Sutton Swim School

Here is my experience with Sutton. I was put on waiting list for about an year before I got a slot. I trusted Sutton was really worth the wait based on the infrastruecture they had and based on some friends reviews.
My son then spent about an year and half with them and was at level 2. I asked what he can do gain confidence in pool and make progress, they suggested he spend time in pools elsewhere in addition to sutton. Which seemed fair. So I enrolled in safespalsh as I didnt have better access to any other pools.
As it turned out, my son gained lot of confidence and made quite a progress in 3 weeks, which he could not in an year at Sutton.
Comparing the techniques, the small pool and the benches they put in water, make it difficult for kids to make more than couple of strokes. At this rate it would take foverever for someone to learn. Also the personal atttension is very less.
I feel the place is overrated and didnt help at all in my kids case.
Good luck.

This is a special review for Coach Melody.
Before coming to Sutton, we tried out DACA. Even at Sutton, we have tried out altogether 5 coaches, and Coach Melody is simply fantastic, phenomenal, out-​of-​this-​world amazing. I am a swimmer and used to swim competitively on a team, but somehow I just couldn’t get my child to listen. Worse still, she doesn’t trust me in the water. In a short period of 5 months (excluding numerous intermittent breaks due to travel, accidents), my child who was fearful of water blew through the 3 beginner levels and is now ready for strokes. Grant it, she came here twice, sometimes thrice a week. Without Melody’s patience and excellent teaching, I don’t think my 5yo could have advanced as fast as she could.
Some Sutton coaches are good, some mediocre. But if you can get a slot with Melody, even if your child has to swim with three other, take it. We had almost a private lesson with another couple of coaches at the beginning and I saw little improvement for a month. Once we switched to Melody’s class, my 5yo made progress in leaps and bounds and she was able to pick up skills she wasn’t able to in a month-​long private lesson.
This is what I did. I simply went to the Sutton reception, ask for all the classes that Melody teaches for my child’s level, and signed up all (too bad that there are only two in a week). It worked!

Solid 3 stars. Love the location but the crowds and tiny pool and tiny changing room leave much to be desired. The instructor was fun and had a great attitude.
I can’t get over the parents writing reviews lambasting this place because their 6 year old child isn’t doing a proper breast stroke. GET OVER YOURSELVES TIGER MOMS!
Ok, rant over.

Kids have been practicing there for over a year now but we see only little progress there. Lesson time is too short and only once a week which obviously is not enough. Good teachers schedule is always full and it’s so hard to get one. The nice thing is that it’s indoor, heated water, and it’s year long.

Coach Mike is Awesome Fantabulous!
He is what makes this place 5 stars
My 4.5 yr old child absolutely loves him and loves swim class here because of him
He’s positive, smiling and fun mixed with ensuring proper technique coaching.
The teacher makes a all the difference!
It is a great place for both fun and learning
The pool is small but they are here to learn how to swim (not do Olympic long laps) so the size is adequate
The pool temperature water seems to be good (my child used to freeze all the time at ymca and I had to get him a wetsuit there but here he doesn’t need one) and it’s not heavy with chlorine smell.
They have these platforms in the middle of the pool to teach the kids to swim between which is great (at ymca it was shallow so it didn’t challenge the kids enough and at waterworks aquatics it was deep and the waiting kid held on to coach’s shoulders)
There is a separate waiting room with large viewing window — great if you want to observe but front row seat is limited.
Wished the shower stalls were enclosed for full shower but it’s enough to rinse off and they don’t have a swim suit dryer (spinner) so you have to hand ring or take home soggy wet clothes.

So this place can be a hit or miss and like all places that offer lessons, it all depends on the teacher. We have been with Sutton for 4 years and while I love the theory of how they teach the strokes, we have definitely had some struggles with some of their instructors over the years. However, because we have been there so long, I know which teachers are good and which ones to avoid and now my kids are progressing quite well. One thing that is not really advertised – as your kid advances, the 1 day a week 30 min class really isn’t going to cut it (meaning it will take forever to advance). Also the program is truly stroke development – there is no endurance training until you get invited to the pre-​comp

My son just finished his toddler class and moved up to the beginners one. His teacher, Erica, is an amazing person: playful, considerate, fair and inspiring to kids. She is someone with a great common-​sense. A BIG thank-​you to you.
We really wished she would have a class on weekends for beginners, but we welcome the new changes and hoping for the best.
In general, the staff are very polite, happy and likable, which it is an indicator of good management. Please keep up the good work.

