One of my grand-darlings had her latest birthday party here and it was a very fun time for both the…read moreswimmer participants as well as their guardians.  It's a fairly pricey event for the host (and that would be the daughter and her hubs), but it seems to me any kid's birthday event venue is up there these days (such as a gymnastics venue, or an art shop, or a Funtopia, or an Ultimate Ninjas, etc).   This venue costs $550 for 2 hours but you do get the whole pool and facility to yourselves, 3 staffers for the party which includes life guard duty, and birthday snacks and cupcakes.  The maximum number of kid swimmers is 24, otherwise the fee increases by $100.  You can bring in additional snacks and food if you wish. The time allocation was broken up into 80 minutes for swim time and 40 minutes for snacks and cupcakes.  Guardians need to sign a facility waiver.  Kids that want to swim without a life vest need to pass a swim test doing 2 widths of the pool, and almost all of the participants were good swimmers.  Anyway, fyi on a quality and quite fun kid's birthday venue to consider.

Aloha! We've been…read morehappy (not so happy when we went through the short phase and being nervous to get in the water/submerge our toddler head into the pool) swimmers here for the last 3 years, and great strides have been made since the first dip! My two daughters get their weekly lessons and have been getting solid coaching from Coach Sarah over the past 6 months. One programming aspect that didn't exist when I grew up swimming is the heated water. No shocking cold YMCA effect here. Younger swimmers also make progress by swimming across half the width of the pool, and there are landing blocks for that. More advanced swimmers easily swim the full width of the pool, go in a rectangular pattern around the end of the pool, or go the full traditional length as part of the "swim force" team. Teacher turnover is fairly frequent, which I guess is not totally unexpected. In addition to the coaches per class, there's a lifeguard on watch on each side of the pool. As expected, the price has gone up over the years. Three years ago, it was $25/30 min lesson (4 student cap), and today it's $30 for the same. If you need to skip a week, it's easy to log the absence on the app and get a make up token, which is good for a year. Second students get 7% off (like a family discount) on the monthly subscription rate. Shower heads available at the end of the pool for a quick rinse. One of the larger bathrooms in the back has a shower too, and there's a dozen dressing rooms as well for a quick change. Overall, swimmingly satisfied with our experience here.

We've been bringing our kids here for years now. The teachers are all very friendly and…read moreknowledgeable about working with young ones in the water. The one thing that isn't ideal is being able to choose the teacher. We've found our kids just listen more and work better with specific instructors but unfortunately there is no way to guarantee that instructor each session.

Foss Swim School instructors are very patient and know how to motivate even the most hesitant…read morelittle ones. I have been taking my grandson there for two years and really enjoyed the parent child classes and now watching him as a toddler in his small (2-3 children) classes. They emphasize safety including teaching the little ones not to get into a pool without the teacher or a parent there first.

We wanted to get our daughter swimming on her own and we couldn't be happier with Tom Filline. He…read morewas amazing, funny and very supportive with teaching our daughter, from the very first minute of meeting him, the communication leading up to her lessons. He has helped our daughter build her confidence from day one with no floats and being able to get her head wet, to the point that she loves to jump in the deep end and swim to the bottom to collect her pool toys that we bought for her. She has the confidence to swim unaided now and we can't keep her out the pool, to a point she asks to go everyday. We would highly recommend Tom as an instructor.

Gina was amazing with the kids. She spoke in their language, made it fun, got them to swim and look…read moreforward to their lessons from day 1! It was awesome to have the kids learn in our pool too as this made it super convenient to have the lessons- 12 lessons, 3 a week over one month and both my kids are safe swimmers now- my 6 yo can do all strokes independently and my 4 yo who was terrified- is now comfortable swimming independently in floaties, floating on her back, putting her face in and blowing bubbles, and practicing it all with little assistance.

5/5 -- Big Blue Swim School Has Been Incredible for Our Family…read more We've had an absolutely outstanding experience at Big Blue Swim School, and we want to give a huge shoutout to the amazing team that made all the difference for our children. Our 2-year-old can sometimes struggle with new instructors, and there was a moment where he didn't want to get in the water at all. Brex, Josh, and Xzenia went above and beyond to turn the entire situation around. Their patience, energy, and compassion completely changed the day -- within minutes, he was not only comfortable but laughing, splashing, and having fun. It was such a heartwarming transformation to watch. We also want to give a special side shoutout to Ross, who consistently goes out of his way to accommodate our scheduling needs. He always helps us find class times and instructors that work best for our family, and that level of thoughtfulness truly means a lot. Big Blue has become such a positive part of our weekly routine thanks to the incredible staff. We're so grateful for everything they do and highly recommend them to any family looking for a caring, encouraging, and professional swim school.

My 5 year old has been taking lessons here for almost 3 years (on and off) and my 2 year old for…read moreabout a year and Big Blue has become a consistent part of our lives! The kids love the lessons (or we would have quit long ago), and I love how easily you can start/stop weekly lessons and pick right up where you left off. I also love that the app shows you exactly what skills they're working on and when they've mastered something. My only complaint is that I wish they made it clearer what age/height requirements there are to move to the next level. Sometimes it can feel like your kid is stagnating, but really they just have to age into the next level. Highly recommend trying it out!

