Not safe for your child or your family. Not sanitary. Unacceptable administrative staff behavior. Stay away at all costs read more

Goldfish Swim School - Needham - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Needham, Massachusetts

When my son first joined Goldfish Needham, he spent two years stuck at the same level until I requested an assessment from management. Several friends of mine had similar experiences. We eventually left for another swim school. This summer, we decided to give Goldfish another try since it's close by and his current school is undergoing renovations. Unfortunately, we didn't see any improvements. I enrolled him in group lessons, but I noticed little progress and a lack of attention from the instructors. His final lesson this summer was supposed to be two private sessions scheduled back-to-back. Instead, each session started with about 10 minutes wasted as the instructors tried to figure out which lane he should be in, what level he belonged to, and who his private instructor was--even though all of that information was clearly available in my app. I had to step onto the pool deck to help resolve the confusion, and at one point an instructor even argued with me about my son's level because her clipboard didn't match what was in the app. Eventually, another staff member confirmed that I was correct. As a result, I paid $200, but my son only received about 40 minutes of actual instruction out of the 60 I paid for. That was the final straw. I voiced my concerns at the front desk in front of what appeared to be both the location manager and the pool deck supervisor, but neither acknowledged me or attempted to engage. I'm not sure if they truly didn't hear me, but given the small space, it felt dismissive. No one offered to make up for the lost lesson time caused by their disorganization. The whole experience felt like a rip-off and an example of very poor business practices. I had hoped that paying a premium for private lessons would lead to a better experience, but it was actually worse than the group classes. Last year, my son had a great private instructor who was highly experienced, so clearly the quality depends entirely on who you get. In my opinion, only experienced instructors should be assigned to private lessons, especially since the cost is more than double the group rate. Bottom line: If your goal is simply for your child to be comfortable in the water and play around, Goldfish might be fine. But if you care about steady progression, I would not recommend it. They do a poor job of tracking swimmer progress, largely because instructors rotate so frequently. And based on conversations with friends at other locations, this isn't just a Needham issue--it's a franchise-wide problem. One friend told me his daughter learned more in two weeks of summer camp than in two years at Goldfish. From my perspective, their strategy seems clear: keep students at the same level as long as possible to maximize revenue, rather than focusing on progress. read more

Refused to refund money. I signed my son up for a Jumpstart clinic, immediately realized that i needed to cancel because it turned out they wouldn't offer a makeup class for one of the days, staff member refused to refund the $200, even though it was within an hour of my having paid. read more

The Needham Goldfish Swim School is absolutely wonderful. We had a child on the older side who we were really hoping to help nail down some basic swim skills both for water safety/stamina and, if he liked it, opportunities to keep swimming. Regional Manager Adrian was EXCEPTIONAL in making sure that both my child and I felt comfortable and welcome as newcomers and as a later swimmer and instructor Devon K was phenomenal. Adrian and Devon (with wonderful support and insight from deck instructional leads Meghan O. and Jordan) tailored and adjusted the week to match my child's developmental and physical/skills needs as appropriate. My child made tremendous progress in just one 5-day jump start program. As an example, breathing out under water and then coming up for air was a challenge point - by the end of the week, my child was able to swim multiple laps with continuous side breathing and freestyle swimming, and was beginning to explore breaststroke and butterfly kicks. The program cost was truly a steal given the quality of the time, the attention, the communication, and the progress made in one week. I only wish we had found this place earlier! As additional information: the school building and space itself is extremely clean, welcoming, comfortable, and friendly, and there is plenty of parking. Lots of changing room/showering/bathroom space which was super helpful transitioning from lessons to the rest of the day. read more

We started with Goldfish in Needham when they first opened, it was great and my eldest graduated from GF. 2nd daughter started at the newly opened brookline location, was great as well! We moved back to Needham and had our 5 year old son start his lessons in Needham. Just not the same anymore. Instructors and service was nothing like when they first opened. Too many instructor changes for my son, there were no updates after each swim lesson and my son has been stuck in the same level for 6 months. I had brought this to Gf and they mentioned they will keep an eye out for my son. Not sure what that means because nothing has changed. I finally decided to cancel our membership and no questions were asked. read more

