★ 1

We took our daughter to Goldfish for about 4 months and must say that this swim school has the exact feelings of a complete fraud. We enrolled our daughter for weekly lessons and since the very first lesson, we were told that she has made ZERO progress or improvement in swimming as indicated on her online assessments over 15 weeks.

This swim school is not cheap. We paid roughly $170 for four 30 minute lesson packages. So their hourly rate comes out to roughly $85/hour. At such an incredible rate, we would expect our child to show ANY signs of improvement towards learning to swim, but apparently that’s not the case. They only do level evaluations once every 5 weeks and are only allowed to be done by the deck supervisor, who doesn’t actually observe our daughter on a week-to-week basis. The swim instructor doesn’t actually do the evaluations. You cannot advance in anything beyond basic floating and turning without one of these evaluations.

This swim school was clearly milking us for every penny we (and every other family) was willing to offer them and has a policy that in order to withdraw without a penalty, you have to have to provide them WRITTEN notice 30 days in advance or you’ll pay a penalty. So please be hyper cautious of this in the fine print when you sign up. Consider yourself warned. We have since taken our daughter to the YMCA for swim lessons and she’s doing wonderfully there for a fraction of the cost.

Source: Google

★ 1

I came here for the free trial lesson which was fine, but the nonstop sales pressure was ridiculous. They called me multiple times before and after just to push their overpriced bundles that aren’t even a deal compared to paying per lesson. They literally won’t stop calling even though I stopped answering. The “free towel” they brag about doesn’t make $1,500+ worth it — anyone spending that much on baby swim lessons doesn’t need the free towel. They even call early in the morning and late at night on weekdays/weekends which makes no sense when their customers all have young kids. A lot of parents I talked to there said the bundles weren’t worth it and they wouldn’t do them again. The employees kept interrupting me when I tried to ask questions about paying per lesson… It really turned me off from signing up.

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★ 5

Ella is amazing, kind, and patient with all my kids!

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★ 5

I signed my daughter up for swim class about 2 months ago and she loves it! She’s 7 months now and loves to splash around in the pool. Definitely recommend-it’s a great bonding experience.

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★ 5

Great facility with well thought out features and objects to help your child learn to swim. Warm pool (good for very young children), changing rooms, restrooms, hair drying stations, cubbies, crayons and puzzles for small children, and more. Very friendly staff. Newly paved and painted parking lot. Strong recommendation.

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★ 4

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★ 5

We started going to Goldfish when they first opened and my son was only 11 months old. My son is now 3 years old and we don’t miss a week without swimming at Goldfish. My son loves the instructors and the warm temperature pool.
My son’s swimming abilities have expended so much with our years at goldfish.
The front desk staff and the deck supervisors are all very helpful and informative.
My son even had his 2nd birthday party at goldfish. It was a fun experience and he loves his swim lessons.

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★ 2

We were very disappointed with 6 months of lessons for our 3 & 4 year old grandchildren. Excellent facility but so poorly managed. No consistency at all with mostly high school kids as instructors. There seems to be no clear course forward as the kids have no chance to build a level of trust with the instructor due to different instructors constantly changing. Very expensive and not worth the time at the Clifton-park location.

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★ 5

I have only good things to say about Goldfish swim school. All of the instructors are great with the kids and The GM Kassie is awesome always on top of things and very accommodating. Highly recommend! ☺️

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★ 5

Great staff. Clean areas, clean pool.

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★ 5

My kids both loved goldfish. My son was hesitant at first about putting his face and head in the water. They worked with him at his level and the growth for both of them was amazing! The jumpstart classes help boost skills fast. Entire staff is friendly and helpful!

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★ 4

Very good, need some more flexibility with make up classes particular for girls

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★ 5

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★ 5

Such a wonderful place for littles to learn to swim! The staff are super friendly, knowledgeable and compassionate. My child feels comfortable and has progressed so much in a short time! I love that they are also always constantly assessing progress to move your child up as soon as they’re ready. They are amazing here!

