Kids First Swim School

There’s a reason this swim school has a poor reputation amongst mom groups. But I was feeling optimistic and gave it a try anyway, however, we won’t be returning due to poor management, low quality swim instruction, and an aging and dirty facility. For the same cost per session you can go to one of the best swim schools in the nation, Meadowbrook, which is more professionally run with higher quality staff and much more knowledgeable and caring instructors. If you’re looking for a local water hole for the kids to get wet and don’t care about much else (including cleanliness), this might fit your needs. But if you want quality swim instruction, for the same price as KFSS, take your kids to Meadowbrook.

I just popped on here to write a review for a different place and notice how awful the reviews were for this place. I’ve been coming off and on since late 2012. I have 2 children now in the program and my sons are Levels 4 and 7. My youngest just passed to Level 4 and he is 6. He spent 5 full session in level 3. Yes, it is frustrating but I can tell you I can see the difference between when I wanted him to pass to level 4 and now. Just because my child is the best out of his class doesn’t mean he needed to pass. I SEE the difference now! The place is old and you can tell. The owner really needs to put more back into the place. But the instruction is great over all vs. price. The staff are really friendly and anytime that I’ve had an issue with anything the Desk person takes care of it right away. I frequently see the manager and have several conversations with her. If anyone has an issue they really need to talk to her. She will handle. I know that for a fact. When I brought up an issue with an instructor she went right out on deck and had the instructor fix the issue. IT has stayed fixed and now my oldest loves Miss Ali.

Well, i was kind of okay with this company for the first 5 weeks my daughter has been here. The branch seems kinda of stinky and dirty, and they are well underequipped as far as changing areas go, but for her level 1 lessons my daughter learned all the activities, so I was forgiving those things. However today we come in and are told that our daughter should go through level 1 again, despite her being able to complete every exercise in the level 1 program. And of course, they’d want us to pay full price for it. So at this point this now seems like they are just trying to milk us for more money, which added to the other issues, no longer makes me very happy with this place at all.

I will never step foot into this establishment again! I registered my 4 year old for swim lessons, she loves to be in a pool but is very timid about putting her face in the water. While I was registering, the manager assured me that they take their time with the children and don’t make them do anything they are not ready to do. I reiterated that it could be weeks even months before my daughter will feel comfortable about going under or even just putting her face in. Again she said it’s fine. So on our first lesson a few days later I am watching through the viewing window you can see that my daughter is acting very timid in the water, she didn’t like the splashing from the other kids. Six minutes into the lesson the teacher takes my daughter off the side of the pool and puts her completely under the water, when she comes up she is crying hysterically, everyone in the viewing area gasped when my daughter went under, it was obvious to everyone watching that she was not ready for this. I went to the door to go in and there was a lifeguard standing there who said I couldn’t come in I wasn’t allowed, I went directly to the front desk where the Manager was, I was furious! I asked her why my daughter was put underwater when we had discussed how long the process would probably take for her to let this happen. She said your daughter must have said she wanted to go under I said I doubt it and I want to go in and check on my daughter she too said I couldn’t. I told her watch me and I proceeded behind the counter and into the pool area. By this point my daughter is crying so hard she is making herself vomit. She was left alone on the side of the pool by herself, the teacher had left her there and continued teaching the other kids. The Manager followed me into the pool area where I was trying to console my daughter and she had the nerve to say you are making it worse by coming in here she would have been fine. Then the instructor finally came over and said that my daughter wanted to go under, my daughter immediately said no I didn’t! You didn’t ask me if I wanted to go under. I took my daughter to the changing rooms, calmed her down and got her dressed, the whole time she asked why the teacher put her under water that she didn’t want to. Before leaving I went to the Manager and asked if I could have the name of her boss and she said no that it wouldn’t go beyond her anyway, the teacher did nothing wrong that my daughter shouldn’t have said she wanted to go under if she didn’t. I asked for a refund and she said no and it is non transferable. I am out $ 80 and when I came home and tried to research who the owners are it is not an easy thing to find. I wouldn’t suggest that anyone takes their children here, they are unprofessional and very rude and don’t have your child’s best interest in mind!

While I generally like what the kids are learning, tonight I was scared. I was helping my son get dressed when another student asked if I was «G’s» mom. She said my daughter was crying and had slipped by the pool. I ran out to the pool deck to see my daughter sitting alone (holding her bleeding knee). She was told to wait there while the lifeguard got her a band-​aid. However, the lifeguard on duty first was bringing in the next class and her instructor was on to the next group. Both employees were focused on the next group rather than the safety of my child and made her wait. After I took her into the office for help — then the lifeguard came to get a band-​aid (he didn’t know why he was told to get it) from the instructor. Both employees knew there was an incident, but didn’t take it seriously. I am concerned that SAFETY was NOT the first priority at Kids FIRST swim school. I have paid ahead for sessions and they do not provide refunds. At this point, I wish we had gone to the Y.

Hmm, no reviews seems like an injustice for this place.
So, I was randomly driving to kill about 20 minutes and decided that I’d never really paid attention to the strip of Rt 1 between 43 and Honeygo. I usually either get off at Rt 43 or get on going north at Honeygo. Starting at Honeygo going south, Kids First Swim caught my attention on the right, so I decided to go it. I’m really glad I did because they were having a December special class — two 30 minute classes a week for 3 weeks for $ 55. What a steal, so I signed my daughter up.
We’re not through that special yet, but we’ve already signed her up for the next session. She’s learning so much and having so much fun, she cries when class is over. Also, a pretty cool feature of having her enrolled in the class is on weekend nights from 7 – 9 there’s family free swim.
The pool area is clean and the temperature nice. The changing rooms are a decent size and pretty clean (only earning a ‘pretty clean’ because I’m grossed out by hair and sometimes there’s noticeable hair on the floor, but this should be expected considering… but still). The bathrooms aren’t fancy, but clean and functional.
All in all, the December deal is what sucked me in and it worked. Now we’re happy customers.