Goldfish Swim School - Rockville

"Our daughter loves learning how to swim at Goldfish and is progressing quickly! Thanks to the patient and knowledgeable staff. We're amazed at how well and organized Goldfish is operated, too!"

"Overall, the program seems well run and my son has been progressing for the four months he has been enrolled.  However, the classes are not 30 minutes, they are 25 minutes, and the marketing should probably ethically and perhaps even legally reflect this detail.  For our recent 9 am Sunday class, for example, the kids are welcomed into the pool promptly at 9 am but the class actually starts closer to 9:02 am once everyone is in the water.  On the back end the class ends usually at about 9:26 am so there is time for turnover and the 9:30 am classes.  Upon receiving an autogenerated feedback request I submitted the following about this issue but did not receive a response, which is not positive. On the other hand when I offered other unrelated constructive feedback in person I received a good response. Feedback to franchisee described above: I recommended advertising that your classes are 25 minutes vice 30 or build in some time in between class sessions to actually have 30 minutes of instruction.  In addition, in my son's recent class, he was teed up to do a new drill (gliding and floating on his back) for the first time and then the whistle blew at 9:26 am and the class was immediately dismissed, which prevented my son from doing that new drill.  I recommend finishing the last pupil's drill when the whistle blows instead of just abruptly ending the class no matter what is happening."

"Been great for our 10 year old granddaughter for about 9 months now, she was confident in the water but has now learned new skills and strokes. Very friendly and helpful staff too."

"My girls have been going to goldfish for over a year at this point. Today, My eldest (who has a hard time with change) was extremely resistant to entering the pool with a new teacher and a new swim lane!. Her original teacher, Devin, was down on her level talking to her when he saw her upset and he came from the front desk, he wasn’t even on the pool deck and he came to talk to her. Taylor (another teacher) saw what was going on, knew her by name and stepped right in. She was receptive to the suggestion of me exiting and her handling it and before I turned around the tears were going away and she was in the pool. These teachers have a level of care while in the pool and even when the child is hesitant to get in the pool that is amazing. I can’t tell you, as a parent, how much that means to know your child is well cared for. My Stella is thriving in swimming and goldfish and their teachers are incredible! Grace is 3 and has been going to goldfish since she was 2. Sebastian was the first teacher she had at her first ever class at Goldfish and she adores him! She even asks about him outside of class! Grace has a new teacher now and Today, while in her class, she got scared and started to cry. She has an on and off fear of being underwater and not having the fail safe of an adult nearby. Sebastian, who wasn’t even her teacher today, saw her crying and he was there to talk to her and took the time to what I can only assume was reassure her of her own abilities. I watched this interaction and realized that my 3 year old not only listened to him (which is saying a lot because #1 she’s 3 and #2 she is incredibly strong willed) but she trusted him. She gave him a high five, got right back in the pool and then I saw smiles from her. I am thankful for such an amazing teacher who sees her and her fears and works to overcome them on her time. He’s encouraging to her and as a parent I am grateful. Goldfish is just an outstanding swimming school. I would recommend it to everyone and have."

"After having a friend recommend this school because her daughter had so much fun and was learning so much, I decided to do the free trial class for my son since he loved water and seeing how long he could hold his breath under water, but didn't know how to actually swim. We did our trial class in May and have been enrolled ever since. My son has so much fun in class and has learned a ton in the past few months. He had to use the floating bar to help swim across the pool for a few weeks and now is swimming across all on his own! It's amazing to see that much change in such a short period of time really. I was nervous as to how much could he really learn in a 30 minute class once a week, but obviously my fears were squashed by how much he has retained. The instructors he's had (two now since he has advanced to the next level) have been great and are very good at keeping the kids engaged in class. You can see how much fun they have while teaching as well. And just sitting and watching the other instructors, you can tell they are all equally as happy to be teaching and seeing the kids progress. I never took a swim class myself growing up and haven't been to any other swim schools for a comparison, but I would recommend Goldfish to anyone who wanted to get their kiddos in a swim class to learn basics and beyond! **This photo I included was during our trial class in May. He would NEVER let me teach him how to float and he just hopped right in and floated away like he'd been doing it forever. Now he does it unassisted and can even swim backwards on his own. "