I was a member there with my children when I was approached about applying to be a swim teacher. They said that I could have my kids in kid zone while I worked. That sounded amazing as a board stay at home mom. Then about 9 months in they changed the rules where I couldn't have my kids in play care longer than the 90 min mark. That was fine. I just started to sign my kids up for activities while I teaching. Then about 18 months in They told me I could no longer park in the parking lot that i had to park on the street with my 2 small children. I was told this was for "Members only". I tried to explain that mt children are both developmentally delayed, I was told by management that no exceptions could be made. Mind you I am still paying for my family's membership / activities that takes up about 90% of what I made at the YMCA in the first place. This is just so sad for a company who brags about being a place where everyone belongs.

Great coaches and families were fun and eager to have kids learn but also have fun

My kid loved it!

It is a great way for children to explore multiple different sports in a non-pressure way.

Some classes are great. Some are not very organized. Like homeschool pe on Monday. The regular teacher Dosen't do anything with them. When theres a sub its a great class.

The instructor was terrible no instruction she acted lost my son didn’t even want to come back he was bored

The communication with canceled classes were lacking. Having to pack up 3 kids to get there and find out the class was canceled and no email notification. Happened quite often. Some of the classes were not very structured or teacher did not have any directions for activities for the kids.

All Kid Zone staff are knowledgeable, friendly and helpful

I do not have a child - mine are adults.

I have had really positive experiences with most of the programs offered at the Y. However, I was disappointed with the first ukulele class we had this week. The instructor Elijah I believe, seemed very kind and knowledgeable, but some of the children were rude and out of control. It made it difficult for my son and others to learn, and difficult for Elijah to teach. I know it says in the guidelines that parents must remain in the room, and many did not. I believe a smaller child to teacher ratio would be more effective, and perhaps age 5 is too young. If you would like further feedback, please feel free to call me (Rachel Capsey, mom of Barrett, 564-234-7266)

Friendly and affordable!

Instructor for Little Ninjas was terrible. No structured program. Could not control a class of 3-5 year olds even when only 3-4 in attendance. Balance of class was playing Simon Says and Red Light Green Light.

Teachers need more energy and the the combat arts teacher isn’t a good fit.

I wish that the Homeschool PE games had been more cooperative rather than competitive. Once the kids get out in a game, there was a lot of time sitting on the sidelines.

The instructor never taught hip hop or any other form of dance. The music was not hip hop. This was not even a class, student attendance declined over the month. We will be looking for an actual dance studio for our needs.

My son loves the dnd club. It has been a great social outlet for him!

Great program for all kids great staff

The idea of the classes are great but they are unorganized, the teachers don't have control of the class or pay attention and majority of the time they don't seem to know what they're doing. There's only one teacher I liked and she left.

Whomever is in charge of the youth sports is not best at communicating and nor is she nice.

There have only been 2 swim instructors within the past year that have been acceptable in my opinion.

Jessica and Gracia are great. They give loud, clear instructions and seem to enjoy the opportunity to help the children learn and have fun. They both come speak to the children and parents and make it a very positive experience. Either of them would be great at training someone new.

There are 2 young girls that do not seem to be interested at all. I can't tell you their names because I don't even know them.

1. The instructor for the Saturday class in October.

She doesn't seem interested at all. She doesn't smile, interact with the parents or kids, give much instruction or even speak loud enough to hear her. She usually spends most of the time in the corner of the pool. She doesn't seem to have any swim experience or experience with children at all and should not be leading the class.

2. Her name may be Kayla or something similar. She was the instructor of the Saturday 10:30 class for a few months.

She doesn't ever smile. She doesn't take the time to learn the songs. She doesn't seem to have a passion for the position and clearly doesn't have experience with children. She got slightly better with her volume before moving on to a class with children a little older (we see her teaching level 1 or 2).

I know the Y is short staffed and trying to keep the classes going but the young kids with no experience with children are not the answer. Whoever the instructor is, they need more training and a higher expectation of what they bring to the table. They should have to learn the songs and smile and be taught to give loud, clear instructions and how to interact with the parents and children. Taking a younger person who is on the swim team could be helpful, given the tools previously mentioned.

Also, a couple months ago when there were 3 or 4 classes in the pool at once on Saturdays was way too chaotic. I was ready to cancel. I couldn't hear, my child couldnt hear. We were all overwhelmed and overstimulated. There was also not enough room in the pool.

This is not what we pay for.

The Y is great and we appreciate all that you do to provide a safe space for our children. The swim class is my only complaint. I know we're in a tough space with the economy and trying to find staff seems to be a struggle, so thank you for continuing the programs despite all of this. Maybe with a little more training, some follow up and observations of the instructions could help make more of the instructors a success. Feel free to come by and speak to us parents to ask how things are going.

Thank you for your consideration.

Great teachers for kids; love you only sign up for one month at a time. Lots of options! I would appreciate more details on what the class entails and what to dress them in.

We haven’t had a great experience with the volleyball class. Each session tends to start 10–15 minutes late since the gym isn’t available until around 11:15. In addition, the coach doesn’t seem very experienced and the class feels a bit unorganized. We’ll likely skip signing up again next time.

It's such an affordable program and I love that my kids can try different things every month. My kids have made friends in the programs and have learned new skills and grown their confidence.

They’re fine. Good for beginning experience but I think they’d plateau and you’d either have to go to a more formal place or you’d get bored and stop.

The Youth Experience Programs at the Y are great. We've enjoyed many of them over the years. I'd love to see Saturday DnD back (2 hrs on a school night is just too much for us). Thanks!

Programs are very limited for teens (age 13+). Need more options

My daughter was signed up for volleyball. One class was moved from its regular time to another day which we we’re not available. And one class was cancelled. So I paid for 4 classes and only got 2.

Also another time I registered my son for rock wall climbing but forgot to put in my calendar. I didn’t realize until after the month was over. My son missed all the classes. Why couldn’t someone call or text or email me to ask where my son had been?

Adding Sauna at the briggs YMCA would be an awesome addition to the program.