Carol Macpherson Aquatics Center

I was looking for a swimming school for our young kids (5, 4 & 4) for a long time. Wanted a place where they are actually learning and making progress, and are having fun too. CMAC is just what we needed. The teachers were gentle, friendly, encouraging, and fun-​loving. Our kids loved it so much they asked for more session. I ended up signing myself up with the kids for the next session. I was an okay swimmer but never comfortable in the water. Terri was great! She was very encouraging and worked hard with me to conquer my fears. After 2 sessions (for the kids, 1 for me), we have all made great progress and have lots of fun memories. I really enjoyed my/​our experience with CMAC. Will return next year!

I really like this organization and my sons are enjoying the summer sessions. We found beautiful teachers and my kids are learning a lot and wanted to add as sessions as possible. I really recommend it!

We DEFINITELY recommend Carol!
My son joined his high school swim team as an inexperienced swimmer, and needed some 1-​on-​1 help on form (stroke, starts, and turns). Carol is just what he needed, both in terms of form and confidence.
He was able to take 4 seconds off his 50-​free and 6 seconds off his 100-​free after just 4 sessions (1 per week), and is much more diligent than previously about strength training.
Carol is a gem.

I’ve seen a lot of swim instructors in my day (over six with my four kids) and Carol is hands-​down the best. As an example, she worked 1−0n-1 with my daughter this summer (age 3) who is generally frightened of all strangers (she did not know carol or her staff before this), doesn’t like new situations, and didn’t want to leave the steps of the pool. After 5 weeks of lessons, Carol had her swimming by herself from the shallow end to the depend, and my daughter was loving it. In our house, that is practically a miracle with this particular swimmer girl.
Carol has a unique ability to earn trust with children no matter their age or swimming experience. She sets the bar high for them (meaning they will actually learn to swim… not just dink around in the pool) but she insists on earning their trust first as a key part to their swimming.
Carol and her staff have taught my four children (ages 1 – 8) how to swim. Carol’s prices are reasonable and beat out just about every other program I have seen (you have to break the pricing down by lesson or 30 minute segment to really get an idea of what you are looking at – she was half the price of the community pool lessons in Menlo Park.)
Bottom line: I get my moneys worth (i.e., the kids can actually swim) and my kids all love swimming. What more can you ask for?

My 4 year old daughter just started swimming lessons this year with Carol Macpherson and her staff. My daughter was comfortable in the water before but always need to hold on to someone. After completing 9 out of 10 weeks of Carol’s program, she is now able to swim by herself. She is considered water safe as she can jump in one side of the pool and swim across to the other side with taking breathes along the way. I am very impressed with her instructors and how much she learned in just one summer. I look forward to next summer.
The only downside was the construction going on at Jordan Middle School. It was kind of noisy.

I have a 2 year old that started taking lessons at 4 months. I wanted a program that taught children how to swim. CMAC does just that. My two year old is now swimming back and forth from the wall and loves the water. I started my 6 month old this week. In 3 lessons she going underwater and starting to glide from Carol to me and via versa. As a swimming myself, I could not be happier
Carol’s knowledge and experience really shows. She gets kids swimming and enjoying the water. I look forward to many more years of swim lessons at CMAC

I have two kids — 5 and 8 — and they have been taking lessons with Carol Macpherson for the past 4 years. My kids make more progress with Carol’s teaching technique in 2 weeks (i.e., 1 session) than in a month or more at other places (YMCA, JCC, etc.)… and, hence, even though it is not as close to us as it used to be, it is well worth the drive.
I like the small class sizes, the enthusiastic teachers, the fact that kids are pushed to swim/​kickboard across the pool (and not putter around in some small corner of a pool where they can barely complete 2 full strokes), that they are taught to dive into the deep end of the pool, that they get to wear fins, AND that Carol is almost always there giving sage advice to teachers and parents about each kid.

If you want your child to learn how to swim or swim better, this is the school to go to. The instructors are nice and friendly, the instruction is fabulous. The great thing is that the classes are small and my kids get a lot out of each class because of that.

We have had an excellent experience here. I cannot say enough great things about the program. My younger daughter has learned more in 6 days of lessons than my older daughter learned in years of swimming at other schools. The teachers we have had are patient, gentle, encouraging, and definitely know what they are doing. In addition, Carol is there to offer tips and advice to the teachers as she is observing each child and lesson that is going on. I also really like the structure of the classes. You go 3 days in a row for a ½ hr for 2 weeks. I plan to send my children to several sessions this summer, especially after seeing such amazing results so quickly.
I have been so incredibly impressed by the teaching and the entire program. I highly recommend the Carol MacPherson swim school to anyone! It’s the best program we have tried and we have tried many!

This program has gone downhill over the years. When I started sending my kids to learn swimming 3 years ago, the school was held at the Elks Lodge, a rather nice country club setting in Palo Alto. This year, the location had changed to Jordan Junior High. There were no changing rooms, let alone showers. There were also hardly a couple of chairs (under full sun) for parents who wanted to wait around during the lesson.
The registration process starts with filling out an enrollment form to tell them your preferred class time, then hope for the best. You will get a phone call 3 days before your scheduled session to find out what time you need to drop off your kid. This year I filled out the form a few months before summer starts. I preferred a 2:30pm class, got 10:30am class instead. If you are like me working full-​time, need to make advanced arrangement getting the kid to and from the class, plus securing childcare for rest of the day, this is not for you. The last minute scheduling is for sure stressful.
This is the third class my two kids are with C-​MAC. My 7-​year old is already a level B swimmer. She got paired up with a 3-​year old child that needed full-​time supervision. I figured the school knows exactly my child’s level, and would pair her up accordingly — we also did not get our preferred time. My child did not learn much as a result.
My 9-​year-​old child has an instructor that does not like to get wet! This instructor stood on by pool side just telling the kids what to do. The kids were just beginning to learn how to do back strokes. Couple of them were doing it completely wrong. They have no way of figuring out the right way since there is no one demonstrating it. One of the boy loves to put his head under the water and stood in the way while it’s others turn to swim. Being under the water, the instructor has no way to alert him to get out of the way. Either the boy kept getting run into, or the swimmer got interrupted. It was quite a sight.
Needless to say, I’m extremely disappointed with our last session. We will not be returning next year.