THE BEST!!!! We absolutely love Sherman Swim School school both our kids are loving their private lessons, which is difficult to find at other swim schools (most in the area are semi-private). They are learning to swim in a positive loving environment and most importantly are becoming water safe. The instructors are taught the same methods for teaching from the owner Steve, so each instructor has the same ways of teaching. With any instructor it may take a few sessions to find one that clicks best with your child. We love supporting a local swim school and as someone who learned to dive from Steve I can assure you his attention to detail, love and care that is put into his programs, and meticulous grooming of the pools and facilities are top notch! Sherman's is a smaller swim school, so you may be on the wait list for a couple sessions before being added. This is because people are so HAPPY with the program! They continue to enroll every session! The negative reviews below reflect the frustration of those who could not be added immediately. If you are in a hurry, maybe place yourself on the waitlist and try somewhere else in the meantime?? But I promise you will not regret choosing Sherman's! And once you are enrolled you will see why so many others love this school too! read more

We love Sherman Swim School! I am an actual customer. My kids took swimming lessons and got to see the big kids diving, and now they are divers themselves. At Sherman, they are very attentive and always looking for ways to help their customers. The pool is perfectly heated, so ideal place for winter/spring lessons. The facility is nice and clean, with seating, umbrellas, and a fine mist for the hot summer afternoons. I highly recommend this place if you want private swimming lessons or diving lessons for your kids. read more

Sherman Swim School is the best! My (now) 8yr old daughter had attended swim sessions over the past few years, and it totally prepared her for her dream of being on a swim team. Her teachers were fantastic and they fine-tuned each lesson to turn her weaknesses into strengths. They made each lesson fun and my daughter always left the pool wishing she could swim longer. I also realize the focus they placed on technique and timing created a solid foundation for her to grow from. She can swim all four strokes, is now a very confident swimmer and having a blast on the swim team. She even tells me she might be interested in diving down the road, and we'll know exactly where to go to learn! It was easy to work with them to schedule days and times to fit what worked for us best (as my daughter's activities seem to change all the time). We could always count on having a day to swim and my daughter looked forward to it every week. In summary, Steve, Laurie and all the teachers are the best. We couldn't recommend Sherman Swim School more! read more

I have a stubborn little kid that lives in my house. He thinks he knows everything. Well, he doesn't know everything. Including not knowing how to swim. This school is great for that stubborn little smartypants in your life. My son had private one on one lessons. The teacher was patient and confident and really knew how to wrangle him in when he needed to be. He was hot and cold with the whole situation. Some days he was all about swimming and some days he didnt want anything to do with it. But with a patient teacher, he was able to get into what ever groove he was in for the day. I was very happy with his teaching and hes become more confident in the water. Hes not a full merboy yet, but we are well on our way. He will be continuing his private lessons this next session. read more

Sherman Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Lafayette, California

Summer swimming lessons at Sherman Swim School have been a family tradition since my wife took lessons there with Bob, and has continued with our daughters under Steve's and Laurie's leadership. Both of our daughters returned each summer for almost 10 years, including diving, established great relationships with their swim coaches, moved up a level each summer, and simply had great fun at Sherman Swim School. One of our daughters went on to become a summer lifeguard at our local high school with the skills she gained at Sherman Swim School. Some older reviews mention difficulties with registration or make-up sessions. We had the opposite experience. Laurie always returned our calls and website sign-up promptly and went out of her way to accommodate our daughters' busy summer schedule and make-up requests. Thank you, Sherman Family, for 2 generations of wonderful swimming memories! read more

Great place to learn to swim and dive. We moved to CA from PA and were looking for a place for our child to dive. After looking around, I decided to call our old coach from PA; he knew of this place from clear across the country and recommended the school. Quite a long distance yelp... If your child wants to learn how to swim or dive, I can't think of a better environment or program to go with. This is a family business and it shows. My oldest child has been diving with Steve Sherman and the travel team for 3+ years and loves the comradely that Steve fosters. My other two kids have started taking diving lessons as well, but don't travel - needless to say they do backflips for Steve. read more