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★ 1

I do not recommend having a party at this place. The lessons there are fine, but the staff does the bare minimum for a party. They kick you out immediately at the end of the party time and started cleaning up when there were guests still leaving. There were only two lifeguards for 20 kids, and they barely paid attention to the kids. Also, very glad I brought extra candy and things to put in the goodie bags that they supply because all they had in them was a dum dum and a coloring sheet with a ticket for a free swim lesson.

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★ 5

I like the consistency and availability of scheduling classes, I like the encouraging instructors (like Erin) and their patience with the students, the convenience of the auto-pay feature, and the ability to receive and use makeup tokens to fit our availability.

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★ 2

Disappointed by the new policies at Goldfish Swim School – Colonie. Families now face non-refundable fees, strict make-up rules, and penalties for simple payment issues. You’re charged $30 for any failed auto-payment, and missed make-up classes can’t be rescheduled — even if you call ahead.

They’ve also added an annual fee per child, yet reserve the right to merge classes or change instructors without notice. It feels like they’re prioritizing revenue over flexibility and fairness.

Families deserve better. These new terms are unreasonable and punishing to working parents trying their best.

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★ 5

Brand new facility and beautiful interior with showers, changing rooms, and new teaching equipment in pool. Very Clean! Excellent experience for both my kids 6 and 9 years old who both graduated to "pro level." Highly recommend.

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★ 1

Know what you’re getting into, it’s a well packaged scam! Horribly disorganized, untrained and poorly vetted staff. Focused more on rotating kids through than an actual teaching experience. Had multiple issues with them charging hundreds of extra dollars, changing the schedule, canceling my kids classes without notice, poor teaching methods from some of the teachers, and incompetent lifeguarding skills from some of the guards. Would NEVER recommend this place to anyone!

Source: Google

★ 1

Need to be more organized to many kids running things

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★ 2

Class sizes are often 4 students to 1 instructor. It takes a minute or two for the kids to get situated and the lesson to get started and it's common for class to begin a few minutes after the scheduled time and end 2-4 minutes ahead of the scheduled time, in my experience. It's supposed to be a 30 minute class but in reality it ends up being a 25 minute class. Your kid takes 1 class a week. So do the math here: on average, your child will receive 6 to 7 minutes of instructor time that is shared with 3 other students, each week. The progress that a child is capable of making in that brief time once a week is virtually nothing and certainly not worth the steep monthly membership. The instructors, who all appear to be between the age of 15 and 17, are friendly and have temperaments that seem well-suited to teaching children. But in the end it feels like Goldfish Swimschool is a severely overcrowded and overpriced facility that is overcapitalizing on its space at the cost of kids' development so that they can rake in money. Whatever they may say about "the perfect class size," it's not, but you'll just have to find out for yourself.

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★ 5

All of the swim instructors and staff have been great!

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★ 5

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★ 5

The staff and coaches are amazing. They are very patient and take the time to get to know your child and their needs.

10 out of 10 recommend!

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★ 5

Great place, my kids love it too.

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

Amazing and super compassionate staff. My kid was terrified of water/swimming and now after only two months of classes, it’s his favorite thing to do.

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★ 5

Great school, the instructors are really kind and patient,the facility is super clean and the changing rooms are spacious

Source: Google

★ 5

I don’t usually leave reviews, but oh my gosh. The customer service at this establishment is top notch. Employees go above and beyond to accommodate my family. Most importantly, after doing lessons consistently for less that a year, my five year old can swim independently and my three year old is on his way.

Initially, the price of this swim school was a deterrent for me. Now, I believe it is worth every penny!!

Source: Google

★ 5

My daughter loved taking swim class with Kayla—she was warm, gentle, and fun. The most important thing for us was to cultivate a love of the water and not be dogmatic about the learning method and Kayla delivered. We made a lot of progress and recommend her!

Source: Google

★ 5

We are really enjoying our lessons with Andrew. He is so animated and really seems to enjoy the kids. My son is definitely progressing more quickly with his lessons.

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★ 4

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★ 5

My daughter loves Goldfish Swim School. She looks forward to going ever week.

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★ 5

Our instructor Andrew during the “Mini 2” class was fantastic. He was well educated and hands on. I really enjoyed my trial with my daughter today, she is 20 months old. We will be back for more! Yay.