This is her first experience here at goldfish and Sonya has made it a lovely experience for us. Either 40 coming back again and again. I made a very nice beach teeth inside. Very creative. Aquinta was fab Great team great management will run establishment. I would recommend it to everyone and anyone. read more

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Wonderful fit for my toddler son. My son developed a water phobia after attending classes at another local swim school and we are still working through this. Now, at just under 2 we have him back at swim school. They have been so patient with him at Goldfish! He loves to be in the pool and splash, and often likes to try the activities the instructors suggest. Sometimes he starts to show distress and they're been so accommodating about helping him feel comfortable and modify the activity so that he can still be part of the class. (And sometimes this as easy as giving him an extra toy to hold!) I know other reviews for Goldfish were focused on whether or not their child made progress with swimming. While I can't comment on that, I can say that my son is learning to enjoy time in the pool which I view as a gateway for learning to swim/safety down the road. The instructors here seem to really enjoy working with toddlers, and we've been really happy with our experience. read more

Yes, it is very expensive. But I had my daughter in classes at the YMCA for a year and she really made no progress at all because the classes were so large that she was only in the pool for ~5 minutes per lesson. Here, the classes have four and usually fewer kids and they are in the water (versus sitting on the ledge) for the whole time. I think this makes them be less nervous when it is their turn to swim, which is a major obstacle to learning for little kids. My daughter loves her teacher. He is young but is a natural swim instructor. The kids in his class are laughing for the whole lesson. read more

We found the facility to be somewhat dirty and the class that we attended was disorganized and poorly run with absolutely no one-on-one instruction. The bigger issue is their poor customer service and unethical billing practices. I intended to sign up for and pay for classes as I went, and my receipt reflected that. Evidently, they operate on a subscription model and when you go to your first class they will present a liability waiver and somewhere in there it says that you are subscribing to $140 per month of classes and they will charge your card automatically. This was never told to me on their website, my email confirmation, my receipt, or in person. Although they know that this was never explained to me, they refused to refund me and only offered a credit for future classes. Fortunately, my credit card company agreed that this is a fraudulent way to extract money from a customer. If their billing practices are this sketchy, I shudder to think about their safety protocols. We will not be returning. read more

This was our first visit to a Goldfish and it was great. Facility was large and clean with plenty of changing rooms and 90 degree water. Mr. Adrian (general manager) checked in on us to make sure we were having a great time. We learned a lot and got our 7 month old swimming! read more

Goldfish Swim School - Needham - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Needham, Massachusetts

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Waste of money! My son's instructor was constantly changing making it difficult for my son to adjust, engage and learn to swim. Several attempts to contact Martha (manager) were always unsuccessful. I'm giving 2 stars because the front desk attendants, Johanna and Calvin were always super responsive with all of my questions and concerns. Also, the recent fantastic, 5-star review from Matt J. was written by a Goldfish employee (Mr. Matt, Sales and Services Manager). :-O read more

We joined Goldfish when my daughter was 4 months old and now she's almost 1 and LOVES the pool. A main focus of the "mini" classes have been safety and knowing how to pull yourself out of the pool which she's beginning to understand. Some other pluses (1) We've very easily been able to do make-up classes when we aren't able to attend our regular class. (2) The free swim times offered! I feel the cost per lesson (ie the membership fee) is in line with other lessons in the area. If you can take advantage of the weekday free swims, I think the membership fee is definitely worthwhile. (3) It's a cute, family-friendly facility compared other typical indoor pools. My ONLY quirk would be that I wish members didn't have to pay to use the evening family swims. Other than that, it's been wonderful and we look forward to it every week! read more

At first I thought this school offered a great idea and concept to swimming, and I still believe that, however, I feel that 4 students to one teacher for a half hour is not good enough. My son has been going here for a year and a half. No progress. Of course they offer extra classes, but that comes with extra money. On the weekends of course it get VERY crowded. So much that most parents are standing for the duration of thier kids class time. You'll also find parents "saving seats" but never sitting in them, which I've posted. Most of them are not watching thier kids swim and are socializing or on their phones. It's very frustrating for me who is trying to watch her kid in class. The teachers are great! But like I said, I feel two teachers are better or more effective than one. read more

Poor customer service. They have confirmed my boys classes on the phone but when we get there their name is not on the list. This happened twice on different days. They told me they looked at the wrong list.!!? And the second time they just asked me who did I talked to over the phone. Staff just look at you and do not even apologize for the mistake. read more