My daughter took the one week intensive lessons this past July and boy it made a world of difference. She’s so excited to go to swim class. Going for 5 days straight really helped reinforce the skills she learned, giving her momentum to combat her anxiety. We had Ebelyn and Kyle, and they were both great. We’ve signed her up now with Danielle for level 1 and she’s continuing to progress with her weekly classes. Convenient time slots are hard to come by, but we’re going to give the evening Saturday classes our best shot since she’s doing well. The facility is clean and well kept. I found that as long as you inform the instructor at the beginning of the class of your child’s concerns/​things to consider, the class ends up being successful. Else, you really can’t expect them to remember what would suit your child best as they rotate from one class to the next.

My 4 year old daughter has been going to Sutton Swim for about a year now and they have transformed her from being afraid of the water and crying during her first swim lessons to loving the water and happily going to her lessons. All of the instructors have been patient and friendly with her and she is learning essential skills such as climbing out of the pool, floating and swimming short distances.
The pool is heated and is indoors, which is awesome as I don’t have to deal with sunscreen for a half hour lesson.

Dear Sutton Swim School,
This letter is primarily directed at the rude, arrogant, condescending guy I spoke with last Thursday.
Let me tell you about my son. He was born at 28 weeks along with his identical twin (who we lost after 42 devastating days) weighing 2 pounds (yes, two), and as most micro-​preemies, he overcame outstanding odds and obstacles. He fought in the NICU for 84 days and we stayed right by his side for 84 days. Later, when he developed respiratory issues and was rushed via ambulance to the ICU for a week, we lived in the hospital again, we helplessly held him and hoped for the best.
So when I came up to you and explained my current concerns about my son and how he suddenly went from a baby who loved playing in the pool to a child who cries and clings when he’s in your class, I was a bit puzzled as to why you sighed and rolled your eyes at me, and during the entire time I was speaking, you kept looking left and right like one of those Felix the cat wall clocks. I’m confused. Did you find me boring? Or just irrelevant? I mean, it didn’t seem like you had a lazy eye or something. You couldn’t even look me in the face and instead, said in a very bored, monotone voice, «You shouldn’t have taken your child out of the pool. By doing that, you’re teaching your child that it’s okay to be a quitter.»
Excuse me? I’m sorry, are YOU teaching ME how to parent my child? I think I know a –little– more about my child than you do. For example, as forementioned, how he used to love going to the pool with my husband and I and now he cries as soon as he sees the teacher, clings to us fearfully and shakes uncontrollably when he’s in your pool. Or how after each swim lesson, he’s has nightmares for two days afterwards (which has never happened before).
Did I mention that my child is 23 months? Adjusted, that’s 20 months. He’s a toddler. I suppose it’s too much to expect that you know that toddlers can’t be reasoned with and that a parent’s role at that stage of development is to provide stability and a nurturing relationship with their child, right ?
Let’s get something straight. What I’m teaching my child is that I care about his feelings and well being and I am not going to let someone try to bully me into keeping my child in a situation where he obviously feels unsafe and terrified.
If you bothered to read the «questionnaire» I filled out, and as I told the person who gave me the tour and who I spoke to extensively the first day, my child had respiratory issues and does not like to be submerged. And what happens at the end of the first class? He gets submerged. And it happens right away at the start of the next class. I highly doubt anyone took the time to read or brief each other about what I said and wrote, so I don’t know why I even wasted my time filling it out (though honestly, I had about two minutes to fill it out).
What I’m teaching my child is that he is first and foremost in my life, and you, who I highly doubt even has kids, know nothing about me or my child, and you care enough to.
Yes, I read that pamphlet cover to cover that you handed me the first day. I am capable of that, you know, being able to read. I also read the sign you have posted up on your bulletin board (see? I even know it was there). What I’d like to know, since you seem to just keep saying those two lines to me over and over, is how it is mathematically possible to get out of line-​of-​sight of my child when I’m holding my child (without, say, putting a kickboard or something between us).
I signed up my child for swim classes so that he would have a fun activity to do, and instead, he’s now terrified of the water. Against my better judgement (and only because I hope that I can somehow rectify this situation since you won’t give me a refund), I will be going into the water this week with my child to see if I can undue some of the damage.
And when I’m there, I’ll be looking up your name in the wall of staff. You will be the sole reason I am canceling my classes. Trust me, I have a lot more words I want to post on here to you, though I’m going to be nice. Because you know, that’s what I was, nice, when I went up to speak to you. As is expected of most people who interact with me, especially since I’m paying their establishment.
I wasn’t expecting a lecture on your thoughts of child-​rearing, though I do think you need a lecture on manners yourself. And look people in the face when they’re talking to you. It’s the polite thing to do.
Can you tell how pissed off I am, even five days after? I wanted to have a discussion on how we could, collectively, make these classes fun and enjoyable for my son, and instead, was told that I am overreacting, being a quitter, and dismissed. Awesome customer service. Awesome.

