Almaden Community Center

First, the positives. The facilities are clean and modern, and the staff is friendly and interested in helping customers. The library is among the most well appointed of the San Jose Public Library system. Parking, although a bit crowded at times, is sufficient. There’s some benefit in any case (fitness-​wise) to walking through the parking lot to the building. Finally, as an «Active Adult», i.e. senior, I find the Morning Stretch class perfect in intensity, and Tess, the instructor, is a joy and very engaging.
Now, the not-​so-​positive — and there’s really only one that I’ve experienced thus far. The seniors who attend the class, as well as the daily lunch, congregate and associate in cliques that are quite impenetrable to new members for long periods of time. (Think of cliques at high and junior high school.) Unlike arrivals in residential neighborhoods who are typically greeted by existing residents, new members at this community center are generally not greeted by established members — and, in fact, are implicitly expected to reach out to them. The reception is chilly at best. The experience was rather surreal to me.
In summary, five stars for the Almaden Community Center’s physical setting and facilities, but no more than one or two stars for the welcome and inclusiveness (well, the lack thereof). But for the latter, it would have easily qualified for five stars. Unfortunate.

Dance Fit classes are Amazing!!! Shellie has this happy bubbly personality. She talks you through each move, shouts out the muscle which are affected-​can you ask for more? How about that she knows you by name! In 10 weeks I lost 20 pounds. I went to class after dr recommended I find someway to exercise. I started at the end of summer. I hate to exercise-​but I love to dance– so faithfully I went to class– when too tired I would march in place until I caiught my breath! I really exaggerate Isometric moves. Then one day a woman in class came to me and said «you have lost a lot of weight», I stepped on the scale and was blown away-​20 pounds had dropped. I now manage food portions naturally. Im in it for the long hall of 30 more pounds. People have been in her class for 3 years plus! Friendly environment. Young moms and Gram’s are shaking it. Shes reminds me of trainer
Denise Austin, positive friendly encourager.

I really like the GroupX classes at almaden. The instructors are just like friends and the group of women who come every week are like a workout family. It is a very close knit group of people, which is just the support people need to get fit.
My only problem is sometimes they update the facebook page very last minute about instructor absences or not at all. The communication lines are kind of disorganized, but everything else is great.
The facility is clean, new, and the bathrooms are always spotless.

I can’t believe that they have a café inside the community center! They even have Dip in Dots, one of the best ice creams in the world.
They have a gym, dance studio, a fitness room, and a big community room for different types of parties or events.
They also have an affordable Group X classes.
The bathrooms also have nice showers that you could use after a long work out.

Facility is okay, they had an unpaved walkways for quite some time. The men’s basketball is ran pretty shitty. You can definitely feel the favoritism. Although the team I root for (bf and the guys) didn’t even win one game… Lol. Without a doubt the competition and real and you’ve gotta be playing ball semi professional to keep up with these guys. With that said, refs and the staff joke while the game is going on (screaming, laughing, etc.) they don’t even know how to work a damn shot clock, it’s pretty pathetic. Overall, they place is whatever, but filled with people who are not respectful, whatsoever.

I just started GX program here, and Really love it! Only 29 $ for month and you can take every GX classes as much as you want :-)
It would be even better if they have more classes,(because they have about 4 classes a day) but price and facility is superb!

I am reviewing the fitness center. I’ve been coming here for a while now and feel I can review the facility properly.
It’s clean. The equipment is always in working condition. They have a decent assortment of free weights, some exercise bikes, ellipticals, plenty of treadmills, stair climb machine, and a couple of weightlifting towers. The staff is very nice and it’s always the same people in the fitness area working out. Not a lot of people crowding so you can usually use equipment with little hassle. The aerobics/​dance studios are very nice. Overall the center itself is beautiful.
My issue is with Group X Classes. Their Group X evening classes change ALL OF THE DAMN TIME. To the point where it is annoying. I originally joined for spin class. Two weeks into it, spin class was cancelled. Then I tried another class, which was cancelled after two or three sessions. Decided I wanted to try Yoga, but that was cancelled before I could try it and they can’t seem to tell me if or when Yoga would return. I tried Zumba and HATED it with a passion — the instructor leads the class as if you came out of the womb doing Zumba, so if you don’t know what the heck you are doing, the class gets boring, frustrating, and you either don’t get a good workout or you get injured trying to execute the moves. Clearly part of the problem is that the class is too crowded for the instructor to help those who need it or break down some of the moves, or she doesn’t care/isn’t paying attention… Either way, it was not welcoming for a Zumba newbie. Basically, the classes you expect to be standard may not be there for long, or will go away, come back again, go away again…
The days and hours of operation are a little restricted as well. No Saturday afternoon, no Sunday, closed on ALL holidays, etc. Not a huge issue for me but might be for someone else.
Anyhow, the morning classes are more consistent and they have more offered in the AM versus PM, so for those who want to come in the evening and have access to a ton of classes — forget it. I signed up for a year with my eye on spin class and was immediately pissed about the spin class cancellation. But I was locked in to the contract. Take note if this is something that might annoy you.
I have not decided if I will renew when my year is up. The price and location are great for me, but I might opt to pay a little more and have classes and access that are meet my needs better.