We signed up for Goldfish swim and our 4 year old son was to join his friend in a class in December. Unfortunately, he was sick and then we were away the first couple weekends, so we weren't able to attend. At this point, the school called and asked if we wanted to remain in the class, and I said yes -- of course. He was then sick for the following class. At that point we were notified by e-mail that we were unenrolled from the class. This despite the fact we had been paying the monthly fee. Called them and was told we'd have to go back on the wait list and there was nothing that could be done. Their explanation of the unenrollment was odd (we didn't record your desire to remain in the class when we called, and reserve the right) and unacceptable. Was told we'd be on priority to rejoin the class. This was over a month ago, and haven't heard back. I've never seen a business unenroll a paying customer. It really makes no sense to me, and my son, who was excited to attend the class with his friend from school, was disappointed. read more

After spending over a year with my child here for swim lessons and feel like he is exactly where we started off at perhaps even worse off. I'll admit that he is deathly afraid of going underwater and even getting his face splashed with water. So I know the teachers have their work cut out. However, if you are spending over $30 a class. I feel like you should see progress in your child. We spent a majority of our time in the Mini 2 class. Often times you can barely hear the teacher because it is so loud in there. We never had a consistent teacher and I felt like we did the same 10 activities again and again. When you have your child do the "elbow, elbow, tummy, knee" activity there was often no room for all the kids to line up against the pool wall. So all the kids are squished together. We moved up to Junior 1, but my child spent most of his time crying and scared of being dunked underwater. The "generous" make up policy is a joke. We went away for 2 weeks on vacation and I tried to have a makeup class scheduled. I tried to make our makeup day during the week vs our scheduled weekend class. I was told that there were no open spots to have a makeup class and there was no way to have a future makeup class on a weekend. So basically I lost 2 classes because I couldn't get into a makeup class. read more

So much fun! Seriously, go here and take every child you know! I recently visited Goldfish Swim School in Needham for the first time with my three-year-old nephew and his mom. While my sis and I were greeted by a friendly and gracious staff (really, every single person working gave us a welcoming smile), my nephew's mouth was agape with excitement when he saw the pool and all of the awesome floaty toys set up for Family Swim--planes, boats, motorcycles, oh my! Every detail is accounted for; this place is organized and immaculate, while simultaneously pulling off a super fun vibe with a warm color scheme plus surfboards for seats. There are changing rooms, towels, snacks, cubbies for your stuff, showers, and a hair-drying station. Bonus: there's a pet turtle! More than a few of the students and parents/family members knew the staff on a first name basis. The Goldfish team seems to go well above and beyond to make their guests feel comfortable and safe, and this is very much appreciated. We're so happy Goldfish Swim School is here to bring such a fun and essential activity to the greater Boston area. Can't wait to get my nephew (and niece) started up with full-time lessons! Be back soon. read more

If you're looking for results- this is the place!! My children have been coming here for over a year and their progress and confidence has been amazing!! The supportive, friendly and energetic staff are always there to answer any questions. They are patient and understanding of schedules and always do their best to try to accommodate families with hectic schedules! My children love and look forward to coming to class and learning with the friends they've made ! We love the GoldfishNeedham family!! read more

This place is organized, professionally managed, clean they even have hair dryers. The instructors are knowledgeable and they provide a safe environment for the kids to learn how to swim. Highly recommend. read more

Goldfish Swim School - Needham - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Needham, Massachusetts

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Goldfish Needham has been great! My kids aren't turning into Michael Phelps, but they have overcome their fear of the water and understand some safety rules, which in itself is very valuable! Emely and Zach at the front are always willing to help me with any scheduling issues I have, and the place is so bright and welcoming. We have had several different instructors (some ok, some great) but we have asked to switch instructors when it isnt a fit with our kids, and they have no problems finding us a new teacher whose personality matches up. If youre looking for a program that will make your children comfortable in the water, and build them toward a life of aquatic fun, Goldfish is the way to go! read more

