Seems like some of the instructors are great and others don’t seem to really want to be there. Swimming should be fun and our kid was pretty bored in between “reps” of doing laps and practicing. Maybe some more group activities or fun to keep kids focused and not bored.

Very inexpensive swim lessons. With a membership.

Poor instructor experience

We love the swim lessons at the Shelton Y! The instructors are dedicated, the classes are small, and the facility is clean

Our kiddo has leane

The Instructor is great very patient and caring

Hector is kind and patient with my Son who is autistic and hesitant around water. My Son loved his lesson and can't wait for the next one!

The teacher is attentive and patient, she could go over skills and bit more concisely but overall I'm very pleased with the lessons.

Our instructor Lindsey(sp?) is decent with the kids, however I feel like they don’t care to know the kids names or where they’re at prior to starting things with them in the water. We missed the first week of the month due to the flu and when we jumped in the second week, she didn’t ask my child’s name, called her the wrong name and didn’t explain what she wanted my daughter to do just said, for example, “ok come here let’s do front float”. She never introduced herself to my child or anything so she was super uncomfortable at first. Then yesterday(2-25) we had either a sub or new instructor. I’m not sure which. But zero communication was had with the parents and he was horrible. Acted like he had no clue what he was doing, didn’t INSTRUCT any of the kids. He basically just pulled them through the water a few times and that was the “lesson”. My child will NOT be in the pool with him again. The life guard stood and was watching him like a hawk. If the lifeguard has to watch the instructor that closely, then clearly my child is unsafe. I’m very disappointed with how these have been conducted. I will be trying for another months to see if any concerns are addressed but the program and how the instructors interact needs to be stepped up in every way.

I absolutely love most of the instructors, however, I feel that Ryan should be evaluated. It seems that he needs extra training or needs to have a supervisor present during classes. I have witnessed multiple kids have bad experiences(going under water resulting in taking on water, yelling at them, etc.). It does seem like a dangerous situation. I also think he doesn't know how to use his time for class. The kids each get 4 "moves" in each class. It seems that a lot of time is wasted asking who wants to go first and other trivial things. In all honesty I end up teaching my child more during the session and giving more direction than I would like.

There is a large lack of communication at the Y. Staff don't seem trained well enough in basic customer service. The front desk often doesn't know anything about programs that are going on and can't answer questions. My daughter has only attended 2 level 1 swim lessons and not once has an instructor introduced themselves, taken attendance or talked with parents unless directly spoken to. This is not a positive experience. It makes me feel like an unwanted customer and frankly, unwelcome at the Y. We had lessons with Ryan (who's name I had to find out from another parent) and I don't feel he is trained well enough to be in the pool with our children. He does not communicate, turns his back on the kids often while in the pool and has lifeguards watching over him and instructing him basic water safety for the children he is responsible for. I grew up a Y kid and have always big a huge fan and supporter, but my experience so far at the Shelton facility falls very far short.

Class sizes are large and sometimes it feels like a lot of waiting for 2 or 3 exercises

Attention to students and openness to neurodiversity

Heat the locker room

We love our lessons in Shelton! A great place to spend family time.

Great program so far. I love that the instructors interact well with my guy. He can be a bit of a handful so I appreciate that you don't let him get away with his shenanigans. The fact that there is no down time waiting on one student at a time to complete a task is great. Lots of instruction and correction and little waiting around. The free time at the end od session is just the motivation he needs to try harder and listen better. Seriously. Great job!

The first week was great. The second week they were 'understaffed' a few teachers. One teacher was trying to handle 5+ kids ranging in ages 3-8+ (levels 1-3). He was also overbooked as had a private lesson come in at the same time who agreed to wait an hour. There was a teacher who looked to be 'on break' in the pool, so about half way he was asked to take the older kids, which he agreed. Turned out alright, but was not very safe or practical in the beginning of the lesson.

I like the small class where each kid at their level was individually given the time needed to keep trying.

Our instructor is kind and very good with kids!

Swim lessons at Shelton Y are the best! All the instructors, life guards, and greeters are great. Clean and not too crowded, but with a vibrant busy feel. We love it.

Everything. But especially the instructors. My son is not always the best behaved during lessons but they've always been very patient with him. Both of my children have learned SO much during the swim lessons, and love the water more because of the lessons. They're the right mix of learning through play. But again, the best part is the staff at the Shelton Y. They're amazing.

Your classes are too big. I feel cutting them down to 3 to a class would be very beneficial to the students. And allow for more time to focus on developing individual skills. As well as, have less age diversity. Cut the classes to skill level yes, but also be conscious about age. My 3 year old has a hard time learning with the 8 year olds. He needs more instruction and time to develop skills than older kid who can understand more easily. Also I feel there isn’t much focus on teaching good habits. Students should be watching and learning from others, not splashing around and goofing off during lessons. Just seems there’s not much structure.