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If you wish to learn, really learn to dive this is the Best. As a former College diver, I have many friends who learned their terriffic skills here. Look no further to the Olympic class divers who got their lessons here.. read more

Hi Steve, Thank you for your thoughtful reply, but some of your facts are incorrect. For example, we never borrowed a towel and only borrowed a swim suit the day I returned it to you because Laurie asked us to make up a lesson with only 20 mins notice. We were not home and we wanted to be flexible with her given how stressed and confrontational she had been about make-ups. Also, you may not witness some of the interactions happening from where you sit at the diving pool, but for example last week when you asked Laurie to warm your drink in the microwave I observed her very irritable and agitated with the young diving member you'd sent over to her. I wish you the best and recommend you try to get some candid feedback from parents regarding your staff. read more

We love Sherman Swim. Our boys, aged 2 and 4 look forward to each class and have come a long way. I was skeptical that they'd learn to swim in 15 min (younger boy) or 30 min classes (older boy) but I was proven wrong. My oldest can jump off a diving board and swim safely to the edge and my youngest is well on his way. The manager is great and we really like our instructors as well. read more

My six-year-old daughter went from not wanting to put her head in the water to enjoying and doing well at her first swim team race in less than a year... whoa. She really looked up to her teacher, who kindly and playfully guided my daughter into having a great relationship with water, and gave her some invaluable confidence with it as well. I'm really grateful. read more

It rocks! They teach kids swimming by having fun. Brilliant. The kids learn to swim while having a great time. read more

I lucked out and found Sherman's, one of the only pools in the area that has an adult diving program! It feels just like you'd want your family run, neighborhood pool to feel. I've had a great time coming once or twice a week for the past year. read more

We just finished a session of lessons and I couldn't be happier. My 5 & 6-1/2 year old son and daughter have had probably 25 lessons with swim instructors at other swim schools in San Francisco and Marin and up until this last session with Sherman Swim School they wouldn't even put their faces in the water, let alone swim. My daughter is now swimming and my son is very close and loves to put his face underwater. I'm truly amazed. Their teacher Tiffany was wonderful, the kids really responded to her, trusted her and had a great time. The pricing was no higher than any of the other swim schools we tried and was well worth the investment for them to be on their way to being safer around water. My kids can't wait for our next session of lessons and are really proud of their swimming achievements...as am I :-) read more

I have a 5-year old and 2-year old and used to take group swimming lessons, but my kids never seemed to enjoy the lessons. When we first signed up for Sherman Swim School, my 5-year old was hesitant with his teacher, Jose, but warmed up to him fast and has made a lot of great progress. He looks forward to swimming every week now. My 2-year old initially objected to swimming but once he saw his brother swimming, he now has lessons with Katy and enjoys himself so much in the water. They teach important skills like not opening your mouth underwater, and how to reach and grab for the wall. My kids aren't super swimmers yet, but they love this school. Registration process is definitely very manual. Every quarter, you can sign up for the next 4 months, and you need to wait for their confirmation phone call to know if you're registered for the next session (each session = 1 month). There was one session that I didn't receive a call and didn't know if I was registered, but that was readily fixed and they called to confirm quickly. read more

This isn't a convenient place if you're looking for a weekend class. They only offer weekday classes which is great for a stay at home parent, but if both parents have jobs, you have to rush to make it here in the evenings in traffic. In the winter, the latest class you can schedule is 5pm which is impossible if you work. Another bad thing is that it's an outdoor pool so it gets really cold in the winter. The water is warm but when the kids get out, they are shivering and freezing. In the summer, it is hot as hell for the parents waiting for the lesson to be over. They offer makeup classes if you miss a class, which in theory is great. But good luck actually getting a makeup class. We were never able to schedule one because they didn't have availability at the time we needed. It's also pretty disorganized and vague in how you can sign up for one. There's a wait sheet you sign but I never got called, ever. And they tell you to call to see if there's availability. Right, because scheduling my child's swim lessons is my full time job. Not being able to get a makeup class is fine but the price you pay here for a mere 15 minute session with an instructor is laughable so you feel cheated when you can't get a makeup class. Having said that, the instructors are nice. So that's why I'm not leaving a 1 star. read more