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★ 5

Miss Nicole is great! Appreciate her patience, creativity, and enthusiasm!

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★ 5

Reasonable prices for week by week group class sessions. It's well worth the price regardless. There is the perfect amount of structure in the class for my 2 year old and swim safety is a core part of each lesson. There's always a lifeguard on duty (I have to get in the water with my child in the mini 2 class, but it still makes me feel better).
The instructors are simply amazing. I can tell they all enjoy working with kids... because it shows!
I absolutely recommend the Goldfish Swim School in Clifton Park.

Source: Google

★ 5

Cleanliness, friendliness, on time scheduling . Great positive environment!

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★ 4

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★ 5

My grand daughter loves it. ❤️

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★ 5

Teaching my kids swimming with skills. Coaching my kids survival skills!

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★ 5

I wish I had started this program a long time ago. Just watching the babies swim is amazing. The teachers are calm and encouraging to my babies. I see the progress.

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★ 5

Such an amazing experience at Goldfish Clifton Park! A great experience my kids look forward to each week. Super instructors/ Olivia. Danielle/ front desk were always willing to help out in any way. Top notch customer service, and instruction, will be a return customer for sure. Thank you!

Source: Google

★ 5

This location has exceeded my expectations. I switched my daughter from the Colonie location because of issues with the staff and I'm so happy I did. The other location was making my daughter a weak swimmer by letting her doggie paddle and swim under water. They were teaching her overhand at all. This location went in explained what she was doing wrong and put her in a class that meets her needs. So grateful this location was added to the area. Staff are extremely helpful.

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★ 5

Great group of people who are focused on safety

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★ 5

The program and instructors are great, and the attention they provide to the kids in addition to the warm pool water make for an easy and fun experience to learn.

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★ 5

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★ 5

We have recommended Goldfish to many of our friends who have in turn registered their kiddos! The swim teachers and staff are so well trained and instill much confidence in our sons. I've only ever seen them display patience and compassion to all kids in the pool.

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★ 5

So happy with my experience here. We've been here for about 3 months now and everyone is always so friendly and helpful. They're super accommodating when it comes to doing makeup classes. My daughter's favorite instructor is Dylan.

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★ 5

My daughter is always excited to swim here. The staff is friendly and helpful. They are flexible with scheduling and always supportive.

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★ 5

Lovely party. The staff was amazing.

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★ 5

Great instructors, everyone there is so kind! Very professional and great with kids. They're very accommodating if you need to make up a lesson or change your day/time. I love that they have family swim and the lessons are so helpful. We've been going since my daughter turned 4 months and we dont plan on stopping anytime soon. We'd definitely recommend goldfish!!!

Source: Google

★ 5

We love the teachers and all of the staff. The attention they give to each child individually is amazing.

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★ 5

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★ 5

I've been taking my daughter here for months, and it has been a great experience for us! She absolutely loves the small classes with plenty of interaction with the swim instructors. The facility is clean and has warmer water than many indoor public pools. It is obvious to me that the staff and managers care about the kids and prioritize their safety.

Source: Google

★ 2

Save your money!!!! Student to coach ratio is no good and you child will have little one on one time with their coach and you will often have a different one every season. After the session the swim instructor will say things like " your kid is doing great make sure he keeps working on his kicking"........it's January in NY where is he supposed to be practicing that exactly? Very expensive for what your getting. Get a membership to your local Y where you can be in the water with your child for as long as you'd like.

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★ 5

Kind helpful staff, my child enjoys his lessons and is making good progress through the program and growing as a swimmer.

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

Customer service is good and the facility is excellent.

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

Very clean and Friendly staff

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★ 5

My granddaughter had a great free lesson. And is signed up for month of swimming lessons. Stuff great with kids. 1 on 1

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★ 5

Bright, clean, fun and safe! Well organized with lots of details (blow dryers, lots of amenities) and very friendly, caring instructors. Plus the pool is actually warm, making it a pleasant learning experience for the kids.

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★ 1

Don’t waste your time if your kids are older than 5. Pool is tiny

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★ 4

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