Love Sharks swim club! All the coaches are great - I really appreciate their honest opinion on…read morewhere my daughter is skills-wise. I have asked several times if I should buy extra lessons to supplement her team practice (total opportunity to upsell me and charge me more! Ha!) but I always get an honest and fair answer. Perfect combination of great national level swimmers to look to and beginners to help. The small size means individualized attention too. Come try out!

Our son has been swimming with the Sharks for over 6 years and still enjoys it. Through intense…read morepractices and tough love, the coaches provide not only technical and developmental swimming skills but confidence, inspiration, and motivation! We are proud to be a part of the Sharksswimclub community! ‍‍‍‍

Rating changed after speaking to a higher up in the company who agreed to extend my credit for…read moreawhile longer given the pandemic is sticking around and not everyone in my family is vaccinated. My prior review was strictly due to poor customer service in light of COVID-19. I always thought the instructors were well trained and very good with kids, especially kids who are fearful of water/swimming (not my kids, but I observed it when I was there). If you can get past the fact that a possible megalomaniac is at the helm of this location, it's a good place for your kids to learn to swim.

The swim teachers are good but the filter went out and they gave me a call at 4:18 when my child…read morehad class at 4:30 we were already there. So then they will give me a credit to my Foss account not even back to my cc. I didn't like the way they handled things.

My kids have gone through lessons with several area swim schools, but I find Maine Aquatics the…read morebest value and quality, given by high schoolers themselves. It's based on seasonal schedules, and you pick the evening that works best for your schedule Mon, Wed or Thursday. Lessons are 30min at either 6pm or 6:30pm. The one area of improvement would be communication response with their email, but other than that, I highly recommend! My kids have progressed tremendously and their confidence has grown significantly. Note-you pay the full season in cash the first evening so come prepared.

So far, we've had a positive experience with the Maine Township Aquatics swim program…read more The pool is nice, which is located at Maine East High School. There's ample parking which is very convenient . Their prices are very competitive to other local programs, which I've compared to. The instructors seem positive, encouraging, and praise students for their efforts. Would highly recommend this program for young swimmers.

We had our 1st trial lesson over the weekend for our little one, and it exceeded my expectations…read more Goldfish is a clean, well-run, and turnkey operation. Staff are professional, kind, and helpful. It's also super kid friendly with on-theme decor, music, and pool toys, and the best part is, it's warm and toasty both in AND out of the water. There are rinse off and blow-dry stations, individual changing rooms, and the staff disinfect after every session. For 30 minute classes, Goldfish not the least expensive swim option, but for sure worth it in my opinion. Great place to get your child acclimated and comfortable in water.

DO NOT TRUST THIS PLACE with your children. They caused chemical burns and inhalation injuries…read morerequiring hospitalization for multiple children. They do not use proper chemicals for cleaning and are risking peoples lives, not just those in the pool but families breathing in air.

The two stars are for the pool, which was fine. But this place operates via poor business…read morepractices. Beware: If hoping to use the pool, you run the risk of wasting your money if weather conditions are poor, and do not expect them to forewarn you. Before you pay, inquire about their approaxch to current weather conditions. Together, our family spent about $80 for 3 adults and 5 children to swim. Immediately after entering the locker room, we were advised that we would not be allowed to swim due to a brewing storm. We were also informed that there would be no refunds, despite the fact that we had just paid 3 minutes prior. No exaggeration. After some back and forth with some clueless, albeit sweet teen workers, the manager indicated that she would "graciously" make an exception this one time by granting us a pass that expired in 3 days!!! Once again, we debated with her the difficulty of trying to reconvene our entire party during the work week. So, begrudgingly, she crossed out the handwritten date on the pass and extended the pass another week. Discretion. This word was entirely lost on the manager/facility. Her willingness to offer a refund and/or provide passes was at her discretion. Clearly it is unethical to take a family's money and simply say, "tough luck." There's a reason the passes exist. And if you can cross out one date, that means you have complete discretion to do whatever it takes to make people feel like they are not being swindled out of what is for many no small amount of money. To the manager: You didn't do us a favor! Your practices are foul and unethical. We were the ones who compromised WITH YOU! To the facility: Do better!

