The big "pro" here is convenience: there are a lot of lesson times, classes start and end promptly, and misses lessons can be made-up (with advanced notice). However, I don't recommend this swim school because in months of lessons my seven year old has made no progress in learning to swim. She still won't even put her face in the water. I am aware that there may be a range of abilities among kids, but it's reasonable to expect some progress. And, if my kid were having particular issues preventing her from learning, someone at the school should have talked to me about it, which has not happened. read more

Overall as far as lessons go they're ok. This is my daughters i believe fourth class & so far she's still being taught how to close her eyes & hold her nose underwater..... she's having fun so that's cool. What I completely disagree with is how they charged me for one class 3/30 +the membership fee $27 (totaling $49.75) THEN charged my account the monthly fee of $100 beginning 4/1. The monthly & membership fee is understandable (other than the fact they never tell you how much the membership fee actually is in the policy). It's the charging me for ONE class on 3/30 that actually was canceled on their behalf & was rescheduled for 4/1. Why would am i being charged for a class i didn't attend? Why doesn't the policy state that you'll be charged/ billed separately for the first class attended of X amount of dollars regardless if it was actually the first of the month + billed monthly the same day/week? I never actually even got to attend the classes 3/30??? read more

Goldfish Swim School - This is the billing policy - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

I honestly really really loved taking my baby here! We moved so we had to transfer to a different location but we definitely miss going to this location. Our teacher was Lauren and she was amazing with our baby!!! They really set the standard for a great swim class over there :) I am grateful for the time we were able to bring our baby to class here, thank you!! read more

Goldfish Swim School - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

I would leave zero stars if it would be possible. Total rip off. They claim lesson is 30 min....well, most of the time kids are just sitting at the edge of the pool looking at the instructor emerged in the water or at the other kid. Simple math if there are 4 kids wich is their limit it gives you 7.5 min in water per kid. But not always. Sometimes it's less because instructor is "teaching" them some things being in the water while kids are not! And all if these for $30 per lesson. I videotaped everything to have proof how they fool people. Just in case.... read more

My daughter has been swimming with goldfish for the past two years and we could not be more thrilled with the program. The program build confidence and is structured with specific skills at each level to really build a strong foundation for swimming. My daughter started when she was two and I appreciated the emphasis on water safety, at such a young age. They can even start younger, if you want to go in the water with them. All of the teachers are great (we have had several with make-classes, which they are amazing with flexibility if you can't make it to a class and you can get a token for a make up), but we do have a favorite, Ms Esperanza. Her energy is so encouraging and she has a passion for teaching these kids. Swim days are my daughter's favorite day of the week because she gets to swim with Ms. Esperanza read more

Clean facility, plenty of class times available; my kids enjoy getting swim lessons here. Parking can some times be difficult weekday nights and not enough dressing rooms at this time either. read more

This is purely a money making operation that crams the most number of kids in the pool with no interest in teaching them how to swim Here are some reasons why you want to stay away from this swim school for your kids - 1) each class has 4 kids and the class duration is supposedly 30 minutes. Lessons effectively start 5 minutes past hour and kids are asked to leave the pool at 25 minutes past the hour. So if you look at it, average hands-on time with your kid is just 5 minutes. It's $25 for 5 minutes of lessons, makes no sense! 2) They have one of the narrowest and shortest lanes I have ever seen in a swim school. There is no room for kids to ease into the stroke and before they do, they hit a hurdle. The space where Glider1's learn is less than a 8x8 area. There is no way kids are going to be able to learn in that crammed of a space. This is clearly done to put more kids in the pool and make more money. They definitely aren't thinking about how comfortable the kids are in the pool and how they'll learn in a cramped space 3) The swim instructor keeps changing every week. With this, instructor has no clue about the strengths and weaknesses of your kid. There is no effort on a tailored approach and with weekly changes, the instructor no idea about what areas to focus on. read more

