Gymboree Play & Music

absolutely love Gymboree, Mr. Pat & Ms. Sophia. We tried a free class at another Upper West Side business on West 88^th street and then tried Gymboree and hands down Gymboree wowed us the most. On 88^th, the door was kept closed to the classroom while all the parents and kids crowded into a hallway waiting to be allowed to enter. The ‘band’ and ‘teachers’ on 88^th stood in the room talking to each other and only right at the time of the classroom were we allowed to enter. then less than 30 seconds later the class started… no time for the kids to acclimate let alone the parents. there was no interaction between the parents/nannies…and while my daughter had fun, I was put off by the above.
but at gymboree on 73^rd total opposite! We walked in and were greeted warmly… they asked my daughters name and welcomed us into the play area to hang out and use the equipment until the class started. The class started with a nice circle where kids and parents were introduced and the topic of the day was teething. great advice and Mr. Pat kept things moving and remembered kids names. both Mr. Pat & Ms. Sophia took alot of time explaining developmental milestones for our age group and also helped us understand what each exercise was meant to achieve and why it was included. The atmosphere was fun, friendly and very supportive.
The last thing that sealed the deal for us at Gymboree is that we can pay monthly ($ 200) instead of an entire semester at a time and that there is DAILY OPEN GYM!!! huge benefit.

Don’t want to spend tens of thousands of dollars in pre K, Gymboree is a great option.
I was introduced to Gymboree at 240 W 73^rd St by a meet up group of dads, NYC Dads Group. My son started at gymboree at 3 months and remained there until he started Kindergarten. He started taking three classes a week. Eventually Gymboree realized that they had a great opportunity to attract parents who didn’t want to fork over $ 25-​$ 50,000 for pre K and started a program called School Skills, which was a drop off program. At first I was concerned about dropping him off and how he’d react. But he was totally fine. He loved it. We enrolled him starting when he was 2. When my daughter was born at the first chance we did the same. She is at Gymboree on Monday Wednesdays and Fridays.
Now my son is at a Charter School called Harlem Hebrew. At first I was concerned about the length of the school day from 8 – 3:30, because he hadn’t been to a «structured pre K», but I must say that Gymboree prepared him for a 8 – 3:30 day as well as any of the $ 20-​$ 45,000 would have

I researched all kids classes on the UWS. After taking one trial class with my daughter when she was 5 months old, i was sold on Gymboree! The classes are great and have a nice natural progression on her skill level. Stephanie takes great care of the studio and the teachers are fantastic! I also like the variety of classes from play, music, art, and school skills. I highly recommend this place!

All the team members are terrific! BUT especially Isaac, he teaches gymnastics on Mondays at 12:30. He has the best energy and is great with teaching my little one (a 12 month old) to be better at balancing and to play well with others all through music and games! We love gymbo! He keeps the energy going from start to finish. I love that he knows all the children’s names and interests with everyone!

I love them. The instructors are so wonderful and Miss Stephanie is the BEST. They always have theme parties for the kids — beach party, luaus, etc — and are so incredibly accommodating when I need to reschedule make up classes. My son is SO happy whenever he enters, he starts squealing out of happiness!

I love this location. Stephanie and her team of teachers know each of the parents and children by name. I am always surprised when I come in and they know who I am. (I don’t always go with DD.)
While the staff can be hit or miss (sometimes), the miss ones usually get weeded out pretty quickly. Of the different classes we’ve taken, there’s only been one teacher that I was really «meh» about.

I have had my son in Gymboree for about 6 months. At first I thought he really enjoyed the class, the lessons are not bad, but lately he seems bored. I am trying to find something more stimulating. The teacher stands around talking half of the time and her lessons are terrible. If anyone has any suggestions let me know. I live in NJ so NY schools will not work.

The teachers at Gymboree are out of this world. Miss Carly is incredible, my daughter always wants to just take her home with us. Keeps the kids interested, has a great voice and a terrific personality. There’s another teacher, who does the music class, who is a trained opera singer and just a joy to listen to (but we’ve only been one time so I forget her name).

I took our 2 yr old to the 11:30am class on Wed with a teacher called Trever. Thank goodness it was a free trial class. What a terrible teacher. He doesn’t connect with the children and is constantly nagging the parents to help with the kids (we are all right next to our kids). He actually said, you’re with them 24 hrs a day, I’m only with them 40 min a week. They’re more likely to listen to you. Shocking because I used to teach toddlers dance for many years and I would have 10 — 2 & 3yr olds in my class with the parents sitting on the side while I taught class. You absolutely can get toddlers to listen and follow.
The 3 stars is because I like the space and location. The facility was small but very nice. My daughter enjoyed the climbing things but the teacher hardly used them. I used to take my oldest child to a different, bigger Gymboree and the teacher was much better.
I’m thinking about trying another teacher there because it’s so convenient but it is very expensive if it doesn’t work out. I’m going to try LIttle Gym next.