We love Ms. Palacios and Palacios ATA Martial Arts!…read more Our first grader started taking taekwondo (TKD) lessons from Ms. Palacios one day per week in his after-school program at Magellan International school. We were so impressed with the resulting positive changes in our son, we soon had him attending additional evening and weekend classes at her studio on South IH 35 between Wells Branch and Howard Lane. He's preparing to test for his 3rd belt in just a few weeks and TKD has become a huge part of our family life. The gym space in a North Austin industrial park is nothing fancy, but it has everything a TKD student at any age from 3+ needs to progress, especially caring, knowledgeable, and motivating instructors. While Ms. Palacios (5th degree black belt with 20 years of experience) is the owner and primary teacher, there are several other advanced black belts on staff (all of whom have undergone background checks) who take turns leading different aspects of each class. Further, during each class, students at all belt levels are challenged to take on responsibilities and lead small groups of others below their belt levels, a great way to foster leadership skills. Beyond the fitness, self-defense, and discipline aspects of TKD, Ms. Palacios emphasizes academics, leadership, and good citizenship. She even teaches bullying prevention at local schools and incorporates many of those lessons into her TKD classes. Another thing we love about Palacios ATA: they offer summer and school holiday day camps for elementary school ages. These camps aren't just about martial arts and character building, but also offer other fun activities like tumbling, inflatables, and popcorn flicks with a good lesson. I've been so happy with the positive experience for our child, I'm now considering taking up lessons myself. When I do, I'll update this review with more info on the adult TKD beginner experience at Palacios ATA. Note: this business has another listing as ATA Blackbelt Academy, but it is the same gym as Palacios ATA. I've asked Yelp HQ to merge the two pages, but that may take a while to happen.

Sending my son to Palacios ATA is the best thing his dad and I have ever done for him. He's grown…read moretremendously over the past year since we started. He's more respectful, he listens better, he's more confident and focused. He's also getting stronger and learning how to defend himself should he ever need to. Master Palacios is just phenomenal, as are all the teachers. They are amazing at connecting with the kids and teaching them lessons in the moment when something comes up. I really can't say enough great things about Master Palacios, her staff and the community at Palacios ATA.

Tri-star is amazing! Great place and hardworking people. Can't wait to ride here!…read more Kathy does an amazing job of selecting the right horses for each job, whether it's for the trail rides or for lessons. I happen to ride at the Spicewood location but the horses are ridden both places and it is great to see that the horses get a change of pace sometimes.

Pay for boarding, many horses leave as Nina on the farm yells at family, contradicts herself, has a…read morehand problem and moves your stuff out of rooms with out consent, I've never seen so much of my stuff broken and unsafe materials around horses. I have a sign up to leave my horses mask on due to her eye and Nina keeps taking it off creating eye infections for me to pay for and blaming me and almost lost my horses eye. The disrespect and lack of care and communication is horrible business. There's no accountability and to allow a narcissist like Nina to ruin a farm and hurt animals is insane. I wish this farm all the best - they need to keep the care of animals and communication #1 which has been a struggle for years & no change.

We adore this place and the people that work there! Such a fun selection of pieces to paint and we…read morealways make new friends!

I've been coming here for two years now to paint pottery. The prices are well priced compared to…read moreother places and the staff is super helpful if you need any help or advice on your pieces! They fire the pottery pretty quickly too, I wait about a week for mine to be done and it always comes out great.

My daughter absolutely loved this camp and Skylar Bossen is such an amazing camp coordinator. We…read morewill definitely be returning.

We've been testing out several summer camps around the N. Austin area and I have to say, Neuron…read moreGarage (Avery Ranch location) has been the absolute best. Hands down. My kiddo has had some challenges with socialization, but he's blossomed & become the confident kid he once was. The camp director, Robin, and their staff are so caring and fun. They even share great tips on mindset growth via email with parents. We're a little sad this is the last week, but we'll be back next summer. We can't wait! Big thanks to this awesome team!