My son has been attending Goldfish for over a year. I'll start with the positive. There are a handful of really good instructors that I've encountered. Also they are flexible in accommodating make up lessons. Pool is heated, bathrooms are clean. Most class sizes are small, we've never had more than 4 kids in a lane. Now for the not so good. Cost, it's not comparable to other schools in the area. Changing rooms fill up quickly! The managerial staff hasn't been empathetic to my concerns. The response time lags and there isn't any real attempt to accommodate or correct issues of concern. The turnover rate is HIGH!!!!! My son has had probably 6 or 7 different teachers since starting in July if 2017. I've explained to management the for children who don't adapt well to change AND aren't necessarily confident in swimming this creates a issue. My son has anxiety about swimming which is one of the reasons I decided to get him lessons. After almost year of being in the same level class I had to speak up. I pulled on of the mangers to the side and expressed all my concerns. The constant changing of teachers. The inconsistency of being notified when a change was taking place. Even the fact the when my son had make up lessons with other teachers he progressed in one session & when with his regularly assigned instructor there was little to no progress taking place. I had to have this conversation 3 times before they had someone work one on one with my son the progress him to the next class. Now that we are in the next level the same thing is happenings he's working on what was apparently and issue from the last level. Then why was he advanced?? Even after sending an lengthy email expressing my frustrations and contemplating removing my son from the program NOTHING. They send surveys via email asking for feedback... no response. Honestly I don't know how much longer I will allow my son to attend. At this point I want him to stick with it but not at the expense of wasting money. Him still dreading going every week & lack of consistency from staff. Overall I would NOT recommend read more

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Update: Sigh. They just don't care if your kids learn to swim, ever. They probably hope they don't. I almost gave a three star review, but that implies something better than what this is. It's a racket. They move the kids so slowly that they will always need more lessons. Hundreds of dollars wasn't enough. Thousands might not have been enough. I don't know how much it would take, at the slow rate of progress we saw when we returned for a fresh start, a year after our first try. I still like the pool, though. I like it a lot. It's warm and pleasant, and I love the showers. That's why I'm tempted to give a third star. I wish they would extend their family swim hours; family swim is truly worth paying for, and economical compared to a pool membership elsewhere. read more

I am extremely disappointed with this Goldfish location. I experienced shady business practices and poor administrative training. When I signed up I clearly stated our end date and even reiterated it several times to ensure I was only paying for specific dates. I also reiterated our end date in-person to someone at the front desk. Never did anyone mention a document that needed to be signed. We stopped going on the day I had indicated, and yet I continued to get charged. When I called to complain the following month, I was told this was my fault as a 30-day notice is part of the contract I signed. I believe they intentionally omit this information to scam clients out of more money. Find another swim school that treats families with respect. I'd recommend Aqua-Tots in Horsham. read more

I used to love bringing my son here - but now - not so much. The quality of the teachers has gone down. There is little consistency between teachers. Very difficult to get a time that works with schedules. I would almost say they do this to get more money from families. My son can do the freestyle stroke - I know because I used to teach swimming. But because he doesn't do it "their" way - he stays in the same level week after week - month after month. I keep him here so he doesn't forget his skills - but dan wait until summer when he learns the American Red Cross method - which I think works best. read more

My daughter Madison (7) and son Miles (3) love it here. It is clean, the teachers are amazing and really work on the skills they need to improve. My daughter has been here for about 2 years now and she has had a bunch of teachers and she loved all of them. When I see people complain about turnover with teachers, that is in any place. Out of their control. Thank you for giving my children a safe place to learn to swim read more

My daughter likes to go there but I can't stand its policies. I have had problems with their policies and that's the only reason my daughter is not going back there anymore. 1) There were two times that she was sick and I forgot to call to cancel and they refused to give me a make up class. They said "We can't put it manually anymore." However, there were three times that I called to cancel my daughter's class and THEY FORGOT TO PUT the make up class in her account, and I called back complained stating that they forgot to do their job and they said they were going to put them in." They lied because you can go back and put the make up class manually. 2) You can only miss 12 classes per year and you must keep track of them. Who has time for that? And they don't tell you until you cancel another class, and they say you can't receive a make up class because you have missed more than 12 classes. So my daughter already canceled 12 classes within this year, so whatever class she misses from now on (until February), we can't get a make up class which is $21.00. When i signed up my daughter, the employee said " your daughter can miss more than 12 classes." read more