Two children, in my family, go to Goldfish Swim School in Needham. We were impressed from the very first day! The pool is very clean and maintained. The customer service could not be more accommodating. The instructors are geared to show children how to feel comfortable in the water and practice with confidence the various swimming techniques. The youngest member of our family started at Goldfish Swim School about a year ago. She did not want any part of water on her face. We watched the instructors delicately help her to enjoy swimming by building her confidence and skills. She has now advanced to Pro 1 and looks forward to each and every class!! Thank you Goldfish Swim School and all the great experiences you offer read more

This place is great. Definitely plan to continue sending my daughter and to spread the word to my friends who are parents of little ones. Swimming was an important part of my life and I'm super happy to give her the same opportunity at such a cool place. The water is warm and the instructors are patient and thorough. Keep up the excellent work and thanks. read more

Both of my kids have been taking swim lessons for the last 9 months at Goldfish. They look forward to going, have absolutely strengthened their skills - to see my 5.5 year old use actual strokes and dive under water so happily is awesome! And perhaps most importantly I've seen a growth in their confidence in knowing that they are learning how to swim." I also recently attended a birthday party there and I was very impressed with the organization, and management by the staff. They were super friendly and made everyone feel special. read more

Pros: 1) Facility is beautiful, clean and kid-friendly. 2) The warm (90 degree) water is inviting for little ones. 3) Wall of floor-to-ceiling windows makes observing your child's lesson easy. 4) Martha, the manager, is warm and friendly. 5) The teachers had detailed "lesson plans" next to the pool so there was consistency in instruction. Cons: 1) Your child doesn't get that much swim time. 4 kids per 30 minute lesson means much of the time is spent just standing on the dock for the teacher to finish with another child. 2) Makeup policy is touted as "generous" but it is nearly impossible to get one during the summer or it's at very difficult times of day (6/6:30 in the evening) 3) We had a bad experience with an instructor who was physically rough with the children, and it really shook one of my kids. Talking to 3 other parents on the pool deck, 2 transferred out of the same teacher's class. It took multiple talks/complaints before a change was made. 4) We were overcharged one month and only caught the mistake after a friend suggested we check our credit card statement. Goldfish fixed the error but seemed really nonchalant about crediting us and never apologized. 5) Trying to stop lessons (you are automatically re-enrolled and charged monthly) is a hassle. It requires a lot of advance notice and an in-person visit. 6) We were scheduled for the first lesson of the day, and two times the front door wasn't opened/unlocked until the start time of the lesson. By the time the teacher was ready for them, the lesson was only 20 minutes long. read more

I am following up from the last review. I did receive a call from the regional manager who was very apologetic about my experience and is attempting to find a solution. She is decreasing the 30 days and will be doing her best to return my granddaughter to our preferred class. The class is full at this time. read more

Extremely disappointed with Goldfish. We had our son in lessons for more than a year, and the quality of instruction substantially declined, with the age of the instructors getting younger and younger (like early high school students). There is absolutely no consistency from week to week, to the point where my son has actually begun to regress. We decided to cancel lessons last month, and even though we've paid for lessons through the 20th, we are not returning. It's simply not worth our time. At $25 per 30 minute group lesson, you'd expect something more than just warm water, which is pretty much the only thing going for that location. Get your act together, Goldfish. read more

I am so so happy I found this place! The JCC on Nahanton was a nightmare between trying to coordinate simple phone calls because nobody ever picks up the phone and needing an evaluation; after 7 days I got nowhere. . $35/20min with a group of 10 isn't appealing. And as a former member of the JCC, the last thing I want to do is go in that building; the Olympic sized pool isn't optimal for kids and you're in a basement down a corridor. Brookline pool had better pricing but you have to commit to a 10 week session and if you miss a class you lose it. Seeing how it's on the weekend right in the middle of a Sunday, it doesn't fit our lifestyle. Our weekend is for taking off and having no schedule. Additionally the group is about 10 kids and ages 5-15!! Randomly driving down 4th St, I saw the sign and took it as that; we pulled right in, got information and registered! The stellar reviews here on Yelp sealed the deal. Simple straightforward cancellation policy with a 30 day notice. And if you miss a class you can make it up!! They were able to fit us in for a class that very day and her regular class would be shortly after getting out of school on a Friday -perfect timing for us! No killing our weekend :) this place is a kid paradise; themed and colorful. Fun ocean murals and tiki huts. A surfboard hair drying station! Über clean. I get to watch (sneaking on the free wifi here and there). Like riding a bicycle, learning to swim is a milestone. Seeing my daughter full of anticipation and excitement to get in the water with the instructors is priceless. First time swimming without swimmies and a huge smile on her face, high-fiving her coach, amazing. Don't hesitate on this place for a second especially considering the pricing and atmosphere! read more

