My instructor Jake was amazing! Patient and encouraging. I would definitely recommend this swim school.

Multiple negative experiences trying swim lessons here. Do not recommend. More details: We arrived 10 minutes early and waited until 3 minutes past the lesson start time. The woman who we learned was Kaylie was standing around on her phone that whole time until she came over and started the lesson late. We filled out your intake forms sharing information about swimming background and goals, but it didn't seem like Kaylie read them, so we rushed to share experience and goals while the student was getting in the water. The lesson itself didn't cover anything new for the student. Kaylie then rushed to end the lesson on time, despite starting over a few minutes late, which is significant for a single 15 minute lesson. The student didn't learn anything and was rushed out of the pool. We understand it was our first time, but feeling stressed about our lesson was starting late and getting shorter than the 15 minutes we paid for was very frustrating. We had similar negative experiences on subsequent attempts to give this place a shot. Do not recommend, especially not Kaylie McRea. read more

Kiddo has been taking lessons with Lilly for several months and she is great! She's very patient and has done an amazing job teaching all the safety basics and beyond while keeping it fun. Highly recommend for kiddos who have jitters about learning to swim. read more

We had been searching for lessons for ages, which with three kids and in the Seattle area have become increasingly difficult. I count my blessings that I stumbled upon North Seattle Swim School. We have been taking lessons with Erik since October and my 3, 6, and 8 year old have been thriving. We've been on several trips with lots of swimming since starting and you can see how their confidence has grown. Erik works incredibly well with all of my children; adjusting his approach by age and engagement. He has the right amount of push for my 8 year-old and the perfect balance of preschool teacher with my youngest! The kids are excited for swimming and am so thankful for how much they are learning. I just wished we had more time in our schedule to book multiple lessons during the week. On top of that, the owner, Jeremy, is very responsive and incredibly helpful. He even reached out when I first booked to see if he could answer any questions! Love this place! read more

Highly recommend! It's a small private and heated pool. They do up to two lessons per time slot so a great option if you want to have two kids in simultaneous lessons. My 8-year-old is finally making observable progress with swimming. We did group lessons with Seattle parks and Rec, but her progress was slow and she got so cold so fast. Her instructor Erik does a good job of challenging her while keeping her energy high so that she has fun while progressing quickly. It's so nice to find a place with openings on weekdays and weekends which works well for our schedule. Very reasonably priced. I signed up to work on my own swimming skills, too. It's a nice option if you're an adult who can get around in the water but has never had formal training. read more

This school has been the perfect solution for our 3 and 7 year old kids. Group lessons just weren't working for us with the staggered schedules and divided instruction. Here, I can schedule both of my kids' private lessons at the exact same time and the teachers are really knowledgeable and attentive. They give me verbal updates about my kids' progress and I feel like I'm getting my money and time's worth with every lesson. Almost hesitant to spread the word because I don't want it to get too popular but this school is deserving of a stellar review. read more

The short version: we love this place and Lilly is AMAZING! My three kids, 10, 7, and 4, have been taking swim lessons here with Lilly for a few months (~10 lessons for each kid so far.) My kids were starting from zero swimming skills and my eldest, who has ADHD and is on the spectrum and has some sensory and body-awareness challenges, had a pretty severe fear of swimming. By a few lessons in, I was already amazed at how much they had learned, and at how my 10yo had gone from being so afraid she could barely move in the water to eagerly anticipating each lesson, ducking her head under, and jumping in. In her last lesson, I watched her dive to the bottom of the pool with gusto to pick up sinking toys and swim across the pool using a stroke where her head was largely underwater. I can't tell you how much that meant to me, to see my daughter's fear replaced with joy and belief in herself. Lilly breaks each skill down into small parts and helps the kids master them individually, which gives them the basis they need to combine them into bigger skills. There is a lot of variety in each lesson; Lilly knows how to stay on something long enough to make progress and then move on to cover a lot of ground in 30 min, and them to revisit each element each lesson to build over time--I can see their improvement every lesson! She introduces new skills as they master the pieces they need to succeed in them. I also really appreciate how each lesson they work on skills to keep themselves safe in case of an accidental fall into water. I also wanted to mention how Lilly really connects with each kid. She is just so patient, fun, and creative. She meets the kids where they are, taking their concerns seriously, and helps them develop the confidence to reach out of their comfort zone to grow. She is a wonderful role model. She cares about them and believes in them, and I can see them glow from it in a way that extends beyond the swimming pool. My kids really look up to her and talk about her all the time outside of class. The other day I overhead them having an argument: "Lilly is the best swim teacher in the world!" "No, the galaxy!" "No, the entire universe!" These lessons aren't cheap but they are have been 100% worth it for us. The kids just progress so fast with the kind, expert, one-on-one attention Lilly gives them. The relief I feel as I see their water-safety skills improve is priceless. I only wish all kids had access to such great swimming instruction. read more