GroupX courses here are so affordable! $ 30/​month for unlimited GroupX courses? Ten minutes from my house? I am SO there.
While the quality of the classes vary, there is a good variety. Courses include power pilates, restorative fitness, bootcamp, zumba, yoga, u-​jam, and cardio power sculpt.
My favorites are the courses taught by Lori, Diane, and Jill. They give you an awesome workout, they have lots of energy, and are clearly very gregarious women dedicated to you getting in shape. However, their classes fill up fast — like before the start time fast so make sure to get there extra early.
I also really love the community aspect of the GroupX classes. You see the same faces everyday, and you become friends with everyone in the class. It becomes a very uplifting, personal experience.
Note: courses are almost entirely women.
They also have pickup games of basketball at noon in their excellent indoor court.

I am reviewing the classes for toddlers/​preschoolers. We started taking Time for Twos when my child was two and while he didn’t really love it, it was a good way to introduce a classroom with mom still around. Time for Twos is a mommy and me class. We’ve also taken mommy and me art classes here before too. I believe it’s more affordable than other places (ex. Gymboree) but still lets your child get some socialization.
We’ve also taken Tiny Tots now called Time for Threes and Fours which is a two hour preschool class, drop off. I wish it were longer because it’s only two hours so I can’t get much done in that time with driving times. We would love it if the Community Center would have longer classes but it is what it is. And it’s been this way for many many years.

This place is horrible. Very inefficient and the people don’t even know what they’re doing. You can try to ask them a few simple questions like when the place closes and they’ll be like, «um, you’ll have to ask my supervisor.» And where is the supervisor? Apparently unavailable so how am I going to know when it closes?! The staff is really rude as well.

The Almaden community center and library is nice, open, airy. Parking is sometimes hard. Staff is very helpful. Has many table tennis tables that seniors play on.

The front desk needs to be trained a lot more.
also, the Director needs to listen to a parent who has a concern about the instructors.
The Director seems to have a very non interested manner in paying attention to a concerned parent over the way a teacher handled an incident in the class.
This is unacceptable for a COMMUNITY CENTERED organization

We LOVE our community center! it’s nice and clean and very friendly. My 2 kids are taking classes at this place. The Tiny Tots is a super popular class with Mrs Kriss. it’s simply the best for the price and also — they do an amazing job with the kids too! My 3 year-​old daughter loves it so much — she is crying when the class/​semester is over. We sign up for the following semester every time, and when we have to wait for 2 weeks or so for the new one to begin, my daughter is driving me crazy… she loves it so much, she is asking about it every day. I highly recommend this place for any of your needs, the library there is beautiful too. New and clean.

ACC is a great facility. have been a Group X excercise member for a year. Huge fan because of varieties, available schedule, great instructors. Can take as many classes as you want. Love Loris’ classes the best. It is the best deal for $ 39/​month.

I have really liked all the classes I took at Almaden Community center. The teachers are great. I have to say the management at the community center is not so great. I have had to wait for staff to unlock the facility or room (they were late). I have also found the staff is not always knowledgeable about all their programs. I ended joining the YMCA because of the bad management at ACC.

I used to play basketball here for a long time while living in San Jose. Saturdays and Thursday nights were alway good days to run. They used to charge $ 3.00 to get in but I thnk that kept most of the riff raff out.
Occasionally you would get some really good young talent in the gym mixed with veteran players which made for a fun day if you could win game after game after game.
Rules changed from time to time 3 wins then you sit was interesting. Every now and then some idiot would try to start trouble but it usually got squashed pretty quick.
Just did not appreciate some players who would hack all day long and not really know they were fouling. Luckily growing up no blood no foul helped deal with these individuals.
Every now and then I would use the small fitenss center for cardio and weights. Most of the time I would just hoop while the gf would work out in the fitness center.

I have joined Almaden Community Center’s group excercise schedule. I am loving it. They have about 20 different classes for $ 50. And they had an early bird discount which was just $ 39. So far I have been part of core workout, bootcamp, pilates, zumba etc. Yes, there have been few glitches here and there but I will still raise my glasses for these guys ‘cos it costs so much lesser compared to all the other fitness centers.
My fav is the Zumba, the instructor Aimee Buffum is amazing. I am not sure where she gets all the energy from. When fall started, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my fitness routine which has been mostly outdoors. But I really applaud the center for starting such a great programme. The instructors are pretty good and its totally worth it.

Since I hit 30, I felt I was way too old for booty shaking at the clubs, and honestly, I can no longer blame things on the alcohol. With that said, I signed up ballroom dance lessons for me and the hubby, since I still love music and dance.
We went yesterday, not knowing what to expect, as it was at a community center. But when we pulled up, we were so pleasantly surprised. The center was HUGE, and had a library attached to it. Inside, everything was brand new and modern. They had a full indoor court basketball, real dance studio, art rooms, gym, etc. Everything you could want in a community center. Last time I went to a community center was back in high school at Hank Lopez, during the breakdancing days. This was nothing like that. It’s like comparing Story Road to Los Altos Hills.
The dance studio was beautiful, with a wall of mirrors and bars to do those leg things on. For an 8 week dance class meeting once a week for 1 hour, we paid $ 80. Last night we learned how to 2-​step and waltz. My hubby, a reformed gangster Korean with zero rhythm was able to remember all the steps, keep up with the class, and overall have a great time!
We will be taking more classes here, and we will be recommending it to our friends. It’s a great way to keep the relationship fresh. Next time… cooking…painting…yoga…pilates…even bollywood dancing… the options at Almaden Community Center are endless. :)