I like that the classes tend to be smaller, I realize that's not necessarily by design but it works out great for my kids.. We are still concerned about the floor in the locker rooms, very very slippery, just about everytime I see someone slip and almost fall. My kids really like Hector, he does a great job with them!

We love swimming lessons at the YMCA- something we'd like to see in your instructors is the amount of feedback they give to the kids as they are learning new skills. The kids will learn faster if they receive consistent feedback on their developing skills.

We like how much they encourage our daughter step by step. She was so proud of herself that she learned to dunk her head under water and get diving toys!

I think it would be beneficial to revert back to 2 months. In addition, having classes designed by age range, like the Gig Harbor facility. It's exactly the same no matter what age from 6 months-swimming age. Also, the instructors should represent the YMCA and seem interested and engaged. Finally, it would be nice to have consistency from instructors or suitable back-ups when an instructor calls out. Thank you.

All lifegaurds were very nice and patient with my son. They did a great job! Thank you!

The teachers are terrific! I really appreciate that I can get my kids into lessons without having to get up at 5am to sign up.

Swim instructors are very patient, kind, safety focused with energy for fun also.

The instructor did awesome and was very patient with my novice swimmers

The lessons were great, but the fourth lesson was cancelled last minute. That wasn't an issue, but we were told to come the following week at the same time for a makeup session. We showed up a week later at the normal time, as instructed, and were told there was no swim lesson. I explained what we were told, the guy behind the counter had no idea what was going on, so he got someone out of the aquatics office. That guy came out and said no lesson today, August lessons were over and September lessons start next week. So I asked if we were supposed to come to the first September lesson for the makeup. He said no, only if we register for the Sept lessons. It was all so weird and confusing. We paid for four lessons, only got three, and also wasted a Saturday morning getting our month old ready for swim that didn't happen. The aquatics guy said his boss would "credit us for the missed class" but I haven't heard anything from anyone. The lessons we had were fun and good value for pool exposure for her, but can't honestly say I'd recommend YMCA to others for swim after the confusing experience and being told completely wrong information and wasting our time.

The new instructor was beyond disappointing. You could tell she did not want to be there and felt like she rushed class thru. Barely gave any demonstrations. This made us decide we’d be traveling a little further to a different YMCA in the future.

MY SONS TEACHER IS AMAZING. SHE HAS SO MUCH PATIENCE AND IS SO SWEET

The lessons are affordable, and we've had really great teachers.

I love that it is easier to get into the lessons in Shelton: Briggs is impossible and so crowded! I do wish that the seating at Shelton were a little more comfortable, as each time I’ve gone my clothes have gotten wet from dripping condensation. The instructors have been great and so patient and kind with my daughter

We love the Y swim lessons! It was my son’s first time in swim and they were so patient and supportive. We are already signed up for the next round!

Grandson loves the Y

I have autistic kids with ADHD and it requires flexibility in teaching and also in what’s expected to keep everyone safe. For example, my child cannot keep remembering to keep a hand on the side, but he can put his body on the steps, do stand in place, or float. When the teachers and guards understand this and realise that it’s safer to give a different direction than flog a dead horse, so to speak, it keeps him calm and allows attention to flow to all the kids. I’m not sure if I’m being clear, but my point is, flexibility of thinking and approach is crucial for a place to be INCLUSIVE and I have found that the team at Shelton has been the best so far with this. Also so, so kind. Thank you!

Actual trained swim lesson teachers

We love lessons at the YMCA /Shelton High school

We have had a very positive experience with swim lessons at Shelton Family YMCA. They taught our 6, now 7, year old to swim like a pro! He now has confidence and competence in the water. He had many patient, knowledgeable, and personable swim instructors; they were all great to work with: Fiona, Teagan, Killian, etc. Aquatics Director Noah was always helpful and provided excellent customer service, answering all of our scheduling questions. We highly recommend the Shelton Family YMCA facility and their staff.

The instructor was very patient with my kids. This is their first year of swim lessons and they started out quite scared of the water. By our fourth session, they loved it and were comfortable enough to put their faces in the water and had a great time!

Beautiful facility and great instructors! Our kids love having their lessons in Shelton!

We liked the small classes.

When I was given the report card, I was told there were a few more skills my child needed to work on. When I flipped the report card over, it was not filled out. At my request, the teacher filled it out. When she returned with the completed report card, it was marked that my child could not to anything and I was told that all skills actually needed to be worked on. My child had complained during previous lessons that she was not permitted to attempt skills independently.

8 is good

The teacher was not very communicative or enthusiastic.

My kids really like their instructor. They are improving their skills and having fun. The classes are small which is nice. The high school pool is great. The only complaint is the locker rooms at the high school are not as nice as the ones at the ymca.

The pool is way too cold for kids.

The teachers are knowledgeable about how to teach foundational swimming skills and they work together to individualize skill development for each child. Kids get a lot of practice time with the small class sizes and the fact that each class has two swim instructors.