We had such a poor experience with Sherman swim school. We submitted our pre registration form in person on our last day of my kid's current session. ( Steve was there and we told him so ) Nobody called or emailed after a while we contacted ourselves to follow up and been told they lost our request!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we are therefore waitlisted!! Without even apologizing!! All the time wasted and other swimming classes been already full. I went there in person to talk to someone in charge, nobody was there in the office , nobody ever is actually ( although coaches claiming someone should have been there to help us ) and after hour waiting I went home very frustrated. Not recommending such unorganized place to anyone. No matter how good they teach swimming it IS NOT WORTH IT !! read more

My son has been taking lessons at Sherman Swim School for several years. The coaches are excellent and the temperature of the pool means I can get my son in the pool year round. Highly recommend! read more

My kids are almost 2 and 3 and they are both striving here. I'm so glad I switched them from those mommy and me classes so now they are actually learning to swim. My almost 3 year old was swimming half way across the pool in 6 months before he was even 2.5. All the instructors are great. We have Tiffany and Savannah and they are both simply amazing with the kids read more

The registration process is terrible, because of their communication methods. You can only call in and leave a voice message. They will never pick up the phone. They will then contact you by a separate phone number (which you cannot call or text back) or by email (which you cannot reply to). As a first time customer, we filled out their form and sent it in 1 month prior to the requested session date as they instructed on the website, waiting for an email or call. Neither of those things happened and when I finally got them to respond they left me a message saying we had been put on the waitlist (as if we were supposed to know this telepathically). Then, they made it seem like it was our fault because we didn't include another session request as a backup option (again something we should've known telepathically). So all this amounted to us wasting the summer waiting to hear back from them. I just called and set up a recurring lesson with another company that actually answered the phone and walked me through the registration process. I can only assume they are good at swim lessons because they have been in business for so long with this unprofessional communication/registration system in place. But, we never got to the point of finding that out. My hope is that the feedback will prompt them to change their system. If I hear of them making changes, I'll gladly remove this review. read more

I have seen several swim schools, and Sherman Swim School is by far the best. The instructors are trained very well, and the staff is very professional. Students are taught essential skills while having fun. If you want your child to learn how to swim AND love the water, then I highly recommend this school. read more

YELPING FROM MAUI!!! My 47 year old wife wouldn't even wade in a shallow pool and these guys got her comfortably over her fear of water enough that after just 2 lessons she's snorkeling in the pacific ocean (with a floaty of course). We found them by word of mouth for our daughters (8 and 11). Excellent approach with kids. One on one is more expensive out of pocket, but cheaper in the long run over group classes when you see the improvements. read more

We have had a very positive experience here. The lessons are pricey, but well worth it. I've heard from others that the parks and rec offer lessons, but that their children did not learn to swim. I have been very impressed with the knowledge of the teachers and they seem to really enjoy what they do. My son LOVES LOVES LOVES getting swim lessons here and totally recommend it. read more

Sherman Swim has two fantastic veteran teachers: Katy and Brianna and then a bunch of high school kids who are there for the summer. The classes are expensive because of the one-on-one nature of the teaching. Taking classes there during the summer can be a pain because parking on Carol Lane can be difficult requiring parents to park several blocks away. The sign up process is confusing and unorganized. The office staff has high turnover. And there is no one to to answer phone calls just an answering machine. read more

The owner of the swim school was extremeley disrespectful, rude and unprofessional. I paid in advance for my two children's swim lessons and was forced to re-schedule some of the lessons because my daughter had an ear infection. The owner has yet to let me re schedule the lessons and every time I call she says she's too busy with other applications to schedule my lessons and literally rushes me off the phone. She basically took my money and ran since the lessons were pre paid she could care less if I get re scheduled or not. She never returns phone calls and has been extremely rude every time I have spoken to her over the phone. The owner treats her customers as an inconvenience and clearly does not know how to run a business. I would NOT recommend taking your children here... there are far better options in the Bay Area. read more

