Shoreview Community Center gets 5 stars! I went in not expecting much but I was blown away by how…read moremuch fun there was. The waterpark was the highlight. That waterslide with the lights and music? Awesome! It's a one of a kind experience. Beyond the waterpark the playground was also great. It's not your average playground; it's big, well designed and has tons of opportunities for kids to explore and play. What really makes Shoreview Community Center stand out is the community. They offer so much more than just a pool and playground. From the fitness center to the skatepark they have created a space for all interests and ages. It's clear they have invested in making a valuable resource for everyone.

What an amazing indoor water park for the family! We went here for a kiddos birthday party. The…read morecabanas are in Bamboo Bay area vs the main pool area. Bamboo Bay is much louder than the main pool area due to the fact it's more enclosed and there are sprayers with lots of water all over. The lifeguards do a great job of keeping their eyes on the kiddos cause it can get very very packed in both pool areas and kids of all different ages including adults too! The bathrooms and lockers are great and all facilities are pretty new and kept clean. I do love the spinner to spin clothes after swim time... As a side note, if you're like me and just hung out with other parents while the kiddos swam...it can get very very hot and humid so dress accordingly even in the winter time!

I'll update my reviews since some of their policies have changed…read more They allow make up lessons now if your kid is sick! As a parent, this really helped relieve some of the stinging of the sticker shock. They started taking teacher consistency, more seriously, and I think it is made a huge difference. No more cycling of teachers as much. It's a warm pool, warm locker room, and Good curriculum where your kid will make progress. There's lots of repeating of levels, but that's true at any swim school. To avoid that, you just need your kid to have tons of pool time outside of lessons. They have a few family open swim times a month but not a lot, you almost need a gym membership with pool access such as at the YMCA in addition to foss lessons if you want to avoid repeating lots of levels. It's still crazy expensive, but you get what you pay for. I have yet to find another swim place that can produce the results that Foss can.

We faced the daunting task of teaching our son to swim. He likes to splash around in the pool with…read moreus holding him, but swimming is something different. We came to Foss as it was highly recommended. First off, it is hard to even get in here. They announce their courses (a slate of weekly sessions stretching over a couple of months) and they almost immediately fill up. It's like buying Superbowl tickets. I think the reason is that not many places have a curriculum of very organized, structured, swim teaching programs like Foss. The prices are reasonable, too. Our little guy was a bit scared the first class (groups of 4-5 kids plus 1 parent per kid), but we kept going and the teacher kept working with him and now he loves swim class and even dances around in the lobby when we get there. The facility is clean, well maintained, etc. and the people are super friendly. I highly recommend Foss for teaching your kids to swim.

Our family has been going to this Foss location since January 2022, when our older son is 3 years…read moreold - he is now in Big 4 class and is very comfortable in the pool. Our younger son has been taking swim lessons at Foss for the past year and has become more comfortable with swimming in the pool. Our experiences with Foss have been good overall - the team there has done a good job addressing challenges that have come up.

Horrible experience verging on traumatic for our two year old. Coach Aaron in particular is intense…read moreto the point of inappropriate and completely unsuited to teaching little kids how to swim - more than once I saw him shove a sobbing toddler under the water head first. Take it from me - spare your kid and go elsewhere for swim lessons.

I recently relocated to the area and moved my kids to this Foss location. We are happy so far…read more Plenty of parking out front, and the staff are friendly on your way in. The changing room, stalls and bathrooms are very clean. The instructors are great, we have had 2 different instructors and both have done well to get our kids swimming and participating in class. I have heard midweek evenings are very busy, but we go very early on weekend mornings and find that to be busy, but in no way is it overwhelming.

This place is so well run, it's always clean and their teachers are all exceptional. They are…read moreextremely knowledgeable in teaching children and their system is top notch. Bravo to the team and leadership of Foss.

