EDITED TO ADD: We did not show up late to the trial class. It was our friend with their own account that showed up late. However, instead of calling me directly to confirm what happened, the owner of this location assumed (incorrectly) and then tried to use that to justify our poor experience. Their young instructor was not safely handling my child and for that reason as well as how unprofessional the owner is, we will not be back. My child's safety( especially in water) is of the highest importance to me. As well as having management who can take responsibility and making positive changes. Today I took my daughter for a trial class. We recently went to the beach and also swam in a pool and I noticed she was a bit nervous about the water. She is 3. I will say the whole sign up process was easy and the front desk staff was very helpful. Our trial class was at 4:30pm. This started off hard because my daughter has never been in the water alone with anyone except me or her dad. There were two instructors and I did explain to both that my daughter was very afraid of the water. The instructor with brown hair was not great with kids and was not very social. When she got my daughter in the water the way that she swung her around made me super concerned for my daughter's neck. You just don't move a 3 year old around like that.. and the worst is she kept splashing water in my daughters eyes which ended up with my daughter hysterically crying and we had to leave 15 minutes into the lesson. read more

Short version: Really happy with swim progress and child's teacher Tim. Included some info about amenities and helpful staff. Only reduced one star due to recently increased class size/reduced swim time (25 minutes for 4 kids is around 5 minutes in water), but can't complain due to how much my kids confidence in water has improved and glad she was able to be in smaller class while she improved then Long version: I really love this swim school-my kid who is not only shy but also a bit anxious about swimming grew so much here with the instructor Tim. Tim is incredibly patient and great with kids. We also did trial with a different instructor before committing and the staff were all so responsive and supportive. The kid my daughter was paired with has some behavioral issues but we manage. Recently two more kids were added to the class and so there isn't too much swim time for a 25-30 minute class-think my kid was in water twice for last class (think 25/4 is pretty much around 5 minutes in water). With that said, my kid now wants to practice swimming in bath-this would have been unheard of before. I think she isn't too far from learning how to swim all on own and it's been a few months-she's been practicing both on her belly and back and now perfecting some mechanics and increasing confidence even more. We are really proud and overall can't complain. For us, we noticed its same instructor every class unlike other reviewers so think Goldfish may have improved our experience based on some of reviews, which I see as a really good thing that they are willing to listen to feedback to improve. The pool seems heated and clean, also great space with showers/changing rooms/bathrooms/hair blowdrying stations/candies/goggles for sale in case you forget, etc. There's large waiting area for parents to watch swimming which is great with lifeguard. They also let you go in to watch your kids progress after every class and hear the teacher's feedback which is great. read more

For swim lessons, I would highly recommend Goldfish. My oldest started in the parent and me (Mini-1) class and is now in their upper level swim team (called Swim Force). Along the way she has had some stand out instructors- some just really connected with her and she is now a better swimmer than I will ever be. The heated pool really helps especially at younger ages. She looks forward to every class. Now I've started with the youngest in the parent and me class, and she is already super comfortable in the water. Its not perfect- we've had a couple teachers who just didn't click along the way, but rescheduling to another class has been fairly easy as needed. Sometimes you get a sub who might not be as experienced, but its just one class. This has been outweighed by the other excellent instructors that my daughters have had. Management has also been very easy to work with and accommodating. read more

Wow an awesome location with a very friendly staff. Everyone will help and very accommodating. The school really cares about your child and the swim lessons are in depth and they make it fun. Not as fun as my kid swim lesson 40 years ago... push the kid in and sink or swim. This is real lessons and lots of fun. The reason for 4 stars rather than 5 is the "faux" pricing deals. If a monthly rate is $114 per month for 4 lessons and a package is $258 but includes a towel and then You say there is $303 in value you lose credibility. A coloring book, goggles and towel are not valued at $65 unless they were gold plated and had an unlimited warranty for wear, tear and messes. Seriously may want to find a new marketing company as your "deals" are more expensive than your regular price. read more

Goldfish Swim School - Reston - Crazy and expensive deals that are not really deals when you add up what you get vs what the regular prices are. - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Reston, Virginia

