Dolphin Academy Swim School, Evans | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

If your child has a learning disability..DONT BOTHER!!!!

Back story- my son who is 3 years old has trouble focusing and his verbal skills are slowly developing (no behavior issues at all)…One provider says he is on the low spectrum of Autism but another says he’s just has a learning disability.

Long story: it was his first day yesterday (8-20-22) and I signed him up for the 3-4 class (just him and another kid) but at the time I didn’t know I couldn’t be with him in the water (if i knew that, I wouldn’t have placed him in the class)…before starting the front desk lady with brown hair (don’t know anyone’s name) asked if he had any disabilities I said he’s “non verbal and you have to re-direct him.”

Anywho, during class I noticed the teacher was having trouble redirecting him so she placed the attention on the other child (didn’t bother me bc I didn’t want my son to take away from the other child’s opportunity to learn)..my child just wanted to kick and splash….After noticing this- his dad and I asked if we could move him to the mommy and me class (0- 3 year old) but was told “no” by the brown hair lady…she instead asked, if he had any learning disabilities …I said “a provider previously said he was autistic ”…she responds by saying “I didn’t see that in his application and if we knew that then he probably wouldn’t have been accepted.” She goes on to say “those kids have to get an evaluation first.”

Looking shocked- His dad ask if they had private sessions…another lady (with red hair) says in a condescending way “yeah but we only have two time slots 3:30 and 4 and the wait list is long.”

We’re like “ok just put him on the wait list!” HOWEVER the brown hair lady says “well I
I think you should send him to Katie’s Pool at the YMCA bc they handle “special needs” kids and we are not equipped to do that.” Before agreeing to do that, the red hair lady gives us the number….the Brown Hair lady says “I’m going to refund your money and you see how Katie pool works first , if it doesn’t then maybe we can do something.” ***but mind you she previously said he prob wouldn’t have been accepted***

Kids just want to have fun with their peers. This organization should really consider hiring staff who are equipped to working with children with learning disabilities!!! Instead of hiring staff who are dismissive and condescending.

After 4 months of lessons, our 5 yr old child has not progressed very far. She has no basic survival skills and has only learned streamline with no paddling, floating on stomach, and putting her head underwater (holding breath for 8 seconds or so). She still cannot tread water on her own. Many swim lessons by other companies in the US do 2-4 day swim lessons for 30 minute sessions for 2 weeks and provide decent swimming improvement. Dolphin Academy is catered more to long term technical swimming training and only does one 30 minute lesson a week. If you are looking for a program to build confidence in the water, this is it. Our child was already comfortable before starting here though. But if you want your child to be able to swim on their own at a reasonable pace, you should look elsewhere. We were told that some kids take a year or more to learn basic swimming techniques here. If we were better informed as to how their program was structured, we would have chosen a different location. For the price they charge, we certainly expected better basic swimming survival skills. They do have very attentive, caring coaches but we believe their program structure is not conveyed properly.