Private lessons cost $36.25 for 30 minutes.
There are separate bathrooms with showers. Only one coed changing room with stalls.
You will still be charged if you miss a lesson even if it is due to them being closed that day. There are supposed to be emails sent out for makeup classes that the GM Heidi told me are on a first come, first serve basis. Basically, you get an email once every month with available makeup dates and the first people to call get them. I've received their emails for other things but never for this.
You will have a different experience depending on which instructor you get. Seems to be a high turnover rate and as of a few weeks ago they were understaffed. I know this from personally hearing Heidi complain to a parent about not having enough instructors and she has done several interviews with no luck and she doesn't know what they are going to do. You can see on their FB page they were hiring. The first instructor we had abruptly quit.
Glass Door Review online:
Former Employee - Swim Teacher in Buffalo, NY
Positive Outlook
I worked at Michael Phelps Swim School full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros Fantastic relationships with the families and watching the progress of the students.
Cons Occasional miscommunication and micromanagement from management.
Advice to Management Feel confident in the training of your staff and hold weekly meetings and a monthly check in on policies, and performance.
The second instructor we had was more aggressive with her training. Very hands on I'm told by Heidi, because she coaches the competitive team. I witnessed her pull my daughter harshly backwards by her legs while she was swimming underwater. She was starting her over because she did something wrong. She later told me that while she was underwater she overheard her instructor talking to another about how she wasn't doing a good job. I addressed these concerns over a phone call with Heidi. As far as pulling her by her legs, she said she knows it's not the best thing but sometimes the instructors will do this to stop the child from having to go all the way and start over. She said she is guilty of it herself. Regarding the comments, she basically said my daughter must have misunderstood because the instructor in question is a great person.
There is inconsistency when your child "moves up". Apparently when the kids in group lessons advance to a higher level, they are given a ribbon and have their picture taken and put on FB to make it a big deal. Heidi told me they "try" to do this with private lesson kids, doesn't always happen though depending on how they are staffed that day.
When signing up I filled out a form they require for you to cancel 30 days in advance. I got this out of the way in the beginning because we were only doing summer lessons. Heidi is the one that helped me fill it out over the phone. I listed Wednesday, 9/5 as our cancel date because our lesson was Tuesday, 9/4 and school started later that week. I was told by Heidi that I would be charged that one day. When we arrived at our lesson, we said hi to Heidi and my daughter changed and showered. We were stopped in the hallway on the way to the pool by Mr. Andy who asked if we were there for a makeup lesson. I said no, we were there for our final lesson. He told me to speak to Heidi because she canceled our membership due to the way they do their billing and another parent was at the desk taking our spot for their childs makeup lesson. She took me in the office and explained the billing process to me. I was not pleased because this contradicted our phone conversation. She said "I canceled your membership because you would have been charged for the whole month when you only had one class, I thought I was doing you a favor". That wasn't for her to decide without contacting me first. She said there was nothing she could do, we were canceled and the other family had our spot for their makeup lesson. We were owed a makeup lesson so even though we weren't charged, we should have come first instead of the other family. I told her to check for someone else to give my daughter a lesson because we drove 30 minutes and she was sitting wet waiting to go in the pool. She walked away and came right back and said sorry there wasn't. I said that was unacceptable because her instructor was there but they gave our time slot away. Bottom line, we had a contract that ended on 9/5 and she canceled it, without asking us, on an earlier date. Didn't even contact me after so I wouldn't drive all the way there.
The contract states this : Memberships Fees will not be pro-rated or refunded if officially ending a membership prior to the last class of a month; however, remaining class fees can be credited to one's swim school account upon request.
It clearly states here that I should have been charged for a month and then I had the option to have the remaining classes credited upon my request. read more