I can't say enough wonderful things about Goldfish! We attended the Fort Washington location, and things went so well with the jump start sessions with my son that we ended up enrolling my daughters in the sessions as well. I can't believe how much progress that they all made in such a short time! All of the teachers we had did a good job, but the instruction definitely varies based on who you have. I feel it's especially important to give a shout out to Mr. Lawrence in particular. He actually had all three of my kids at different times, each for a week over the 4 weeks we did sessions. While he wasn't the only one who had all of my kids, his performance really stood out. He was extremely interactive and fun with the kids, which in turn fueled their enthusiasm for class. They were excited every day to go back and see him, which I believed helped them to progress faster. I also feel it's important to mention the kindness I witnessed from other staff members. One of the pool deck attendants (whose name I sadly didn't catch) was so sweet, patient and kind to a little girl who was struggling with her lessons. She got down to her level, reassured her, hugged her, and sat with her on the edge of the pool until she was ready to rejoin the rest of her group. She was amazing and handled the situation as I would have wanted my child to be handled. Mr. Mike also deserves a shout out for his constant enthusiasm and encouragement of kids he wasn't even teaching. The only minor complaint I have is that there was one girl who works the desk that just seemed like she didn't want to be there. She wasn't completely unpleasant, but compared to the rest of the staff, her negativity really stood out. All in all, it was truly an amazing experience for our family and I would highly recommend the program to anyone who asked. read more

My 5 year old son went to a previous swim school and was not making any progress. He would cry and never wanted to go. He hated swimming and had a slight fear. He wouldn't even take showers at home (only baths). We decided to give goldfish a try because I wanted him to learn swimming skills and get over his fear. Right away we knew this experience was going to be different. Mr. Lawrence really helped Mason gain the confidence he needed. Every week my son is improving. He actually looks forward to going to swimming and is excited. He is slowly beginning to take showers at home as well. It makes me so happy to know that he feels confident at Goldfish and that we didn't give up on swimming. read more

I am beyond thrilled with how much my 5 year old has progressed at Goldfish since switching from another center about a month ago. At our previous swim school, he was doing nothing more than floating on his back (and supposedly not mastering) class after class. So when he actually swam a short distance on his own during his very first Goldfish class, I was ecstatic. A month in now, he is swimming longer distances on his own and even swimming to the bottom of the pool to collect rings. He loves it so much and his teacher is wonderful. I love that the parents come in to talk to the teachers at the end of every class. And that a certain number of classes can be rescheduled. Could not be happier. Will be enrolling my daughter now too! read more

Not bad. Better than the local Y for swim lessons. Can get crowded at times. If screaming kids bother you, you might want to have the SO take the kid(s) to the lesson. Or suffer through it like I do. LOL. read more

If you're considering swim lessons for your kids and can afford the slightly higher price than a typical pool, this is it. Amazing facilities, excellent instructors, and very good service. Hardly a bad thing to say. Bring your kids here, they'll learn how to swim, really enjoy it, and you'll get 30 mins of quiet time in their very nice waiting area. Win win. read more

The teachers are very patient and make my son feels like he is doing a great job every week! In just a month, I've seen how much more comfortable he's become with being in the water. read more

We have been going here for about a year. I cannot say enough great things about Goldfish Swim School. The facility is amazing. Everything is top notch, clean and inviting. The staff is amazing. They get to know the kids and really encourage and teach the kids. If I could have put 6 stars I would. read more

The teachers are awesome. We have been coming here for a few months now. My daughters are doing so well!!! I can't wait to put my son through the classes. This place is clean and I love how the showers are inside the pool area. I highly recommend this place. read more