My son loves this place. Nicely heated, all year around, wonderful staff unlike student staff that keeps changing in DACA (at least the year that we went). Same price like any other swim school around. I like the fact that boys over 6 years change in mens room. My son feels proud and also gave me an opportunity to teach him to do things by himself. I just shampoo him outside and let him change in mens room. Absolutely love it. Staff is awesome too.

Love Sutton! Our daughter has been receiving lessons here for the past 5 years. Each time we needed to change our time slot, they worked hard to get the most appropriate teacher for her that was in the time span we needed. Each and every person we came into contact with had a good attitude and made it a pleasure to be there each week.
Coach Holly is amazing for the upper level swimmers. She is great for teaching technique and moving the kids along.
The facilities are kept really clean and the viewing area is nice. I like not having to be poolside with the humidity.
People who complain about having to pay for their child to be with 3 other kids during the ½ hour lesson already know this up front — why complain? See if you can find private lessons at this price. The peer exposure does wonders for moving kids skills along.

Coming back to update — my son was with Sutton for almost 10 months with the same teacher which was a plus. But, the improvement in his swimming plateaued out after the first few months. There was no progress whatsoever after that. There was nothing extra or special that this school can do to help a child who is stuck in a level for several months except to tell us that all children take their own time to learn to swim. Not blaming them — all the other schools said the same thing too. For me, having started my child out at swimming when he turned 3 and not seeing much progress for almost 3 years after that was frustrating and a waste of my time. I wanted my child to swim with precise strokes and be proficient at it — not to be stuck at the basics for years.
So, we moved again to Santa Clara Swim Club and this time I ensured that my son attended their accelerated swim program — 2 to 3 times per week. The progress is remarkable — he learnt all his strokes and has moved on to precompetitive swimming at SSC within a year.
Lesson learnt for me: Convenience is not everything. If I have to drive a little to get the results I want and the programs that fit right, I will do so in the future.

The facilities are good, and clean.
However, the teachers are hit and miss, and the management is terrible. My daughter was making good progress (measured in ribbons) for a year, then the teacher changed, and she made absolutely no progress for 1 and half years. I dug up their so called report cards, and found that she was actually losing skills as time went by according to her report (there are a set of skills for each level, and each is marked when accomplished).
When we asked what as going on, the guy in charge was absolutely terrible, both in his response to our questions and his attitude. He told us that they were planning on stopping issuing reports anyways (maybe because parents were looking at them!), and essentially ignored our complaint saying some kids take longer for certain levels. We asked them if any other kid had taken a year and a half to go to a different level and he had no answer.
We took her out of Sutton, she went to a private tutor, and was in pre-​comp swimming within 3 months (2 levels above where she was in sutton). It is actually cheaper to hire a private tutor than go to Sutton (in a 30 minute class, my daughter swam for maybe 8 minutes). You do the math.