The address that is listed with this is currently wrong - these lessons take place in the Butler…read moreBuilding on the St. Catherine University campus in St. Paul's Mac-Groveland neighborhood. We've had a kid in the summer swim sessions (there are three sessions a summer) the past three years. I love it because the teachers are great (I assume they are St. Kate's swim team members), its well organized, the facilities are nice, and the kids learn a ton because they go every day for 2 or 3 weeks rather than once a week for eight to ten weeks, which is what most swim lessons are like. It seems like the learning is stronger with the every day method. I've continued to be extremely pleased with the program, and plan to continue to have a kid as a participant for many summers to come!

We enjoyed taking classes here at Foss. A lot of the staff were great. The two major pitfalls are…read morehow crowded it is. Granted the "classes" are about 3-4 kids average but the classes are all at the same time as everyone else and in a small section of the lane. This is not conducive to learning for the other pitfall, the overstimulation and inability to accommodate children with special needs. Trying to learn to swim in a loud, busy and crowded pool is daunting. No dig at the staff, they are doing the best they can given the circumstances presented. Maybe Foss can carve out some time and space for kids with non-neurotypical or special needs.

I have never been so frustrated with a business over something that should have been incredibly…read moresimple. My daughter is 2 years and 10 months old. I registered her for a FOSS swim class and FOSS had her date of birth during the registration process. Their system allowed me to enroll her, accept the registration, and take my payment. We showed up for her class today, only to be stopped at the door and told that she was too young because the class requires children to be 3 years old. If the age requirement is truly mandatory, why did your registration system allow me to register a child whose DOB clearly showed she was not yet 3? Why was my payment accepted? Why wasn't the registration rejected or flagged at the time I signed her up? I was told someone had supposedly called us earlier today to warn us. We received no call, no voicemail, no text, and no other notification. Regardless, waiting until a family physically arrives for a class before addressing an eligibility issue that was already apparent from the child's registration information is unacceptable. I also asked FOSS to show me the written policy stating that this specific class requires children to be 3. I could not find this requirement on the information available to me, and when I asked for clarification and requested escalation to management/corporate, I was essentially given nowhere to go. Their customer-service chat has refused to provide a corporate contact or meaningful escalation. This isn't about wanting special treatment for my child. It's about basic customer service and accountability. If your system knows a child's date of birth and allows a parent to register and pay for a class, you should catch an age restriction BEFORE the family shows up at the facility. We paid for a service that FOSS accepted our registration for, made plans around that class, and showed up expecting our daughter to participate. Instead, we were turned away at the door and then couldn't get a straight answer or a way to escalate the issue. Very disappointing experience, and based on how this has been handled, I cannot recommend FOSS Swim School.

Well, this was a surprise. Fabulous indoor park for kids, the grands had to be literally dragged…read moreout. Climbing, slides, tubes, giant Legos. And only a $10 admission for the park only. (There is a pool on the premises but it is not a water park-type of pool experience.) Lots of parking outside and places for guardians to wait inside. Tons of kids of all ages and I noticed that the older kids were very gentle and caring for the littles. It was nice to see. Bring your own snacks and water. There is a robotic vending machine for $4 water the kids loved. Great for a rainy or snowy day. Follow it up with a visit to Dave and Buster's down the road at Southdale. (That's how we got them to leave!)

This place is AWESOME! I decided to get my boys (9,5) out of the house and they had a blast! They…read morehave already been asking when we can go back! There is free parking. Walk in and pay the fee for the kiddos. As of Jan 2026 it was $10 a kid with unlimited time. Parents/guardians are free. There is a large park towards the end of the building! It kept my kiddos plenty busy! There is seating for the adults. There is also a gym space for kids to run, balls to play with, mini basketball hoops and items for the little kids to push ride on! There is also a pool to do laps and a gym with equipment, but I'm unsure if those cost extra. You can do birthday parties here! Check the website for additional information!! They do have 2 spots where you can get snacks and picnic tables to eat! Overall this was a very solid experience and we will happily be back!