We are so glad our kids went here for a party. We were so blown away by their friendliness and attention they payed to the kids that we joined that day. Our kids 5 and 7 are no longer scared of the water and are now swimming little goldfish. Kacie up front is the best too. read more

The pool is nice for kids as are the dressing rooms, but the rest needs works. The instructors are kids themselves who are more interested in playing than teaching. Plus, they put too many little kids in one small lane and cater to the ones that are crying. The lessons start late and end early. The parking is terrible too. Try Swim Fast through Carbini, West Chester or any other college that may offer it. My daughter was swimming in three days. She was at Goldfish for months and never learned but she did have water poured on her head. read more

I found Goldfish after seeing them featured on Fox29 a few months ago. I called that day and had my son signed up for lessons that very week. My son had taken lessons previously at the local HS when he was a toddler and did not want to go back for more advanced lessons. But he loves Goldfish--the classes are small and the water is WARM. He's really progressing well too--he's already moved up 2 levels and that's a testament to the great instructors who are always patient and encouraging. I only wish there were a Goldfish school for adults :-) read more

We have been coming to Goldfish for over 6 months now and I cannot say enough good things about this school. First let's start with how clean the facility is...I am not afraid to have my daughter walk on the floor in bare feet, everyone is always pleasant and helpful, all smiles. Also a big perk...I don't have to squeeze into my bathing suit and get in the pool...it is just the kids and the instructors. Also the ratio is 4 kids to one instructor...which is great! My daughter, who is 3 years old now, started in infant rescue swimming but did not look forward to going to those classes, so I was worried about coming here. My daughter absolutely loves coming here and tells everyone when she's going! And I have to mention Kacie, she is by far the best teacher...now I'm biased because she has been working with my daughter for all but maybe 1 week. Kacie is always smiling and laughing with the kids, she makes sure all he kids are comfortable...she builds trust. She encourages all of the kids and some are on different levels of learning but, she always takes her time and never loses her patience. This school is amazing and I'm so glad that we signed her up!!! read more

You guys are amazing and you work miracles in an unbelievable amount of time! I will sing your praises from now until kingdom come. My children are enthusiastic swimmers and it is only because of your school. read more

Switched to goldfish swim school recently and couldn't be happier. The facility is wonderful and clean, staff is friendly, and most importantly you're paying for your child to actually learn how to swim and be safe in the water! read more

We love Fort Washington's Goldfish! I can't say enough about our experience. Our son moved through each level at good speed, working up to swim force in a three year span. We also used a couple Jump Start clinics in the summers and found the times really flexible for our schedule. Initially I wondered about the age of the staff members but each week they continued to surprise me with their ability to teach the skills and keep our son interested. Our son says his favorite part was working with Mr. Kenny! We liked this location so much that we continued to come after moving to Exton but recently decided to leave due to the travel time/school year. read more

I made the mistake of contacting the school for more information a few weeks ago. I have now received several phone calls on top of multiple emails per week. After I received the first email, I responded back and asked questions. That email was never answered, but I continue to receive generic emails and calls. read more

Our daughter has been in lessons since July and we LOVE IT! She has grown so much and even though she is still young we can see some progress especially in understanding water safety. We take the Mini 2 Classes right now so a parent/guardian is in the pool with her, We can not wait to see what progress she will make as she gets older! I HIGHLY recommend this place! read more

This was our first summer to introduce our two daughters under 4 years old to swimming lessons. While they enjoy playing at the beach and pool on other years this was the first time to have them in a class setting. My 3 1/2 year old enjoyed her 6 week class with her teacher and would tell me what she learned. At the end of the 6 weeks she was a lot more confident putting her head underwater and leaping into the pool into someone;s arms. My 2 year old and I were in a mommy and me class and while it started out great the first 3 weeks, it was difficult towards the end because my daughter all of a sudden feared being in the water. We kept coming to the classes and the instructor was SO helpful and called my daughter by name with confidence and sensitivity. My daughter enjoyed seeing her every lesson despite the change in confidence. my 2 year old learned how to crawl out of the pool and the crab walk around a vicinity of the pool. Another fact that I loved about this place is that the water was a mix of salt and chorinated water. read more

