Massachusetts Gymnastics Center

My daughter has been attending Mass Gymnastics in Waltham for two years, and we’re finally going to stop. The administration is awful. Emails and phone calls are always unanswered. Staff are rude and unprofessional. The place is dirty and smells horrible. The staff are unhelpful, and turnover is very high (although my daughter says her current female teacher is very nice; however, this teacher was absent several times this session without any explanation why. We never know who the substitutes are or what their qualifications are). Mass Gym allows an unbelievable number of students to attend classes, and the place has become a complete zoo, unlike a few years ago. During a recent end of year show, we personally know several families who literally could not find parking spaces, and they literally missed their children’s performances!!! There is no air conditioning, which makes it unbearable when it’s warm out. I would not recommend Mass Gym to anyone :-(So sad.

I’ve been bringing my girls here for a few years. The staff is friendly and the kids really learn. It’s a bit expensive but you get value. The teachers are great with the kids and push them to do their best. It smells bad and is pretty noisy but all in all a great place!

I have been very happy sending my daughter to Mass Gymnastics in Waltham the past year and a half. She is still in the preschool classes but has really done a nice job with the direction of the coaches. The coaches seem to stick around and get to know the kids that come through the programs. Even if we move to a town with another gymnastics center, I would probably continue to send my daughter and now son to this location. Recommend highly!

My son’s been taking classes here for 3 years, so obviously we are fans. There are only a few reasons that I gave it 4 stars instead of 5:
— You have to be selective in your teacher– some are awesome, a few are just okay.
— It can be chaotic and very busy; after school and on weekends, there are multiple classes going on at the same time. If you are doing younger kids’ classes during the day you can find quite small classes or large classes. Look around at different time slots.
— The building needs to be updated. It smells like stinky socks and old pizza. It could use a paint job. The equipment floor seems to be well maintained.
Overall, it’s a great gym– and if your child gets into it, they can stay here for years, unlike places that cater to just preschoolers.

Pros — The classes are age appropriate & they really are teaching gymnastics skills at early as the pre-​school class. My little one has been in it for the last 2+ years (since she was 3) and loves it very much.
Most of the coaches are excellent. Very knowlendgable, warm, encouraging, and enthusiatic. I say ‘most” because some of the younger, college-​aged girls do not seem to have the control or authority over the classes they way some of the main coaches do. You can see the difference in their instruction, their lack of focus (may just be experience in teaching) but overall, a solid staff.
The staff at check-​in are warm and welcoming. They make the kids feel like they are part of somethig special. Doc takes special pride in remembering as many names as possible. That’s impressive given how many kids attend this place.
Cons — if you need to talk to someone in the main office or if you have a billing question, they rarely return calls or respond to emails, even after multiple follow ups. It’s very unprofessional and frankly, frustrating.
The cubby area for clothes and jackets for the kids is pretty filthy.
The Saturday classes are chaotic, and they definitely feels like there is a favoritism thing for kids who can attend weekday classes vs weekend classes. If you are able to have your kid attend on weekdays, do it. You’ll get better attention and assistance overall than you would on the weekends. They also seem to do more activities with the weekdays kids (Halloween dress up w/​preschoolers but they didn’t do it for the Saturday kids).
Overall, if you enroll into MCG, make sure you request your kid to be with the head coach for your age level. Your child will build a foundation of skills transferable to other sports as well as build confidence in their ability to manuever their bodies in new and exciting ways.

My daughter is in the preschool class and the first few months have been a great experience. The little ones learn real skills without pressure. The class is 18 – 20 girls and boys for the opening stretches, and then they break into smaller groups of 5 –6. My daughter attends with her best friend, and they are always allowed to stay in the same small group.
My only criticism is that the waiting area is always pure chaos. There are classes ending, classes starting… it’s too small, noisy, awful, and poorly lit. There aren’t enough chairs for the parents who are waiting, so people wind up standing or sitting on tables (preschool classes are 45 minutes, so mostly it’s not worth doing a drop-​off). But since my daughter has a great time, and this was literally half the price of the other gyms we looked at… two thumbs up.

When I decided to enroll Princess #1 in some kind of preschool gymnastics classes we tried a bunch out first. (Most places offer a one time trial class visit free.) We ended up going with MGC, and we weren’t disappointed. We picked them because:
1) they’re a real gymnastics training center (unlike places like My Gym) so if she really got into it she could continue on there indefinitely
2) the staff were really friendly and really good with kids
and
3) they were the cheapest by far.
Their early preschool classes are for ages 18 month — 3 years old, and the parents stay with their kids for the whole class. My daughter started just before she turned 3, and it wasn’t a problem being with kids much younger than her. And it also wasn’t a drawback that she started out so «late». She caught up to her age level quickly.
Over the summer after she turned 3 I signed her up for a few of the older preschool classes, which the kids do without parents. My daughter was still too clingy to handle that, so we aren’t continuing for now until she’s a bit older and more independent.