After 8 years as a customer I've decided to go elsewhere. My daughter went thru the program…read morewithout many issues. My son, however, has been slower to learn. After the 3rd time taking the same class, I was denied the "swimmers guaranteed". Which states that if your swimmer repeats a level 2x they will be offered assistance the 3rd time. If they have to repeat the level a 4th time, it's is supposed to be "on us". I'm being told that because two of my sons attempts at the level were "camps" ie 4x a week for 2 weeks and 4x a week for a month, that I didn't qualify for extra help in his 3rd go round because "camps don't count" and likewise the 4th "on us" session per the technicality. I have been at the school for numerous turnovers that have directly affected the quality and consistency of their programs. I have never once complained. Now, when my son is struggling, I have been shown no understanding or treatment like a valued customer of 8 years. Shame on you.

We have been attending swim classes for several weeks now. I wanted to allow some time before I…read morewrote this review, because an over-estimate for a restaurant and somebody has a bad meal. Overestimate a swim teacher, and somebody could drown. I feel confident giving Foss 5 stars. We have had several teachers over the weeks for various reasons and almost all have been really great. Julia, Jennifer, Dayonara and Jeremy have all been fantastic. My kids have made such great progress, it is mind blowing. They seem a little pricey but there are options to keep costs down if you can be flexible with your schedule. And frankly, all swim schools may be pricey now, I have no idea. It is always clean, and safe. Everybody is in such a good mood. A great environment for kids. Highly recommended.

I have been looking for adult swim classes near me and I came across this place. I thought of…read moretrying it out. My first trial class with Jason (adult swim instructor) was amazing. In my 30 mins time - I made a lot of improvements and I was very happy. After the trial, I decided to take up a 6-month membership which includes 2 classes per week (overall cheaper). My only wish that if there would be a weekday option then it would be great.

Mr. Noah is an outstanding swim instructor. He has greatly helped my son get over his fear of water…read morethat happened after a previous traumatic event. Mr. Noah really connects with his students and my son trusts him. Thank you Mr. Noah for all your time and patience with you have with him. You are his favorite!

My daughters took a swimming classes for about more than 3 months. They liked instructors and…read moreplace, but wished more than 30 minutes. Place is decent, not cleanest, classes are overcrowded to only for 30 minutes. Kids are waiting to get turn to swimming about more than half of their time. 3-4 kids per classes only 30 minutes not enough to learn!!! They cancel a classes but they always offer makeup classes.

My kids love that place, instructions are very friendly and engaging and kids always have fun…read morelearning new skills. The facility is clean and inviting and it's never been crowded when I was there. The manager Sveto is always there for us, ready to answer any question we might have! Overall highly recommend this place to everyone who wants their child to start feeling comfortable in the water and swim like a dolphin.

Gina B. is an excellent swim instructor! She is warm, patient, kind, and made our infant feel…read morecomfortable during her very first swim lessons. She was always punctual and came prepared with toys and equipment that made each lesson engaging and fun. Her sweet personality and calm energy immediately put both baby and parents at ease. You can truly tell she loves working with children, and we're so grateful for such a positive first swimming experience. Highly recommend!

Gina was amazing with the kids. She spoke in their language, made it fun, got them to swim and look…read moreforward to their lessons from day 1! It was awesome to have the kids learn in our pool too as this made it super convenient to have the lessons- 12 lessons, 3 a week over one month and both my kids are safe swimmers now- my 6 yo can do all strokes independently and my 4 yo who was terrified- is now comfortable swimming independently in floaties, floating on her back, putting her face in and blowing bubbles, and practicing it all with little assistance.

Bear paddle swim school is amazing! Friendly and kind staff but specifically coach Becca is amazing!read more

My 5-year-old daughter has been enrolled in Bear Paddle for about 5 months now, and everything…read moreabout it has been AMAZING. She is very sensitive and had strong aversions to water when she started, but the teachers helped her feel at ease, slowly introducing her to the water and letting her go at her own pace. Thanks to their excellent and responsive teaching, she has mastered skills I thought would take years in just a matter of weeks. She LOVES swimming now and feels so proud of everything she is learning. And as a mom who also loves swimming and highly values water safety, it's such a reassurance to know she is in good hands. My daughter is also sensitive about male teachers, and when I called Bear Paddle to request female teachers only, Mona was SO kind, empathetic, and accommodating. She reassured me that this is a totally normal thing to ask for and that they were happy to help. Every time we've spoken to a staff member, they have been generous and helpful in finding us class times that work for our family, getting us on wait lists, etc. I can't recommend this swim school enough!