I personally had a poor experience with the Sherman Swim School. On more than one occasion, the instructor started late and ended early (the lesson is only 15 minutes!). If you think about every minute is about 7% of the class, so just ending 2 minutes early is almost 15% of the class. In addition, our instructor wasn't able to finish the last 2 classes due to her vacation or trip - Sherman Swim School didn't tell us that when we signed up (apparently they didn't know either about the instructors absence). I know these college-kid instructors (maybe high school?) probably don't realize the customer service damage they cause with shorting a family 'just' few minutes or missing work, but the experience is enough for me to advise parents in my network to just try somewhere else. My Sherman Swim School instructor and interaction with the office was not professional. The owner was fair enough to refund me the last 2 classes that the instructor would not be teaching, but if I had to do it again, I wouldn't use the Sherman Swim School. read more

I love Katy, she is a wonderful swim teacher. Unfortunately the registration process is terrible. I have been taking my daughter there for almost a year and each session you have to sign them up. If you forget (which I have), then forget it. The instruction part is worth three stars but the registration process is awful and gets a 1 star. I stuck it out for almost a year and decided it just is not worth it anymore read more

Solid My kids love getting in the water with the fun and caring instructors here. They ask me every day if they can go to swim lessons. We tried another local swim school and had the exact opposite experience, and both of my kids didn't want to go back because they felt like they were being pushed too hard. So we came back to Sherman Swim School and after just one lesson both of my kids are loving the water again! And they are having fun trying things they wouldn't try before, like going all the way to the bottom of the pool. The instructors genuinely like working with kids and make it a positive experience. My daughter keeps talking about "the rainbow bridge" and all sorts of other games she played there. Sherman seems very hands-on, walking around and talking with the instructors and parents. You can really tell he cares about his school and values that it's a positive experience for the kids as well as helping them learn to swim effectively. I'm very grateful for this place, because my kids are progressing quickly and loving it. Yes, it's expensive, but all private lessons are (as far as I have seen all private lessons seem about the same price.) I also had a really nice discussion with the woman who does phone scheduling and registration and she took the time to explain to me how it's really a big deal for a kid to trust a stranger in the water. The water is often terrifying for children, and it takes a lot of trust to overcome that and get into the pool, and even more to float on your back or try new things. She said it's important not to abuse the children's trust, but rather to make it fun for them and be very encouraging so they keep progressing. I continue to be impressed with this place! read more

I 200% agree with Noah K and had a very similar exhausting "trying to register" experience over the past few years. Clearly for those who actually get into a lesson have a great experience and that's what we had hoped for too, but I got so turned off and felt so ignored and snubbed (repeatedly, that's the saddest part) that I will never be able to recommend it to others nor try again. FWIW, I am patient and persevere so I didn't let the first round get me down. We have two children 4 and 2, prime swim lesson age...and after just moving to Lafayette and hearing high recommendations about Sherman from many families, I tried over and over to register, online, in person, going directly to the school, or even contact someone from the School, or to even hear back. Just terrible experience on all fronts. The registration is simply one that is regrettably terrible for clients/parents. I even learned every in-and-out of the pre-registration process, from a live Sherman employee/person at one point, over the past few years and did everything by the book including a few follow up calls that got ignored. The worst part was that I didn't even get notified after having both my kids pre-registered on the date they said to submit everything for Spring lessons. Sigh. VERY disappointing and difficult to feel good about this neighbor establishment. read more

I never write yelp reviews. But I have to give a shout out to the Sherman Swim School. My 6 year old son loves water but has always been terrified putting his head in the water and attempting any swim on his own. We have had in swim schools for the past 2 years with no success. Two months ago my husband and I decided to try 30 min private lessons with Sherman Swim School. Let's just say in short 8 weeks my son is able to hold his breath under water for 10 seconds and longer; front float face down; arrow glide 5 feet and flutter kick 10 feet and under stand safety and water depths around the pool. He even loves the back float...something you could never do with my son without him choke holding you for dear life because he was too afraid to float on his back alone. LOL! My hat goes off to the school and to the instructors - especially Ms Katy who is the Swim Whisperer. It was her patience, discipline and care for my son that help him progress as far he has. I can't thank this school enough. My son is now a swimmer and he has a true love for water and swimming without fear. If you are looking for swim instruction that provide a good swim foundation for your little one(s)...look no further, this is the school. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! read more