I would give it a 3.5 stars if I could. Our first school was DACA and Sutton was our second. We definitely like Sutton better and my son got more out of it. Differences between the two:
DACA (my son was 3.5−4.5 years old, in 2011): doggie paddles, more play (kids hang on to floaties in a line, etc), less swimming back and forth
Sutton (5.5 years old, for 3 months, Mar-​Jun 2013): more swimming, no arms until they’re up several/​many levels, they do superman arms, kids learn to jump in and climb out by themselves, diving from a sitting position
Other places: I will review slowly, but we tried Aquatech, Osprey Aquatics, Sharky’s, The Swim Pro (3 lessons but with so much spacing in between, not consistent enough to review yet), and will try Patti’s Swim School soon, all in 2013. My son loves all these places by the way.
My son spent 8 months, from when he was 3.5 years old to 4.5 years old, at DACA with no progress and disliked his teacher. So we spent a year with no swim lessons to give him a break and started him at Sutton, after 6 months on the waiting list. He was now 5.5 years old and loved his teacher. His teacher left the school a week before we told Sutton we were leaving too. The reason we left Sutton and I’m giving it 3.5 stars is because while at Sutton, we tried another swimming school in the East Bay (while my son was staying with his grandparents for spring break) and one private instruction. I saw how much more they do at those places and how my son loved it. Then he got back to Sutton and just swam short distances with no pop-​ups, and often times the teacher would lift him half way instead of letting him swim all the way, which I know he could.
We have since tried a one week summer swim session offered by Osprey (which we love and whole-​heartedly give a 5 star rating) and my son is now at Sharky’s. He is now swimming freestyle and will soon learn side breathing according to his instructor. We have only left Sutton two months ago. If we had only swam at Sutton, my son would not be able to swim as well as he does now.

I’ve taken my son to this school for one year. The good point is that he loved it.
What bothered me is that I wanted him to learn how to swim (he’s really comfortable in the water) but in 10 months, he learned how to be even more comfortable, breathing under water and… to do the dolphin. I’ve talked to them about learning basic stroke moves and they answered that they wanted to focus on learning the basic of swimming before actually swimming (I’m not sure I get the concept but whatever).
The teachers are nice, one of the sub wasn’t that nice but got him only once.
The minus side of this school is their policy, they don’t offer make-​up class or refund if you miss a class even if you warn them several weeks before. I feel bad but at $ 20 the half hour, even if my son has a runny nose, I’ll send him to the class…
I also had to ask for an evaluation. They did it twice at month 3 and 4 I think and then nothing for 6 month.
So, to sum up, I will recommend the school for kids who are not comfortable or scared of water but I won’t recommend it to actually learn how to swim.

My daughter who is 4 years old loves this swim class. She is very excited every week and looks forward to go to the class. She just cant wait to get into the pool and learn. the teacher here is very good and professional. There school maintains cleanliness and the shower area is always clean. Heated pool throughout the year.

Don’t waste your time and money. My son was there for two years and he moved up only a few levels. The teachers were constantly changing. The lessons were expensive for the 4:1 teaching ratio for a 30 min class. I pulled my son out and put him in private teaching lessons at a different facility. Now, 7 mths later, he can swim freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly without any problems. Prior to that he was not even swimming a single stroke because of Sutton’s extreme emphasis on waiting to introduce the use of arms. Save your money and go elsewhere

Swimming schools for babies is $$$!! I was desperate for a trial session since I wanted to see how my son would react to water. This might be one of the lone swim schools which make you buy non-​disposable swim diapers. My question is, what if he poops in his swim «diaper»? How the heck do you clean it?!
The staff was friendly enough, but for $ 19 for half an hour where you don’t really teach much, I am a no-​go. For our fishes (baby) class, we just did a circle time in the water and the instructor went around and dunked each baby in the water. (I still have to find out how to do it so I can try it out on my son on my own).
The pool was nicely heated and they ask you to «shower» before getting in the pool and after as well. I liked that the entire pool was shallow enough for me to stand in since I later found out that not all pools for teaching are like that.
They had a nice locker room area to dry off and get dressed. Overall, it was decent… but a tad too overpriced for me. This is in Cupertino, hidden in between all the Apple buildings, so go figure!

My son has been going here for over 6 years. During that time, he has had only 2 teachers, Stephen & Teresa. Both were able to channel his exhuberant energy while in the pool to become a more precise technical swimmer. He finally reached the final Gold level certificate, conveniently on his last day at the school. Some levels took a while, but we weren’t in a hurry to leave.
We’re only stopping because he’s on a swim team now and the schedule no longer works. He was sad to leave because he really enjoyed the class and his teacher.
The heated indoor pool is definitely a bonus, in addition to the separate viewing area to watch your swimmer. Since it’s separated from the pool it’s not so humid. They work hard to keep everything clean. Swimming items and refreshments are sold (those freshly baked cookies are very tempting).