If your child isn't ready for lessons or is scared of the water I would NOT recommend signing up for lessons as you'll be held to a 30-day cancellation fee (one month cost of lessons). After three weeks of my child not wanting to take part due to fear of water, I was charged for another four weeks without consideration that the team was unable to assist with water introduction. While I understand this isn't fully on the instructors, leeway to rejoin in the coming months would have been appreciated. I am now paying more to cancel that I have for "lessons". read more

We have taken our daughter to swim classes since she was a toddler (pausing during COVID). The staff are all pleasant, educated on swim instruction, and very kid friendly. I appreciate at the end of each lesson that the instructor provides positive and constructive feedback. The Front Desk staff are great as well- very helpful and always friendly. The facilities are also clean! read more

All of the staff at the Reston Goldfish Swim School are friendly and incredibly helpful, very willing and able to answer any questions I've had. The atmosphere of the facility is bubbly and welcoming, great for kids. The instructors and administrative staff always have a positive attitude and are great with kids. Overall, the Reston location is awesome. read more

I'm deeply disappointed with our experience at goldfish. At my son's (3 yr old) very FIRST lesson 5 months ago, he was dipped under water 3 times. They gave him no training or skills to go under water properly, so you can imagine it was quite upsetting to him. When I confronted the manager, they offered 2 one on one lessons with a supervisor to help get my son comfortable in the water again. This helped so I decided to continue. In the past five months, we have had so many different instructors due to subs and turn over, and I've noticed a huge inconsistency amongst the teachers. Some are great while others are completely ignorant of the individual child's skill level. They assume they're all at the same level and that can be hard for a child who is apprehensive being in the water. While my son is much more comfortable and confident in the water, even enjoying his classes, he hasn't figured out how to go under water without swallowing water. At today's make up class with a teacher we don't usually see, she put my son under water so many times despite knowing he was swallowing water each time. I was shocked. He swallowed so much water he said his tummy hurt after class and again during bed time. The teacher even told me "he swallowed a lot of water today." I don't understand why she kept putting him under instead of continuing to practice bubble blowing or pouring water in his head. I am so disappointed - I had hoped for a much more pleasant experience for my son. read more

What an awesome place! Wish I had signed my 6 year old daughter up sooner! Very clean and they thought of everything: plenty of showers, places to change, hair dryers, even the little machine that extracts water out of a swimsuit! The employees and instructors are very nice and patient. The makeup class policy is really fair and makeup classes are super easy to set up. read more

Our son initially had positive experiences with good instructors and gave him confidence to be in water. However, lately this location apparently had a lot of instructors turnover and start to use instructors who can't even act around kids. After complaining twice about the same instructor, we finally hit our last straw when my son was ignored and only in water 3 mins out of a 30 mins session. We cancelled subscription after that. Before committing to a class, I suggest you should observe how the instructors interact with kids and whether you are okay with your kids getting only 1/4 of 30 mins for actual practices. Also ask them whether the same instructors will be there every week.. I'm afraid the answer is no and you can't guarantee quality of those lessons read more

This was the first class I attended with my son, Ben. It was his second lesson overall. Trent was the instructor, and had two people in training with him. Trent kindly explained that he would be training the other two instructors. He had a great balance between the training and conducting the lesson. Trent was engaging and explained each "exercise" (for lack of a better word) and assured we were doing them correctly. It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to continuing. Thanks, Trent! read more

Goldfish Swim School - Reston - Ben with his instructor, Trent - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Reston, Virginia

My beginner swimmer made minimal progress in months here. The experience seems quite dependent upon the instructors, who seem to come and go. We ended up withdrawing and took the financial hit paying for several sessions we didn't attend due to limited time in the water for rote, non-customized drills by inattentive, disinterested instructor. They are not gracious about refunds for future sessions, only offering credits for future classes. I understand what's in the contract. But I had hoped they might take some responsibility for the skill level and performance of their staff. To drive that point home for me, my kid has excelled since we moved on. I did appreciate the physical facility itself and the customer service was really good at the beginning. read more