I feel bad leaving a review with 1 star but it's been such a frustrating process. Like other reviewers I can't review the actual swim lessons portion as we never made it that far. I tried to be patient asi have 3 kids I'm trying to register. I emailed, I registered online not once by 3 times and even called. Please please make registration process clearer. I gave up after remaining clueless as to whether or not my kids even had a chance of enrolling. Wish they would just say sorry, no chance your kids getting in this year so we could just move on. read more

Top notch swim school - excellently trained staff and a wonderful place to send your kids.

We've had great experiences at Sherman for the past two summers. My 5-year old twins learned how to swim there. One of my girls is fearless and athletic and the other was afraid to go in the deep water and took a long time to warm up and they were great with both of them! At the end of the summer, the girls were both at the same place with their swimming. The teachers are positive, warm and skilled at teaching kids how to swim. With two kids in lessons over several sessions, we've had nearly every instructor and they're all great! Their lessons are expensive, but we've found them to be worth the price when we consider how much the girls have learned in a short period of time. You'll be amazed by how much progress the kids make in 3 weeks. Sherman has been around for a long time and they seem to have perfected their approach. At first I was skeptical of 15 minute lessons, but I think they're right -- that's about how long the kids can pay attention and really focus. And the lessons are private so the instructor is totally focused on your child. We highly recommend Sherman. We've been happy there. read more

We're starting our 2nd session and our reluctant 5 and 3 year old boys are doing well with Sherman. We had tried a number of other schools, teachers and formats and the program, teachers and frequency at Sherman seems to be working much better than everything else we've tried before. read more

We tried "Sherman Swim School" in Lafayette and after our entire experience, we DO NOT RECOMMEND! this swim school for any one at any level. It is over priced and owner ship is poor. There are a few good instructors but that's it. There are much better swim schools than this one read more

In the 1990's I started diving instructions at Sherman swim school. After a horrible experience during a high dive trick I was terrified to do dives anymore off of the 3m. Between the trampoline "diving board", the splash down "bubble patch" and the patience of Bob Sherman I was able to get over my fear and perform dives off the 3m again! The teaching techniques were above any place we had scouted so it was worth the extra cost. Some of my best memories were developed at this center!!! read more

I have a son who has been taking diving lessons at Sherman Swim School for almost a year now.  We have been more than pleased with our experience, and my son has just loved it!   The lessons are organized, the pool is warm, and there is a hot tub and a trampoline for the divers.  Bri has been very caring for our son, is an astute observer, and gives excellent corrections.  Steve is extremely hard working, always making sure that the families are comfortable by turning on the heat lamps, having the misting system on during the hot days, or asking if there is anything we need.  He is constantly double checking equipment, and ensuring everything is working properly.  We have had no issues with scheduling.  If anything, the schedule has been very flexible and accommodating.  From the moment we came, we have been treated like family.  We look forward to many more years at the Sherman Swim School! read more

I came home to my wife crying. The front desk at Sherman Swim had chastised and yelled at her for scheduling reasons. Listen to this review, the lady running your office phone is ruining the business. The swim coaches are awesome, so that's my two cents. My 3 kids now have me teaching them. read more

My child loooooves her classes and has learned to swim with confidence. I was shocked the first time she walked out on a long diving board 3 or 4 feet in the air and jumped off of it to her instructor. When I saw the look on her face when she got to the wall we were instant fans of the school. read more

This swim school is amazing! We will be starting our second season here with our now 3 year old. She hasn't stopped talking about teacher "Katy" since last summer. My niece also attended lessons last summer and had an excellent teacher. Both girls had so much fun while they learned about water safety and the beginning steps of swimming. read more