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Pros: 1) Great for little kids 2) Really warm water and air temp in pool area 3) Clean and Bright Facility 4) Well Staffed(mostly) 5) Smaller Classes Cons: 1) Teacher changes with no notice and now on a weekly basis(I think due to shortage at the moment) 2) They offer make-up lessons which is a great concept BUT they are hard to get into, you can only book them 1 week or less in advance(and may or may not get) and in order to have a make-up, you must be enrolled 3) You must give a ton of notice for cancelling lessons(even if a break for summer). Which is unlike the policy they have of no notice for things etc Perhaps, this is partly growing pains...but I will hunt for something else for fall and hope for the best! Too bad, I had recommended this place to a ton of people and will need to reconsider. read more

I second everything that Victor stated in his review from January 2018. The facilities at Goldfish are great, the water is warm and inviting which is especially nice for the babies and children completely new to swimming, and the front desk people are friendly and helpful. However, as Victor mentioned, the quality of instruction and time management is very poor. The instructors seem to be getting younger and younger and some do not seem interested or engaged in teaching. My sons' teacher, who cannot be older than 16, appears to be going through the motions, not paying much attention, just getting through the 30 minutes. Each child is taken a short distance (maybe 7 feet), minimally encouraged to paddle/kick, flipped onto their back for a few seconds for an assisted back float, and then back to the side to wait for another turn to do the same thing. With 4 children in the group lesson, each child gets about 30 seconds (maybe) of "instruction" followed by about 3 minutes of waiting around. The teacher transitions slowly between students and between "lessons." My sons have been enrolled in swimming lessons since they were 6 months old, and neither can swim in the slightest. I don't have high expectations, I'm not expecting either of them to be able to perform a stroke, I would just like to seem them be able to doggy paddle even 2 feet. Or use a kick board. Like Victor described so eloquently, children's progress isn't tracked beyond a once-a month score card given to parents, ticking off which skills they have mastered and which need work. The instructors themselves aren't keeping track of each individual child and what needs work. The teaching is not at all customized or individualized. They don't even offer private or semi-privates anymore. I'm now looking elsewhere for lessons as I feel our 1.5 years at Goldfish have been largely a waste of time and money. read more