Very poor business practices. Tried reaching 3 different management personnel on 2 separate…read moreoccasions. There has been no contact made. The staff I tried dealing with was not helpful, nor very nice, lots of whispering while I was trying to resolve an issue. The pool is pretty clean but very pricey. ** supervisor eventually called to resolve after multiple attempts on my part and this yelp. I will up the star because they addressed the issue.

I spent a lot of time trying to find a good class for my son Braedan who is 6 and on the spectrum…read more Classes like this can be a bit of a challenge for him. He started about 4 weeks ago and he is in the Dolphin program which is individualized and has done so well. Jayla his instructor has been so patient and attentive to he needs and very quickly gained his trust. In a few weeks he's making great progress. I am very confident he will develop the skills to be a strong and safe swimmer.

We are in swim lessons for our 4 month old girls and it is going great! Easy location and access…read morewithin LA Fitness.

This review is not for Big Blue but for a specific teacher. Gloria is a real life magical mermaid…read more She is an incredible teacher, advocate, and role model. I'm truly in awe of her ability to maintain enthusiasm, warmth, insight, and intention through lesson after lesson. She is working on another level. She packs so much into a 30 minute lesson - challenging her students to build skill, creating a sense of community, encouraging them to support each other. We've had a few teachers at Big Blue, all clearly well trained, and our child demonstrates more growth in one session with Gloria than a month with his other teachers. I've worked in schools and observed educators in various settings for many years. Gloria has the passion and charisma that I recognize from the best teachers I've known. Even when my child was not in her class, Gloria advocated for his learning experience, working with the staff to make sure he was in the right level for both his age and skill. Whatever you are paying her, quadruple it. We are lucky to have Gloria in our community. Generally our experiences with big blue staff have been positive. Staff are always friendly and helpful. Gloria, again, stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The management of this facility and its customer service here have really gone down hill. With as…read moremany options exist in our neighborhood, I would avoid this place. Our sons attended lessons here 2-3 years ago and we had a fine experience. Great instructor who really knew them and knew how to motivate and celebrated their successes. This summer, we enrolled our one year old daughter. The classes had a different instructor every week. Classes were often cancelled due to facility closures with little to no notice. Refunds are not given for those cancellations- they will offer to give you a credit to come at another time (even if you literally cannot make any of the available times). After months of "membership" and only attending 1 class I finally cancelled, which I had to do via text message to reach their customer service. 2 months later they are still charging me. Avoid this place.

I decided to sign my daughter up for the free "try out" session to see how she, my husband, and I…read moreliked Big Blue Swim School. We were asked to come a few minutes before our scheduled lesson time. When we arrived, there was plenty of parking in their parking lot. We were greeted and given a quick tour of the facilities. I was immediately impressed with the hair drying station, changing rooms, cubby storage, children's play/waiting area, and even the pool, which is kept at I believe 90 degrees year round, which is a huge plus for my daughter. When it was time, someone calls all the kids scheduled for that time to check in with them and tells the kids which swim lane to go to. Parents can choose to wait and watch behind glass, or go in and sit on the benches next to the pool. They do little tests during the lesson, but they make it so fun that the kids don't even realize they're being watched and tested. My daughter was rated on her current abilities, and we were approached by Julie (I think), given a welcome bag with some goodies, and told of my daughter's swim level. She went over how everything worked, rates, and answered all of our questions. When the lesson was over, the kids walk over to the shower stations (which are right next to the pool) to wash off. We decided to sign my daughter up for weekly lessons. She's gone a few times now, tried a few instructors, and we have concluded that Alexis is the best. He is so engaged the whole time, not looking off into space like some other instructors. The kids are always laughing with him, and my daughter actually smiles during her lesson with him. Additionally, I feel that his methods are more efficient and have seen improvement in my daughter's abilities. I have navigated Big Blue's website and give the site 4 stars. As much as I like the ease of signing up, changing/editing, adding, or canceling lessons and paying, I wish there was a way to see a month view with lesson and instructor labeled. Currently, I am having to edit each lesson individually to request the specific instructor. Overall, I am more than happy paying the $23 a lesson for my daughter to get swim lessons here. I recommend trying to free trial lesson. You have nothing to lose and will not be disappointed!

