Wings Over Water School - Fairfield, Connecticut

Justine H.

My daughter has mostly liked the classes and has improved. The issues are the class sizes and instructors. Her teacher from the first class left soon after we started. Teachers are frequently out and there are subs. When she was put in beginner level there ended up being 6 kids in the class. They spend most of the time sitting on the steps. They increase the length of the class to 45 min, charge more, but let more kids in. Classes should be max 3-4 kids. I did bring concerns to the front desk but they had no resolution to offer.

Meagan D.

At first, our experience was good. My son has a very hard time adjusting to new environments, and his instructor, Dani (who is not there anymore), was the perfect mixture of loving and firm. After a few weeks, my son was thriving with consistency and high expectations. Once Dani left, things rapidly declined. My son's instructor was never there, so he couldn't build familiarity to get comfortable. The worst experience of all was at a makeup class, the instructor was working with other students and had her back turned to my son. He quickly went under the water and couldn't get back up. There were two lifeguards on duty (very small pool) who didn't even notice, they were too busy talking. Thank goodness I didn't have my infant daughter with me that day, because I had to quickly jump in and save my son. No one on staff apologized - they just stared at me wide eyed, until I spoke to the receptionist & the lifeguards myself who said she would forward to management. She didn't, or at least the director says so. Finally, I went to schedule makeup classes after my son had a small procedure done that required him to stay out of classes. I called the main number to schedule makeups, who told me to send an email so they could better accommodate me. I sent the email, and the director told me to call the front desk. A minor issue, but after the experiences I'd had, I didn't want to continue our time at Wings Over Water. The director was kind when I let her know we were done, and offered credits to our account, but it wasn't worth it since my son wasn't thriving there. I would avoid if your child needs consistency to feel comfortable.

jenna K.

Update:

Last summer a few months after my review one of the managers finally reached out to me to apologize for the lack of follow up and offered us a credit on our account. She was very attentive and nice. While we didn’t reenroll my daughter we did use the credit for my son for the infant classes and so far it has been a pleasant experience.

Initial:
After an initial great experience I feel things went down hill. Last summer she learned so much and was doing great.
We took some time off from September to January.
When we returned she was in a class with two instructors and 4 kids. I thought that was fantastic because each child would get more practice time because there were two instructors, however I felt the instructors were more concerned with talking to each other than teaching and didn't feel like much was getting done. I didn't say anything I just switched classes after two months. After switching to a new instructor I thought things would get better but we had one class with the instructor and then she was gone for an entire month. Her classes were either canceled or they had a sub, but nobody was ever consistent so therefore they didn't know her skill level or what she needed to work on. Instead I felt like they wasted 10 minutes of a 30 minute class blowing bubbles in a cup when my daughter was already well past this stage. I asked for a manager to call me three times to discuss my concerns and nobody ever called me back. I ended up canceling our lessons. I'm disappointed that I wasted 6 months worth of lessons and money from January to June and never even had the opportunity

Alison S.

Liz was very helpful and I would recommend this swimming school to anyone looking for something fun and educational for their little one

Tamara P.

We love this place! Most instructors are friendly and patient with kiddos.
My baby always had fun and it’s so much joy to watch him in the water.
The little play area is nice to hang out after swim as well

Mike G.

My daughter has been going here for about a year now and we love it. The facilities are well maintained (I’ve seen someone cleaning something every time we’re there), the staff are friendly and knowledgeable (especially Miss Liz and Miss Sue), but most of all the instructors are great. They clearly know how to swim and also how to care for kids. Miss Lauren is friendly and gives off very calming energy. Miss Diamond has also been so much fun when she subbed. Some of the things my daughter learns we’re also able to reinforce at home, which is great. Five stars.

Lina V.

My children have been in classes here for many years. The teachers are experienced and patient. I did prefer the way it was when the classes were by semester because it was easier to see growth. However, their perpetual swim classes allow for more flexibility.

Jenna R. M.

My children have had the best experience here. My son in particular had some anxieties and difficulties in the water and all his instructors have been great. In fact, before this we tried other schools and none could even get him in the water. My older daughter really blossomed as a swimmer in her lessons as well.