Unfortunately swim classes there did not work for us. And we had high hopes because the facility is really nice and customer service seemed nice too. Our kid spent 7 months in glider 1 and still can't swim on his own. 6-7 minutes a week that he spends in water during each group class is not enough. Most of the time each session had new instructor. Kids repeat the same stuff and not enough attention is given to individual needs. After about 5 months I asked how he was progressing and it turned out they had not done any evaluation. Basically no one was tracking skills. They did evaluation at my request and said he was mostly on track but more attention should be given to encouraging him to put his face under water. During evaluation they pulled him to the side, and worked one-on-one, and my kid actually swam on his own for the first time. But after that, each class proceeded just like before.. going through same routine. And he wouldn't swim on his own. In about a month I asked again if he was making any progress, and requested another evaluation, and again was told he needs a bit more special attention to putting face under water and they'll put notes in his file. I asked one of the instructors if he saw any notes, or was told to pay more attention to encouraging my kid to put his face under water, the instructor said he wasn't. Again, it was new instructor every session. Unfortunately, big waste of time and money for us. read more

Edit to add: The general manager reached out and we are scheduled for a second trial to give them another chance. Will update review once we attend the class. I do appreciate the follow up. Yikes. Not sure how this place has 4.5 stars. I went for a trial class today for my 1.5 year old as this swim school is a lot closer to where we live than where we have been currently going for about 4 months. We were greeted at the door and told what lane we would be in. That was the first and last positive experience of this place. Our class was called and I got in the water with my daughter. The teacher said hello but never asked what my daughters name was, if this was her first time in a pool, nothing. We started with a song in which I could barely hear what the instructor was saying. I took cues from others in the class to try and figure it out. The class went on and not once did the instructor explain what we were actually doing or what skills we should be working on. I asked her at one point, "what exactly are we doing right now" and she responded with "Grabbing the fish and throwing it back to me." It honestly just felt like a free for all and a 30-minute play time for my daughter and I. Maybe there approach is different and I'm missing something but I'm not about to pay over $100/month for my daughter to play. We can do that elsewhere on our own time. The goal is for her to learn about water safety and what she needs to do if God forbid she ever does fall into a pool. As we were getting out of the water, I decided to ask another parent in the class how long they have been coming (about 2 months) and if they have seen improvement (yes, because the first week their child screamed bloody murder and they are at least past that). However, she followed it with, "we will be taking a break soon -- there is no way my kid is actually going to learn how to swim in a class like this." I'm pretty sure the front desk forgot it was our first class as they just waved goodbye as we walked to the door. I'll gladly continue the longer drive to the other swim school which has structure and actually teaches my daughter important water safety skills. read more

I can't say enough great things about this place! Great service and friendly staff. My kiddo was afraid to get in the water her first couple of classes (it's kind of loud when multiple classes are happening on the pool side) but the staff did not hesitate to jump in and help my little one get comfortable. Her teacher Abdu is truly great at what he does, my at first hesitant child was laughing, splashing and having the time of her life during her lesson. I was so worried she'd ultimately refuse to participate but the Instructors Griselda, Johnny and Abdu all jumped in to help, when they realized I was having trouble with convincing her to get in the water. Very happy so far. read more

This was a great experience. Really enjoyed the atmosphere (kind of a tropical, luau-type feel) and the staff were really friendly. The facility is definitely top notch and well kept. Prices are about part for what I've seen around (~$30/half-hour group lesson). read more

We were very excited when we signed up our 3 year old child for the Jump Start clinic (Junior 2) this spring break. We previously have had exceptionally good experiences with both our kids and expected similar standards with the Jumpstart clinic. But unfortunately, it was a very frustrating week. Our son was thoroughly neglected in a class of three. After timing his actual pool time when he got instructions to be under 2 minutes in a 30 minute class, I approached the staff at Goldfish on the last day. They were receptive of my grievance of the unfair treatment of my child. One of the managers, Micheal phoned me and apologized for the poor standards. But the damage has been done and I would not recommend the Jumpstart clinic - it's been an exasperating and disappointing experience. read more

We registered two kids in swimming classes here, very impressed. Great attentive staffs with clean facility. Our kids were very enjoy having a class over here. The instructors were very educated and helpful. Great swimming classes!! read more

Goldfish Swim School - Reston - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Reston, Virginia

Quality instructors and fun environment make swim class much more appealing to the kiddos. It's not an ordeal to go to swimming bc they love it. read more

Happy to endorse Goldfish swim school in Reston where my 4-year old grandson is learning to swim! Very warm & supportive vibes; knowledgeable & skilled instructors; clean, healthy environment - all the ingredients that really matter. Micah has progressed beyond expectations & just received a "Star Student" award! Way to go, Micah! read more