**Rating:** (1/5)…read more We originally signed up for a trial class for my daughter last Saturday. It is a far drive for us coming from Chicago, and we were literally 10 minutes away from the facility when they texted to say the class was canceled. No explanation was given. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and had a second class scheduled for today. Just as we were about to walk out the door to leave, they texted us saying they were canceling again. That is twice now they have canceled on us completely out of the blue, without any explanation, and at the absolute last minute. It's one thing if a business needs to cancel and provides a respectful 24-hour notice, but it is an entirely different thing to consistently cancel at the last possible second. When I confronted them about this via text, they dodged the question entirely. Instead of offering a real reason or trying to make it up to us in any way, they just gave a canned "we apologize and understand you're frustrated" response. As someone with influence over other parents on social media, I will absolutely be sharing this experience. I will be telling everyone to take their business elsewhere. This location operates with complete unprofessionalism and a glaring disregard for simple respect for their customers' time. Look for another swim school.

The place is so ghetto. The people there are so rude because the people that were PAID to be in…read morewhile I had a membership they were trying to physical fight my sons. even as far as chocking my sons and pressing them. On the other hand they went as far as using tactics to fight my son. This place should be sold and gone. Not to mention the people are repeatedly being rude to my kids and other people ( I know this because my son's friend of friends told their parents to tell me). This place is just so out of hand and should not be here much longer.

I saw a thread posting about swim lessons recently, so I figured I should write about where I take…read moremy kids. Schumacher Natatorium is the swimming pool facility within the Park Ridge Community Center located at Centennial Park on the corner of Touhy & Western, maybe a mile west of the uptown Park Ridge neighborhood. When my 3 year old Stunt Boy developed a love of water parks over the summer, we decided it was an opportune time to introduce him to swimming. We decided to sign him up for the 18 month-3 year old Water Babies. The programs here run the gamut from infant Water Babies to senior citizen exercise classes. The Park Ridge Park district really has a great facility, which is their crown jewel and their newest building. The locker room is always very clean. There's a separate closed-off dressing area within the locker rooms for families, in case dads bring little girls to class or moms have little boys. Lockers are free, just leave your ID at the front desk. There's also piles of blue towels for the taking, so you don't even need to bring your own. There's a big pool, with depth ranging from 3 feet to 7 feet and 4 lanes wide. Then there's a kids' pool with a 3'-6" depth, a fast current area, and a shallow wading pool with a very basic water slide. The pool itself is always the right temperature every time we've come -a perfect 78 degrees. And the floor around the pool is nice and balmy too, so you aren't freezing. The lifeguards on duty keep things orderly, making sure there's no horseplay or unsafe activities going on. A pool manager is constantly on the scene with a clipboard in hand, making sure everyone who's got a class goes to the right place. Since multiple classes take place simultaneously at various parts of the pool(s), it's sometimes hard to see where you belong, especially on the first day of a class. No problems here. The instructors are great with the kids. Most of them seem to be high school age or maybe starting college. One of them has really gotten to like the Stunt Boy, who progressed from Water Babies to Preschool Paddlers to Mighty Minnows in just 3 months. Totally fearless in the water, he's ready to do the cannonball if they would ask him to. Some of the classes allow the kids to advance to the next level as they learn within the class, like the "Learn to Swim" class my 6 year old son takes. It has 6 separate levels, with all classes taking place at the same time, just in various parts of the big pool. As kids master the needed skills, they move on to the next level. In all, it is a really great program and I wish I had a place like that in Chicago when I was growing up, as no city park or YMCA offered this well-organized and well-managed swimming program.

Basic but really great and economical. The indoor pool is a…read moreplus. Yes, it needs an update but for what it is, love it. The Bootcamp classes are super good. Try Duvia! She is the best. In the winter, it is fun to bring the kids to swim. The entryway smells like dead fish but once you enter it's great! Lol. The classes are better than the gym. I have a gym membership elsewhere because the facilities here are lacking. Try it!

Been a resident of Niles for almost 30 yrs, have tried the fitness center off and on but it is…read moreextremely pricey! I can't believe people pay the prices that they impose . Residents can't even do a drop in for swimming. Front desk looked upset that I didn't know there was no drop in swim. I watched guards just talking to each other. Pool looks so outdated. No thanks !!