If you're thinking about signing up your child for swim class, you have to consider Goldfish. The facility opened in May 2015 and my daughter (22 months at the time she started) began lessons then. We just moved her from lessons with a parent in the pool to her going on her own. She goes 1x a week and she really looks forward to class and I've seen improvements in her swimming skills. I appreciate that they focus on safety aspects and explain why they are doing certain skills for this age group. The staff is AMAZING. We are partial to Ms. Kacie, she's a fan favorite in this house. But, whoever you get will be a great teacher and they all follow a curriculum so you can see progression. (they have a binder at the front with their photographs and fun facts!) I love the facility, always clean and neat with plenty of changing areas and bathrooms. There's a blowdry bar and a swimsuit water extractor which are big hits with my toddler! Reasonably priced and sure beats the swim lessons I had taken her to in the past. read more

"Goldfish Swim School has been an amazing experience for our family. My girls have been getting lessons for over a year now and have made great progress with their swimming. The teachers are very good at getting the best out of my kids. They encourage them to keep trying and have been very patient to help them learn. My kids can't wait until their next lesson. The facility is also amazing! We are thankful to have this school near by." read more

Wonderful staff. Clean and user friendly. A lot of staff in and out of the pool. Excellent at returning emails and calls. Friendly and helpful staff. read more

Customer service is #1. My kid cannot wait to come. And the company is super easy to work with. And my kid loves to swim.

This place is amazing. Our 3 year old son started out basically water-phobic. This is the kid that SCREAMS bloody murder when we attempt to wash his hair in the bathtub. With summer coming up I felt really anxious about his ability to be safe in the various bodies of water we will surely be around. Anyway, he cried and screamed "MAMA!!!" the entire first class but the teachers were incredible and didn't skip a beat - they still continued with the lesson and encouraged him and even got a few smiles. They are all clearly very prepared for kids melting down, haha. Second and third classes were only a few tears and by the fourth he was happy to go in, super confident and SO proud to be putting his head under water!!! All the teachers are incredible but Ruth has really stood out to us so far. We all look forward to class each week - the facility is wonderful and has finally made swimming enjoyable for our son. I only wish your school was closer to home and we could come more than once a week! read more

The entire experience is fun, convenient and designed with families in mind. Love the private dressing rooms, warm water and even the tropical decor - but most importantly, the classes are well-run by great teachers and I've seen a real difference in my daughter's swimming and comfort in the water. She never wants class to be over! read more

We enrolled our 2.5 year old son over the spring/summer and he LOVED Goldfish school and so did we. The facilities are excellent and the staff is professional, friendly and great with the kids! We will continue to enroll in Goldfish to keep our son's swimming progressing read more

I have 3 children ages 6 and under and it's ESSENTIAL that they learn to swim/be safe in the water as early as possible. I had my oldest in swim lessons at the Ambler Y a couple of years ago (when he was 3), but I did not see much progress in the 9 months he had them. So we stopped and I figured I'd try again when he got older. I've had my 2 boys (6 and 3) in swim lessons at Goldfish since May 2015 (when they opened). My youngest (3) was petrified of the water and cried thru the first couple lessons. Now, just a couple months later, he is happy and confident in the water and learning how to swim! He's like a totally different kid - it's awesome!! My oldest could not swim in May and now he can tread water for 45 seconds! This has been an awesome experience for us and such an enormous relief to me to know that my kids will be safe in the water. I can't wait to see where they'll be next summer (we're keeping them in swim lessons all year long). Also, the facility is immaculate! And everyone who works there is very nice and professional. I love how you can watch your kids during the lesson and after each lesson the instructor reviews how your child did. They're so comprehensive and very professional. Best place in the area for swim lessons. read more