Goldfish Swim School - Reston - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Reston, Virginia

Great swimming school. Been with them for 3 yrs couldn't be happier with the amount of progress my daughter is making. Professional instructors and very helpful front desk staff. Highly recommend them. read more

It's bomb folks. Believe the hype. Super clean. Super accommodating. They actually teach kids how to swim - which is obviously the whole point. My 5 year old loves it. All the students here seem happy. The swim coaches are nice. We luuuuuuuv one girl coach in particular. Name escapes me :( She's kick butt. Some of the other coaches are less enthusiastic but still pretty good. Parking is great. They're mostly punctual. Sometimes the lessons are a bit too short but that's not too often. I wish they were open later on Saturdays but I think they become a party venue @ 4 pm. It's not cheap but it's totally worth it. We can't wait to sign up our little monkey too. read more

I started my infant at a different swim school six months ago because I wanted to start him early and Goldfish doesn't accept babies until they are 4 months. About a month ago we did a trial lesson at Goldfish. The instructor was awful. She asked to hold my baby and while walking with him in the water, held him face down so close to the water that he was almost underwater. She was paying no attention to how she was holding him and when I called out to her in a panic, she didn't respond. Luckily I was close enough to grab my son before anything happened to him.In addition, there is 4 feet of water in the area where they have the babies. At a little over five feet tall, that water is so deep on me that I didn't feel comfortable entering the water holding my infant. However, the instructor refused to consider an alternative method for me to enter, as our current swim school does. I brought my concerns up with one of the managers and she was apologetic and offered us another trial with a different instructor. However, she made the excuse that the first instructor was "only in high school". I am still at a loss for why they would hire someone, high schooler or not, if they don't think she is competent. So, we went to the lesson with the new instructor. She didn't have much of a personality and seemed more interested in passing out toys than engaging with the babies or listening to me as I was trying to ask questions. I didn't feel like there was an established curriculum - something our current swim school has. It literally felt like the instructor was just making things up as she went along. And quite frankly, the skills taught at Goldfish were far below the skills taught at our current swim school. The instructor was not at all open to my son doing some skills that he already knows. Also, I found the facility really inconvenient for a parent with an infant. The changing stalls just have benches, which is really not a safe space to change my baby when he is wet, especially since he is quite active. They did have bathrooms with changing stations, but there were only two and I had to wait 15 minutes to use one. Meanwhile, my son was cold and wet. We won't be coming back to this swim school. I don't feel like they prioritize safety for little ones. read more

Pros: Great environment for children Safety in and out of the water You can see your child's lesson through the glass Teachers are nice Cons: The Glider 1 class is basically taught as though each class is the first class because there is a revolving door of students coming in and out starting and leaving the class. Because of the above reason, your kid may spend months in one level being told they're "doing great" or some other reason that changes lesson to lesson because the teacher has to spend much time focusing on the new kids who may be terrified of the water or who have never been in a pool before. Your kid will not get to practice the skills they need to learn to qualify for the next level. Instead, the instructor will make her do the same exercises as the kids who still need to learn to float. Qualifying for the next level, as mentioned above, depends upon when the evaluators get around to evaluating your kid. Note: the teachers are not the evaluators. The evaluators supposedly are walking around evaluating the students with ipads, which I have only seen once or twice in the months we've been paying for lessons. So, unless you ask for your kid to be evaluated past the first lesson, it's not going to happen until they get around to it. Now, take that bit I just wrote about the evaluators and ignore it. That's what they tell you. Here's what I'm going to tell you: after a certain amount of time, their computer system automatically places your child in the next level. How do I know this? My kid started lessons with them in Sept or Oct of 2019 until the pandemic lockdowns started in 2020, so roughly six months. During that six months, for the most of it, she was stuck in Glider 1 because her teenage teacher said she needed "confidence". Confidence in what, I cannot say, for I watched every single lesson and every single lesson was a replay of the one before it. We talked to the manager about this and got our kid moved to Glider 2. She was in Glider 2 for two weeks and had no purported "confidence" issues. The pandemic hit, however, and we took her out. Fast forward to summer 2021 and we call and kid's been assigned Glider 3! How? I don't know. We take her to Glider 3, she can't do the exercises, and they demote her to Glider 1 saying it'll be only for a few lessons. Now, months later she's had eight lessons with five different teachers (employee retention issues, it seems) and is still in Glider 1 doing floating exercises, basically. All the while, we're still paying money. Sorry for the long review. I was kind of forced to do it as the staff there doesn't seem to care or understand the absurdity of the situation. All I ask is that my kid get the instruction she needs, but they like to tell me that they know better. Take that into mind. Goldfish has responded below. To them I say: my husband and I have called and spoken before on two separate times and nothing was done. My daughter has had eight months (cumulative) of lessons with your school and has only been evaluated three times. I consented to her being placed into Glider 1 after resuming lessons due to the pandemic due to her needing a refresher course, but eight lessons later she still has not gotten to practice all of the skills she needs to advance to the next level. I watch each lesson and speak to the teacher after each. The same happened for six months before the pandemic. I suggest that you teach your instructors how to differentiate their teaching to respond to different proficiencies and evaluate students after each lesson. Students should only have to practice the skills they have remaining to move to the next level. This way parents do not have to continually pay for lessons with no end in sight. read more

