Ms. Sue's Swimming

"Great place to know your child has learned how to swim. They post a progress report every day after the class except Friday so the parents can see if their child is going to fail or pass. The classes are a little full, but my kid likes having that playmate. Great family environment, especially on Friday family day."

"I hesitate to share this just because it’s not their fault that my kid absolutely hated the lessons, but I do think that it didn’t meet my expectations so I want to make other people aware of what to expect. First, the website mentions another guy that helps Ms. Sue. When I read the website, I thought he may be assisting her teaching, but he was the main teacher of the class. I was frustrated because I wanted my kid to learn from Ms. Sue, and I even coached him on the way in about what his teacher’s name was. I also struggled with the fact that he didn’t build any rapport with the kids before he started teaching. My child wanted to tell him about his swim bag that he was so excited about but he didn’t talk to any of the kids before he started teaching. The only option for a bathroom is a portapotty, and I didn’t see anywhere to change clothes so we had to wear our wet clothes home. Your only option for registering is to mail your form and check, and you only know if you got in if your check gets cashed which just caused me a lot of stress leading up to it. The pool is pretty small for holding lessons. There were probably another 8 families or so in our class and we were all in the shallow end due to it being PAC. So, it was tight. The third thing they taught - after asking to get in the pool and jumping up and down in the water - was blowing bubbles with their mouth under the water. My kid was not ready for that so quickly. The only parking is 3-4 spots by the garage, everyone else has to park across the street in a gravel lot. I didn’t feel like I had a lot of communication going into it so that I would know all of these things in advance. Also, the classes are not offered on Saturdays, so it just wasn’t a good match for our full-time working family with an early bedtime. We left in the middle of the first session because my kid was having a meltdown over it, and we were ruining other people’s experiences. No refund is stated on the website, so we paid $80 for 30 minutes. I went despite a negative gut feeling from the website because I heard so many awesome reviews, but we’ll go somewhere else next year. Also, one of the policies is that parents can’t watch, but you have to sign a release form understanding that your kid could drown. I wasn’t super comfortable with that and only signed because with PAC I would be in the pool. I wish I would’ve known more about the logistics of the facility and class before signing up."

"We have attended Ms. Sue's Swimming since my oldest was about 18 months old. He is 9 1/2 now. We went from a kid who refused to leave my arms through 2 PAC classes, and who then went through 2 preschool classes and complained every day, to a kid who just passed Level 4 and loves to be in the pool! My youngest is also loving his swim lessons. Yes, the younger classes are full, but there are several lifeguards around every class. We love being able to let our boys have their class and we wait until Friday to see what they have learned. It's a great setup for my kids who would not want to perform while I am watching daily. We love Ms. Sue's and recommend her to every one we know."

"Classes have 15 kids (3-5 year olds Lvl 1) in them and then kids are passed/failed. Parents are not allowed to watch until Friday and then told their kid would have to repeat with no explanation. How are they supposed to learn when they can’t even move anywhere without people being on top of them. This is all just one big cash grab. Do not recommend."

"I tried Ms sues swimming last summer for my son. Unfortunately we wasted hundreds of dollars in lessons and fuel driving an hour to and from. My son did the level one and two and didn’t pass the level 2. I was not aware at the time of sign up that there was a pass/fail scenario. When I learned to swim as a child everyone learned and there was no pass or fail. This tactic is good for business but not for children as my child cannot swim still after spending a lot of time and money on lessons. Now going to try the YMCA. I don’t recommend this place."