I am transplant from the other side of the river and absolutely love living in this neighborhood…read more Obviously the perks of this park requires a list so here goes: - The old water tower gets opened up during Highland Fest and in the fall for the fall colors. Once you climb the many stairs, you are treated to an amazing open air view of the surrounding area. The planes at the airport look like toys landing and taking off and all the colors just pop if you time it right. When open, it is only on the weekends. - Two golf courses. On the 18 hole, the 15th hole has a sand trap done up like Snoopy (zoom in on link) in honor of Charles Schulz once being a caddy. The 9 hole across the street is much hillier and is that way because a lot of it is the dirt from the construction of I-94 back in the 60's linking the two cities. http://goo.gl/maps/ZnXbz - Cross country skiing. Both course become x-country ski havens in the winter with even one of the courses having trails groomed. There is also a sliding hill by the water tower which gets packed after a fresh snowfall. - The Pavilion (and many other shelters) can be rented for picnics. Many a fine Booyah's, a fine upper midwestern treat that you need to have once in your life, are served here by neighborhood groups doing fund raisers. Bring a tupperware container to bring some home if you'd like. People will be there with empty ice cream bucket containers for the good ones. - The swimming pool. St. Paul has a few pools now that utilize sphagnum moss as a major cleaning process. Amazing water and you don't come out smelling like a chlorine factory with your hair turning a different color or your eyes burnt red. It's fantastic. - Frisbee course. While I don't understand the layout, many people do and it is always getting used. - Just walk around in the park or on the paths. Towering oaks, deer, fox, willow trees, hills and hidden stairs. This is really an old park and a gem in the city. Even the playground equipment has been updated in the last few years.

The pool facilities are excellent at the Highland Park Aquatic Center, and lots of updates since I…read moreenjoyed swimming here as a kid have really made this a very entertaining destination for kids of all ages and adults too, but the way it's run leaves a lot to be desired unfortunately. There was plenty of free parking and lots of shade available on the pool deck, but during the 4+ hours we spent there (2 adults, 3 kids under age 10) I didn't see one adult worker anywhere-just lots of teen life guards and workers. Also, the pool and deck rules are very unclear, sparsely posted and inconsistently enforced, so we found ourselves breaking all kinds of secret, nonsensical rules only the lifeguards seemed to know about (and we definitely weren't alone). Then, when asked to clarify how what we were doing was wrong, we could never get a clear answer and the lifeguards were often rude and dismissive. We were also given contradictory information from 3 different lifeguards about the same rule! We figured things out for ourselves quick enough and learned which lifeguards really could be consistent, so in the end we had a really good time, just be aware when you go that it's on you to figure it all out, not many of the staff will be helpful (even in matters of safety) at all. Lastly, the admission cost is a little steep ($6 per adult, $5 per kid under 48" tall), and even though they give a little break to families, it's not like you're getting all that much bang for your buck. Also be aware that no outside food or drinks are technically allowed--which I understand to a point, but this is also not listed online or posted officially anywhere on site which is annoying and inconvenient, especially since the concessions are mainly very overpriced junk food. So it would be nice if they offered some healthy alternatives like fruits and veggies rather than more processed, packaged, sugary junk for sale. If that's not possible then just let us bring at least those things with us? With little kids it's not easy to drag them out of the pool, back to the car for a healthy snack--which we ultimately did only to be harassed exiting AND re-entering by the overly enthusiastic little "teen bouncer" at the front gate even though re-admission is permitted as long as you're wearing your wristband. Like I said earlier though; ALL the rules at this facility and how they're communicated and enforced are very inconsistent to say the least! We resolved that if we return we'll just smuggle our own snacks in since they that's what we observed most people doing anyways! The bottom line: you can have a great time in the pool and the facilities have a lot to offer people of all ages if you take some of these tips to heart, learn how to work the ill-managed "system" of rules and their teen army of enforcers, advocate (and think) for yourself a little, and just basically ignore the incredible inconsistency that truly rules here!