This place is clean and super cute for kids. The staff is super friendly also. Thank you to Aliana (sp?) for helping me with a schedule mix up. I really appreciate it! read more

My son loves it, and he improves a lot in goldfish. He's been able to swim in his own in couple of months, I didn't expect 5 year old boy can make such good progress read more

We love Goldfish swim in Reston! "We have been very happy with Erin's instructors and their time to get to know Erin's ability and what she needs to focus on in each lesson. Erin has made a lot of progress and continues to enjoy going to her swim lessons each week." read more

I met Madi this weekend and she was awesome. So sweet and professional. I will be having all my swim parties here from now on! Thanks for a great time!!! read more

This place is a hit or miss. Some teachers are amazing like Valentina Maddie Anne Marie and Graham. But some of the other teachers are so young and clueless and unaware how dangerous it is to have little children in the water under their watch. They are not as attentive as they should be and day dream when they're life guarding at times. Each teacher can have up to four kids and usually ends up having four kids in their swim session. The classes are Twenty five minutes each with five minutes at the end to show you what each kid did and get ready for the next Class. Your child gets a total of about Six minutes each directly with the teacher with a full class. The positive: My daughter who is five is doing amazing after a few months of swimming and loves her teacher Maddie so much. She was so scared of the water and now loves swimming and going under water and swims really well. The negative: My son who just turned three had a very bad experience his second or third class when he was in the water as his teacher turned around and got distracted. My son fell in from the ledge he was sitting on and no one noticed him going under. My son was the only one in the class so it shouldn't have been that difficult to keep track of him. There was also a lifeguard and a dock person in charge. Three people and no one noticed he was under water. My husband ran in and they all rushed to grab him. He was under water for at least ten seconds or more. He use to be a fish and love the water but it's taken him so long to want to get back in after this incident. He would cry as soon as we got close and kept telling everyone he didn't want to go under and that he was scared. It took three months of classes and really trying for him to be happy in the water again. He still says he's scared but he will put his head back in the water sometimes. I switched my son out of his original teacher Sal and luckily my daughters teacher was so sweet that she opened up a class for him and has been so sweet and gentle with him. She is so playful with him and he loves going now. But I've had to pay for 4 months of classes to fix a huge problem they've caused. Another positive: The staff is usually so accommodating with makeups and with helping the kids feel comfortable getting in. They go above and beyond to get the little kids in and make it fun. But is that enough to trust this place, im not sure! I've heard several parents have very similar issues like us so I'm not sure. They dont immediate help get that confidence back till you fight and call the owner like I unfortunately had to. read more

Really love the instructors and how they encouraged my son and taught in a very fun manner. He was learning how to swim without even realizing it. Prior to goldfish, my son has taken lessons elsewhere with little progress...would barely even want to put his head in the water. Then he did the swim clinic at goldfish for one week in the summer and he was swimming without any assistance. I was so impressed by the professionalism of the instructors and the positive environment at goldfish swim school. My son keeps asking to come back. Highly recommend goldfish! read more