It's been a lifelong dream of my 79 year old mother to learn how to swim, and I have long been wanting to brush up on my own ability. We took lessons from Lilly and Tammy, and both are gems: skilled, caring, and encouraging, and ultimately helped both my mom and I reach our swimming goals. The private facility, which is attached to a residence, is clean and the water pleasantly warm. The owner, Jeremy, was very responsive and understanding when any administrative issues arose. And as a busy professional, I truly valued the flexibility to schedule and easily reschedule lessons online. I highly recommend this school for learners of all ages! read more

Our 4.5 year old son has been taking consistent lessons with Lilly and we've seen huge progress with his swimming. The private lessons North Seattle Swim School offers are much better than group lessons we've taken previously. Lilly has been such a great coach for him. Tammy has also given him some great lessons! read more

Highly recommend if you're looking for private lessons for your kiddo! The instructors are amazing with our daughter, the facility is clean and the owners are very responsive. Booking classes is simple and the flexibility makes it easy to fit within our schedule. So thankful to have this on the north side!! read more

This place has been an epic magical unicorn for us. It has been SO hard for us to find swim lessons that work for our schedule that we can actually get registered for. North Seattle Swim School is open afternoons, nights and weekends, which fits so perfectly with our school schedule. It's a heated, indoor pool with private lessons that are so helpful if your kiddo has issues with getting splashed/loud echoes--none of that here. It's a beautiful, peaceful space, and we LOVE our instructor Lilly, who is patient, funny, and encouraging. My child has gone from being absolutely terrified of the water to being really excited about his weekly lessons...in the span of four weeks. I cannot believe how much progress he has made. His instructor and I both teared up about how beautiful it has been to watch his confidence grow. Just wanted to share because they are a fairly new business, and I want them to stick around for a long time! Happy to answer any questions I can. read more

My 4 and 8 year olds have been having lessons with Erik for a few months now, and I've been really pleased with his instruction. He makes sure they have fun and are engaged while pushing them to improve their technique and stamina. I have been really happy with the experience. read more

The best swimming school/instructor we have found so far. Highly recommend! I took my kid to 4 different private swimming places before we landed here at NSSS. Main reason we switched so much because of instructors. No deny that all the instructors are excellent swimmers but knowing how to working with kids effectively is a different story. Erik my kid's instructor is excellent in communication with kids as my observation. He is calm, fun, and able to delivery swimming skills at the same time. Other pros I want to point out: warm pool water; not crowded, one coach and one student in the pool for us so far. Cons: it's a bit far from us. My kid is in other swimming classes in our neighborhood during weekdays, but I wish NSSS was closer so we can switch. read more

My kiddo has gotten more comfortable and adventurous over this summer in the water so we decided to sign up for lessons to hone in on safety and proper skills. Lilly is very patient and in tune with my kiddos needs and comfort level, building much needed confidence in the water. I don't have any insight on any other instructors here but I highly recommend Lilly! read more

I had learning sessions with both Erik and Lilly. They are very professional and have good patience. Highly recommend this swim school.

We are so happy we decided to try private swim lessons here. We have had a great experience with all 3 of the instructors we have met so far. They have been so attentive and encouraging and give great feedback. Compared to public pool swim lessons, our two kids have made so much progress, with more attention to form and stamina, building a better foundation for success. The pool is heated and a decent size for lessons and the facilities are nice and clean. read more

This place has been SUCH A GAME CHANGER for my kiddos! After waiting on the waitlist, we went to Goldfish, and after a couple of months ended up leaving. All wasted time when my kids could have been making progress on their swimming... They got maybe 5-8 minutes with the instructors at Goldfish during group lessons. Let's get real. I'm taking them to swim lesson with the objective of getting in, and getting out with the mission completed. I want them to be confident and competent swimmers. My kids love Erik at North Seattle Swim School. He's got my daughter doing all kinds of new things under water that she previously resisted. It's calm a place, nicely heated so we can keep plowing through during the winter, and super safe. I love that it's at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. It's not overstimulating when you get in there. My kids jump out of the car for swimming lessons and run in. I am thrilled to have found North Seattle Swim School and happily buy up the 12-pack of lessons. It's worth every penny. The owner is great and I can text with him as needed for schedule changes, etc. We're very happy! And, most importantly, we're making great progress! Highly recommend! I've been spreading the word to my other mom friends about this magical unicorn of swim schools. read more