Review of Early Childhood Program (ECP):…read more We have been members at JCC since 2017 because of ECP. We have had our three children attend the program and have loved being a part of the ECP family. When our first son was in the "3's" year, they offered to put him in a class with older 3's and give them a pre-k curriculum and he had a huge advantage when starting official pre-k at our local public school. Our youngest started even earlier and lived through Covid during his 3s and Pre-K year. We chose to keep him at ECP Pre-K rather than public school because they handled Covid so wonderfully. Because of this, we felt even safer sending our third child there as a baby! I cannot say enough good things about the staff, teachers, and administrators. We saw a change in directors after a couple years and Shereen is such a kind, gentle, patient, and loving director. I see this flow from her through the rest of the staff. She knows every child's name, shows care and concern for all the families, and seems to be awake at all hours to answer questions and give information to the families! I was always shocked at the information she would share to us during Covid at all hours of the night and then be at school bright and early greeting each kid. She seemed to have such ease at being flexible and focusing on the kids and this was clearly modeled and copied by the staff. The teachers we have had have truly been amazing. Our kids are kind because of how they were treated every day at the ECP. They are given wonderful structure while also given the space to make their own decisions and find their own way. The staff is made up of an array of fantastic individuals - some Jewish and some not - and they love the kids fiercely. We watched as our kids learned to perform in front of an audience, memorize prayers in Hebrew, learn the kindness of good deeds and giving, learn to write their name, count in various languages, express their feelings, and become individuals. They also understand developmental stages and helped with napping, toileting, feeding themselves, and learning age appropriate skills. The variety in staff meant that our kids were exposed to different ideas and cultures. I love that one year my son was learning a lot of the Jewish culture and also learning to speak Spanish. My daughter learned to ask for personal "space" when she was 2! They have a great structure during the school year and then incorporate more outdoor play in the summer. Our kids were able to have water play and swim lessons in the summer. ECP coordinated with other programs to expand the kids' activities. And though ECP is a year long program, the littles begin to see how things can be different in the summer. It was also nice to see that the teachers got a break! As each of my kids have grown, they love going back to see their former teachers and be praised and give hugs. As I walk through the school at the end or start of a day with my daughter, I am shocked at how EVERY SINGLE STAFF knows her by name. It is a big school but they all take time to know the kids. They each answer my questions with ease and I always felt that I could trust them to care for my kids. It has been heartbreaking and bittersweet to graduate from this school. My sons have been out of there for a few years and still told me we have to go back to visit. They have such special bonds with their former teachers. While all ECP families are members of the JCC and get to use the great facilities, not all the JCC members know the cherry on top is the ECP. It is my pleasure and honor to get to give such a great review to such a wonderful place that my kids called home for so many years.

Shalom, JCC, Health & Wellness Managers, Robbin T. and Erika C., Robbin committed & Scheduled two…read moreinterviews and no showed both. She never met with be yet asked another manager to ask how much experience i had. I guess 16 yrs in the industry was insufficient and had her insubordinate send the rejection letter stating that they were moving forward with another candidate, yet 12 hours later it was reposted and open. Erika didn't allow me to audition for the open roles is cycle, Barre or bootcamp, instead strength, yet a few days later, rejection letter never allowing me to audition for the REAL positions. She said that there were a lot of strong candidates, 12 hours later, reposted and to this day, it's still open. They don't value meritocracy, rather being overshadowed, laced with insecurity

My son had the best experience! Each day was a unique adventure in Austin. It was a perfect blend…read moreof indoor and outdoor activities. The camp itself is well organized and provides lunch and snacks each day. It's a great camp to meet new kids and hang out with friends. We will definitely be back!

I can't say enough about Camp 512's founders and counselors, Blake Pankonien, Brooke Alkire and…read moreCourtney Rimkus. All are former Eanes ISD elementary school teachers with a love and a passion for working with children. The low staff-camper ratio makes for a special and engaging experience. Each Camp 512 week hosts its own unique and fun-filled theme. The well thought out yet flexible schedule includes exploring Austin favorites such as Mount Bonnell, the Blanton Museum and the State Capitol as well as introduces the children to local food resources, cooking and baking and animal adventures to name a few activities. Guaranteed fun!

My youngest has attended many summer camps at Switch Willo Stables two Summers in a row now. She…read morereally enjoyed her time at the camps and always came home excited to share what she did with the horses. If she could change one thing about the camp, I am pretty sure she would have the campers spend more time actually riding the horses. Even though she felt she didn't get enough time riding horses ( I can't recall the amount of time the campers spent riding horses, but it did seem rather short at the time), however, she is always talking about returning to camp. My one complaint about the camp is that the "counselors" are older kids(12,13 and up) who have been riding at Switch Willo for a while. While I did find some of the "counselors" completely competent, others left me wondering if my 7 years old was more mature than her "counselors", which was obviously disconcerting. Fortunately, I never heard of any dangerous situations ( and I know I would have heard about any if they occurred because my daughter takes her "reporting" very seriously.). All in all, my daughter always left camp happy and exhausted, just the way we want her. ;)

My son and his friend came here for summer camp. They were treated well and the staff were friendly…read moreand the location is beautiful. But for the price of the camp, we wish they had more than 45 mins a day on the horses. At other stables we've tried since my son has had more time riding horses in less than two sessions than he had all week at Switch Willo summer camp.

We had my 10 year old daughter's birthday here and they loved it. They had so much fun dressing up…read morethe bunnies and taking them around to the various play areas. Then we moved to the house where they met a variety of animals to pet and hold. They allowed us to bring all our own food and drinks and had plenty of space for the kids to play. If your kids love animals, this is a great place to have their birthday party.

This place is awesome! She keeps a limit on guests which is great so it's not over crowded.. there…read moreis so much to see and do here we will be back! There is a cute play area along with pens that hold little animals such as mini horses, donkeys and goats.. there is a rabbit home fully decorated with all kinds of things ... houses, apartments, foods, clothes and stations for the rabbits such as bath and diner... then there is more pens with ducks and geese with rabbits and mini pigs.. a small home with fish and reptiles and a tumble room with music and bounce areas for the kids... my daughter and I absolutely loved this place. Very nice. And "Mrs Nature Lady" was extremely sweet, very welcoming. We will be back!!