We started our two children in swim lessons this past year and chose Goldfish Reston based on high reviews and great schedule availability. We had a child in Mini 2 (mommy and me) and Junior 1 so it was very important the two lessons were available at the same time. With the mommy and me class I have been very pleased with how they focus on actual swim and pool safety skills while still making it completely fun for toddlers. Within no time my younger child was comfortable with full submersion while keeping her mouth closed and floating on her back with assistance. She is also working on pulling herself out of the pool which is huge and developing the idea of pulling and kicking. Now with our older child... WOW! When we first started she was terrified of the water and did not like getting splashed let alone getting her face wet - even with goggles on. Her instructor AnneMarie is hands down the BEST though! AnneMarie's energy and enthusiasm for her job and the children have made our child so comfortable! She now can float independently, pull herself out of the pool, swim 5 feet by herself with fairly good pulls and kicks, go underwater, is comfortable with different teachers, is calm in the water, and most importantly is having FUN! She is a completely different kid in the water! I cannot say enough about the techniques the school builds their curriculum on, the support staff, the teachers, and facility in general. Everything is so wonderful and clean, makeup classes are easily scheduled, free family swim is offered multiple times a week, hairdryers are provided, and everything is very spacious! Plus your children are actually going to learn to swim. You are more than getting your money worth! read more

Goldfish Swim School is an awesome place for children to learn how to swim, but there are a couple things the facility could improve. First of all, there is a set curriculum that the children follow each week which is great! It's helpful because my children do the same thing each week, but also they improve at the same time. On the flip side, the water is pretty hot and the pool deck is extremely humid. I'm not sure if there's anything they can do to fix it, but the water has way too much Chlorine in it, as my daughter has rashes all over her neck and arms. Overall, a great facility. read more

We love the facility, the consistency, and the warm and friendly teachers at Goldfish Swim School. In fact, we love it so much we drove from Capitol Hill to Reston every Sunday for nine months! One of my four-year-old twins was very nervous about water and neither of them had any swim lessons before we started at Goldfish and both became extremely comfortable underwater and learned to swim with pretty good confidence. Enough confidence that I didn't need to stay glued to them during hotel swimming fun over the summer. The process isn't perfect--it was more time intensive than we hoped, with just 25 minutes in the pool each week--but it was much less painful for them and for us than any other swim lessons option and Goldfish made it as pleasant and effective as possible. If it weren't a 40-minute drive to get there, we'd keep doing lessons until they learned the backstroke and butterfly and could join a swim team! read more

Love it here!! Staff is very friendly and helpful. They are all great with the kids. My kids have learned so much here. So excited for them. Classes are 30 well spent minutes. If your going somewhere after they have all the amenities you need to get your child and yourself ready if need be. Showers, changing stations, hair dyer etc.... Love it here! Money well spent read more

Goldfish Swim School - Reston - During my sons swim class - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Reston, Virginia

See all

After a disappointing experience at Machine Swim in Vienna, we came to Goldfish with our kids last fall. I have nothing but positive feedback for the staff and the instructors. Our kids are making great progress and having fun. This is one of the few brands that I will actively evangelize. read more

Classes and facilities are good but the way they handle their billing is misleading. Staff is not concerned about the customer's feedback and trying to do what is right. read more

There are a lot of places in Northern Virginia to teach your kids to swim, but none will be as good as Goldfish. Their staff is amazing, the facilities are outstanding and I cannot recommend them more. Our two daughters have gone there and have loved it. Highest recommendation. If you need to teach your children to swim in this area, I would go to Goldfish! read more

Great teachers and great customer service. My son learned to swim much faster than I anticipated. Highly recommend.

Big fans! My 3 year old was very hesitant in water and after a jump start class where we went every day with the same positive and patient teacher, a warm pool, and a fun space-she now loves it! read more

The goldfish swim school in Reston is EXCELLENT. Our 3 and a half year old has been going weekly for two years and he loves it and gets excited before every class. The facility is clean and the staff is super friendly, the classes are well organized and well run. The last 6 months have been especially special working with the instructor Anne Marie. Our son Tyler adores her and she is so great with him, we are so happy with this class. Lately our son has started dipping his head under, holding his breath, swimming under water, all things that seemed impossible using just the local pool. This place is really wonderful and I can't recommend it more! Thanks again to Anne Marie and all the staff at Goldfish who give our son such a special weekly experience :] read more