Easy to enter and plenty of seats. The slides are fun, the kids enjoyed themselves…read more 3 stars though for the following: 1. The price posted online is not what we paid. It said $9. We paid $14 each. 2. The park was barely open and already out of several food items when the kids went to concessions.

A teenager managing the water slides:…read more I have ADHD and sometimes get a little confused, so I was really hoping this place would be easy and fun. But the rides were kind of boring, and the park felt old and messy. Also, a teenage staff member was rude to me, which didn't help. Discipline your staff...Overall, it wasn't the fun day I wanted. Hopefully, they improve things soon!

I love that instructors pay close attention to the needs of each student. Personally speaking, my…read moredaughter has Down Syndrome, and each instructor she has worked with has made sure to treat her with the same acceptance and respect while still attending to her special needs. Big Blue is a very special place and it's awesome to watch the instructors at work! The way they interact and get through kids, even the tough ones, it's like watching magic. I'm proud to have been part of this "family" since they opened their doors in Hoffman :) PS: And in response to the bad reviews because that's how much I love this place: 1. If you didn't get a call back, you can easily go online and sign up for classes. You're missing out dismissing them for a phone call. A one star review just for not getting a call back is pretty harsh. 2. The facility is far from being dirty. Time will tell but it just opened its doors a year and a half ago. I've been taking my daughter since then. I'm a bit of a germ phobe myself and I never once felt it was not clean. If you're afraid of something getting stolen from the cubby, don't bring it in. You're there for a half hour with your child. If it's a wallet/ purse, just carry it with you (you're either watching your child, sitting or in the changing room with your child for no more than 10-15 min.). You could also leave it in the car. It's not that big of a deal.

My daughters took a swimming classes for about more than 3 months. They liked instructors and…read moreplace, but wished more than 30 minutes. Place is decent, not cleanest, classes are overcrowded to only for 30 minutes. Kids are waiting to get turn to swimming about more than half of their time. 3-4 kids per classes only 30 minutes not enough to learn!!! They cancel a classes but they always offer makeup classes.

Our daughter has been going here for about a year now. Shes 5. They really push her (in a good…read moreloving way) and I feel super confident she will be swimming well by summer. One year ago my daughter would scream if her face got wet, now she puts her head under no problem and can completely float on her back on her own and is learning how to swim. She makes progress every week. If we can only afford one class each week, this would be the one we would never miss. They keep moving her up into better classes (even in the middle of the semester) to keep her growing. Very happy with this school. Teachers are awesome too!!!

I wasn't 100% sure about starting my daughter in swim lessons as young as we did (6 months), but I…read morealso didn't want her to lose her love of water by becoming afraid of being splashed in the face or some other random water fear that happens with some children. I also wanted to ensure she's a strong swimmer as early as possible, because let's face it, accidents happen and kids do fall into pools, no matter how careful you are. My daughter has officially successfully completed Backfloat Baby 1 and started Backfloat Baby 2 about two weeks ago. We were SO SO lucky to have Christine for our first instructor, and I really hope we are able to have her again for a future class. She put my anxiety at ease, and handled my daughter so well (can you imagine how hard it is to get a 6 month old who loves to lick pool water to actually close her mouth long enough to be submerged under water for 4 seconds?!) I've also seen her with some of the more rambunctious older kids, and she has the patience of an angel. I really hope my daughter comes to trust our new instructor as much as she did Christine so that we can have a successful Backfloat Baby 2 class and continue on our swim journey. All of the employees here are so sweet, and I'm so glad that we chose FOSS for our daughter.

Although the instructor at this location seems very personable and invested in teaching kids to…read moreboth love and be motivated to swim, the BSS management at this location is terrible! After a swim assessment, I followed up with THEM to figure out a lesson time, only to be told they could not accommodate us. Now we are in a situation where our other option only has a wait-list!

Ms. Cherise has been amazing with my kids. She pushes them a little more every week and they've…read moreprogressed so much with her. They love going to swim class!

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.

I love my Northbrook vasa! Anyu, Brian and Aaron are all so fun and engaging. Especially Anyu. I am…read moregreeted with smiles every time I walk in, but Anyu has really paid attention to my health issues and has follow up questions and suggestions every time. She has been a breath of fresh air to the whole team- they are all noticeably more friendly and pumped to be there- I don't take a ton of classes but got in with one of Aaron's today and it was so fun... I was intimidated to try to sauna and steam room for the first couple of months because it's coed, but it's really no big deal. I DO wish they had actual tanning booths like the site claims- not just red light therapy. These are different types of machines and I do feel that was misleading. And on the site it does say there are pools and hot tubs but my location does not have either which is a bummer. The locker rooms are almost always spotless and the showers are nice and large, though water pressure is lacking. I just scheduled my pt appt and I look forward to that session! There is great turf space for functional strength training and there are always enough weights to go around if you just look- I love the inferred yoga classes too! I've taken a couple of the dance classes and a bunch of the studio red HIIT classes and will continue to... All in all, this gym is absolutely amazing-- if it had a hybrid uv/red light therapy tanning booth I'd be so thrilled!

Overall, it has everything you want to work out. My only issue is how busy it is…read more I probably waited 10 min out of my workout for a machine.