As a businessman and former teacher, I can appreciate the inherent tensions that sometimes come from balancing profit maximization with student success. Ideally both would be in harmony and not in conflict, but this is not always the case - including at the Goldfish Swim School in Needham (GSS). After several months with the school, I have seen clearly that Goldfish's priority is on the commercial, business side, and student development and success is secondary. This review will provide examples of why I have arrived at this conclusion. Let's start with the positives. If you are looking for a place where your child can get more comfortable with water and have a facilitator with great patience, warmth, and kindness, GSS is that place. Of the several different instructors we met, all were top-notch characters who clearly cared about kids. The office management team with whom I interacted (e.g., Carlos) were also very professional and courteous. The facility also has some nice features. The pool is nicely heated and lanes are relatively well demarcated. Check-in is simple and efficient. Showers are available poolside. Changing rooms and bathrooms are fine. Bathing suit dryers and hair dryers are provided, which is well appreciated. The pool is highly visible to parents through large glass walls. This is a nice differentiating aspect of GSS. Now for the negatives. The negatives can be boiled down into two major themes: Instruction Quality and Time Management. * Instruction Quality: At the end of the day, folks come to GSS and pay upwards of $99/month not because they want someone to babysit their kids in the water and help facilitate their playing in the water (at least not once a child is beyond the introductory toddler stage). One comes to GSS with the idea that one will get INSTRUCTION and one's child will make PROGRESS and IMPROVE over time. One comes to GSS with the idea that the pedagogy will be well-proven and adaptable as necessary to each child's specific strengths and weaknesses. This was not the case for our family. Over about 6 months, we saw very little progress in our child's development - and possibly even regression from what she had learned at a different school. Exercises that were conducted seemed to be performed by each instructor (we tried several) more as a rote process than in ways that would facilitate development. Most concerning to me, as a former educator, is that there did not seem to be any accountability or interest in helping to ensure that students would progress to the next level by a certain point in time - or hyper-focusing on the skills necessary to help students progress to the next level (which would presume some seemingly non-existent system of keeping track of individual student progress from lesson to lesson). Instead, it seemed GSS was very comfortable milking our $99/month for as long as possible with little incentive to push our child to take the next step. When I asked what it would take or when my child would be ready for the next level, I repeatedly got the same answer regarding which skills needed to be developed. I'm fine with my child needing more improvement. I'm not fine with no focused effort on developing those specific outstanding skills rather than sticking to a rote routine. I'm not fine with teachers not feeling accountable for ensuring student progress within a clearly defined timeframe. Imagine if your school told you they would be comfortable keeping your child in 3rd grade indefinitely until they felt that child was ready without focusing on, say, the math or reading skills they need to improve. *Time Management: This is a big problem for GSS. Each member pays at least $99/month for about four 30-minute sessions per month. Each class has up to four children in it. Classes are not load-balanced so that if one is at maximum capacity, another instructor with fewer students can take them on. (GSS might hypothetically say that is to ensure teacher continuity, but, that would ring false as teachers are often switched around and it is not clear that teachers actually retain or share information on individual student progress with their colleagues). So, with four children taking turns with the instructor in a 30-minute session, each child would on average have only 7.5 minutes each of time with the instructor. HOWEVER, this fails to take into account that nearly every single time, classes began late and finished early - often to the tune of 5 or more minutes per session (or 16.7% of the lesson time). This happens because instructors are constantly being moved between lanes and transitions happen slowly and ineffectively. Classes are put back-to-back with virtually no transition time to maximize profit. Add massive class delays when (new) kids are crying and instructors are distracted, and you suddenly find your child has under 5 minutes of actual swimming instruction time per class. No wonder it's hard to see progress. read more

Visited this location once for a trial class with my 18 month old. Can't lie the 90+ degree water was amazing for both me and my toddler but the facility was super crammed and crowded. There are no formal locker rooms, just tiny unkempt changing rooms. You can imagine how difficult it is to change with a toddler if a small closet size changing room. Also we were completely lost the entire time. The staff did not care to show us around so we had to figure out a lot of things on our own. In theory this is great but it's way to disorganized and crowded for it to be worth it for us. read more

I started just over a few weeks ago and absolutely LOVE it. At first I didn't know which class was going to be right for my son who had little to no water experience and Calvin(front desk) guided me not just the first day but the second and even today he answered some questions and we found the right schedule for my son. Goldfish is a very clean and well attended swim school. The staff is amazing both in the pool and administratively. There is a reason that it is so busy. My son isn't going to be 3 until end of August so I am thrilled they take his age and so far so good. read more

A family member works there and they messed up the direct deposit. It was only a small amount, but there was a thirty dollar bank fee. Not only did the school not reimburse her for any of it, she had reminded them weekly. If this is how they nickle and dime their employees, I'd not trust their judgment when it comes to your children. read more

Started off on the wrong foot when the front desk "lost" my reservation and we were kicked out of the class we signed up for and had to wait for months to get back in. Calling or changing classes is time consuming and incredibly frustrating. With one or two exceptions dealing with anyone at this location has been disappointing. When an organization offers group classes for 3 year olds, the instructors should probably expect typical three year old behavior and learn to deal with it or let parents know about problematic behavior in a professional and courteous way. We had one instructor tell me that my three year old was "annoying" after I watched the instructor be very impatient with the children during the lesson with eye rolling and borderline shoving, when I complained to the front desk I was told that other parents love that particular instructor. In the group classes each kid is swimming for less than 7 minutes each class and expected to stay still in a dock in the water, not an easy task for a 3 year old. My kid made almost no progress in the last year which is not surprising when they are swimming for only a few minutes each lesson. Overall very disappointed in the management and some of the instructors. Parking is also sometimes a complete nightmare when the lot fills up and there is nowhere else to park. If you dare park in the parking lot next door (not affiliated with the school), you will be towed. Save yourself the time and money and find another swim school that actually may be interested in good customer service. read more