It's a very fun place my friends and I both agree our kids love this place, our kids beg us to come…read moreall the time!

Last year, I decided it would be good to start running. I hate running, so I needed somewhere good…read moreto go on colder days when I didn't feel like running in the streets. One of my friends told me to check this place out, which was only a couple miles away from me. She loved their classes (she did Yoga, Pilates, and some kind of ab class) and thought I'd benefit from their facilities, especially the track. Although the Centre has a membership fee for the machines & classes, I was able to use the track for free since I was a resident (at the time). That was all I needed. I loved it! The track was clean and never too crowded. I don't think a lot of people realized what a gem this place was. I went at different times during the day and enjoyed running quietly by myself or alongside my husband (he came with me a couple times). Lockers are also available next to the track with keys. I also walked around the Centre and saw two nice pools, climbing wall, new & clean machines, and several rooms for classes. The only downside is that the parking garage is kind of narrow and you have to watch out for cars coming around the corner. It's hard to find parking sometimes, but at least the garage is attached to some kind of indoor bridge over the street so you don't have to walk across the street. I also came here once for some kind of green festival and really enjoyed all the displays, booths, taste samples, art, and petting zoo! Many parts of Elgin are really run-down but this is one part of Elgin that shines. If it wasn't for the Centre (and the library nearby), I wouldn't have been complete.

They talk about how they always keep their pool temperature so warm. However, our kids were…read moresubjected to frigid pool temps on three occasions. They were so cold I had to pull all out of the pool within 10 minutes of starting lessons due to the shivering they were experiencing. Enough was enough so I canceled. Now I'm being told it was a known issue but parents and swimmers were not told of it prior to entering the pool. They are still charging me for the coming month despite freezing my kids without proper warning of a known issue. Beware of their contracts and know they hide issues letting your kids be the ones to have to freeze.

I'm very impressed at the level of safety, professionalism, and training at this swim school…read more Safety is the number one priority to me for swimming. The teachers, though seemingly pretty young, have been trained well to follow procedures to make sure each child is safe. I've been told what some of the safety procedures are and have witnessed the teachers being very attentive to each child while in the water. The kids have a little platform in the water at the side of the pool where they wait for their turn. And in the younger classes, there is another platform they can stand on at the other "side" of the pool. For younger classes, the other "side" is only a few feet away. The teachers here are also trained to assist children who are uneasy/crying/shy. Multiple times when my child didn't want to go in the water, another teacher came up to us right away to help him get in and feel comfortable. They are trained with kids too and know how to be initiative to kindly take them out of my hands to get in the water. There seems to always be more staff than just teachers and the life guard, so there's always someone to help in times like this. I love the flexibility here. You get 12 makeup classes for the year, and you can let them know even one minute before class that you can't make it. Then they give you a virtual token to makeup the class at any other time you were free. We've been doing a lot of makeups, and because of this the teachers change, but my kids don't seem to mind because there's a system of things they do in their lesson that they are already familiar with. They also offer events for members on some nights for free swim and other activities. And they also offer family swim days at certain times of the week. Free for members on some of these days or a small fee for other days. My 7 year old learned how to swim in about 5 months here. We had a few weeks we missed and had a few breaks in between too. He's now swimming with his head underwater by himself for the whole width of the pool. Thanks Goldfish!

Although the instructor at this location seems very personable and invested in teaching kids to…read moreboth love and be motivated to swim, the BSS management at this location is terrible! After a swim assessment, I followed up with THEM to figure out a lesson time, only to be told they could not accommodate us. Now we are in a situation where our other option only has a wait-list!

Ms. Cherise has been amazing with my kids. She pushes them a little more every week and they've…read moreprogressed so much with her. They love going to swim class!