small, the facility is nice, and the school offers drop-in classes (in addition to fixed schedule classes) which means flexibility in schedule. My 4 year old son had been in Arlington county lessons off and on for several years without much progress. This summer, I decided to sign him up for classes at Tom Dolan several times a week and he has progressed quickly and significantly. He likes that the classes are designated countries and lanes with the flags with the countries. The staff is very friendly and supportive plus they have a good on-line scheduling and account system. Also, as a parent, I find the waiting area inviting and if you need to pop out briefly (like to grab coffee) you can leave while your child is in class. As a side note, the pump system is inside so unlike the county pools like WL, classes won't get canceled due to thunder storms which had been a problem for us last summer. Highly recommend! read more

We've had an amazing experience here. After trying at another school (it was fine, but didn't take) they opened nearby and I'm so glad we landed here. Both my kids started from zero with a lot of nerves at 4 and 6 and have improved so much. The place is cheerful, bright and open; you can watch your kids and they can check to make sure you're watching them ;); the instructors (we've had several) are all patient and friendly ('Mr. Austin' is a particular fave of my kids since he's even willing to entertain in the waiting area!) Anyway, we'll be here until they're confident swimmers. read more

The staff is incredibly friendly. The teachers are amazing with younger kids. It's immaculately clean, which I really appreciate.

I cannot say enough good things about Tom Dolan Swim School! I have 3 children (8, 6 and 3) who have been taking lessons since the school opened in March and all I can say is- what a difference! My children were not particularly strong swimmers before starting these lessons (even though they had taken lessons at other schools in the area) and we could see their progress almost immediately. The well-trained instructors follow a set curriculum which differs for each age group and ability level and students quickly adapt to the routine and expectations of the teachers and the school. The staff is supportive and friendly and engages the children immediately. No tears! I like that there is always someone at the front desk to answer my questions or schedule a make up class, if needed. The facility itself is clean, well maintained and has plenty of individual stalls and showers, in addition to changing tables both in private stalls and out. We've been so pleased with the school we are keeping our kids in lessons over the summer so they can continue with the TDSS curriculum and continue their amazing progress! read more