As you can see from my previous post, I was a huge fan of Goldfish. A year and a half later, my feelings have changed. Goldfish has pluses and minuses. The facility is nice, the birthday parties are fantastic, the water is nice and warm, family swim is fun, and the staff is friendly. But, I would say that Goldfish is better for very young kids or kids who are very new at swimming. My son flourished when we began, but after he moved up to the next level (Glider) he basically stopped making progress. He's been in Glider for close to a year and according to his last evaluation, he isn't close to moving up. I've given it thought as to why he's not improving. My kid is really serious about swimming. He's not goofing off in the pool and he's hoping to swim competitively. I think the issue lies with the instruction. For one thing, there's A LOT of turnover with instructors. Over the past year, my son has had a new instructor approximately every two months. The instructors don't get to know the students and how long they've been in the level, so maybe they're holding my son to lower standards because there are kids who have only been in this level for a few weeks. Another issue is that the Glider level is ages 4+. This means that my 7 1/2 year old is in a class with 4 year olds. There's such a big difference between instructing a 4 year old and a 7 year old. The goal should be to get their students to become strong swimmers, not just practicing "windmills" and "monkey tree banana" week in and week out without any improvements to be made. I kept hoping things would get better because my son likes the lessons there better than other places (the warm water, the platforms to stand on) but I feel like I've wasted a lot of time and money so it's time for us to move on. I talked to some staff members about what's been going on, and they were very nice and responsive, but I don't think this is the place where my son is going to become a strong swimmer. I was such a big cheerleader for Goldfish and convinced so many friends to sign up, too. But now, I feel completely let down by our experience. read more

Zero stars! Took my 3 year old for a trial class and had the worst experience. Within 5 minutes of putting her in the water her "instructor" was yelling at her... she refused to let me daughter use the swim bar w floats, told her she had to step off the box into the deep water and let her just step off and go completely under water. No praise or hug or "good job". She then proceeded to forcefully and aggressively yank her arms up and down in a paddling motion. She was using a floating fish as motivation for the kids to swim to but she never asked for the fish back. Instead, she repeatedly yanked the toy out of her hand and throw it like she was a dog. I then was so enraged I walked into the swim area and knelt down by the side of of the pool... she just pulled my daughter out of the water and didn't have a word to say to either of us. There was no smiling, compassion, warmth, or any understanding of how to gain a child's trust in the water. My heart was racing and I was holding back tears by the end of the class. A manger did come to speak with us and was very understanding and did offer us a credit for another trial, but we had such a horrible experience we definitely will not be going back. I can't understand how that girl ever got the position and strongly believe she should be let go for her behavior. Additionally, we attended on a Sunday and it was absolute mayhem - so crowded! and there are no proper showers in the locker rooms. I would not recommend this place. read more

Our daughter first came her at 4mths and we love the place. Staff super friendly and more importantly make me feel confident in that they know what the doing. Class sizes are small and the activities are simple and fun. My only comment would be to heat up the changing rooms a bit but i would recommend this swim school to anyone read more

Our family absolutely loves Goldfish Swim School in Needham! Both boys ask every day if it is a Goldfish swim lesson day and my 4 yr old went from not wanting to put his face in when he started to swimming on his own after 4 weeks. They make learning to swim fun and, as a parent, I love that there are only 3 other kids in each of my boys' classes. Highly recommend Goldfish Swim School - Needham! read more

My husband and I were both fortunate to grow up in beach-front towns, but our two kids are suburban warriors through and through. We recognize how important it is to learn to swim from both a lifestyle and safety perspective and did our homework to find the best environment in which they could learn. Goldfish immediately rose to the top of the of our list. We have dear friends who take their child there and quite frankly from the first moment we walked in, we knew this was the place! The manager warmly welcomed us and gave us an impromptu tour of the facility. Once in the pool, she brought a duck over to our son who is a little hesitant in the water. Now he can't wait to go back! And keeps talking about "the pool lady." We came to Goldfish for our kids, but every time we visit, it's a great experience that's consistently awesome for our whole family. read more

The absolute best place to take swim lessons in metro west. They couldn't make it easier unless they actually picked up my kids at our house and took them for me. The instructors are fabulous. Management is so helpful. The facility is cheerful and clean. Most importantly, my kids are happy and learning to swim. read more