Member Testimonials
Great facilities, Friendly staff.
It's a great program and my son is very happy in it.
We love after school at HES. My only disappointment is we can’t get a spot in camp when needed. Otherwise, everything has been excellent and run so well.
Caring staff, reasonable cost, good hours
I think the best way to sum this up is by sharing a story. Last night my daughter (a first grader at HES) and I were reading a book about body boundaries and safety. The book instructs her to come up with a list of people who are on her "safety network" a group she identifies who she can go to if she is scared or needs help. She listed off a few family and friends and then said "Oh! And ALL of my afterschool teachers, they love me."
I don't think you can say anything more positive about a group of teachers than that.
Great staff, great communication and convenient for working parents. My daughter LOVES going to after school and will even get mad when I pick her up early.
Our experience has been mostly incredible at the CH-Carr YMCA afterschool. It is well-organized and the staff are kind and communicative. Our kid gets lots of physical activity after school and generally really enjoys himself! The ROI on value vs cost is excellent.
I have 2 pieces of gentle, constructive feedback, that I hope are helpful for planning and reflection:
1) The car line seems like an accident waiting to happen. The kids (IMO) need a lot more coaching and supervision when they are walking (and running and jumping and tripping) up that hill to get in their cars, with pedestrians crossing on foot, and cars pulling around slower ones. I worry every single day about this and have witnessed near-misses. If you visit any school car line or even a Chik-Fil-A you can observe much safer and more organized strategies, including folks opening car doors, helping kids in and out, set cones/stations for cars to pull up to, etc. My kiddo is older so I worry less, but when I was picking up my kid yesterday, I watched a much younger one slip on the snow trying to get into his car and actually slide halfway UNDERNEATH the car, while also banging his elbow. The parent who was in the driver's side, diagonal from him, was clearly panicking and couldn't even see his kid. The kid got up and into his dad's car while crying and while I was watching, not one single staff member appeared to even notice this was happening. Just not enough folks out there.
2) The staff (and kids, as a result!) would benefit from a little professional; development in the area of gentle boundary setting and emotional support of the kids. My little one has mentioned several times that he has observed or experienced an adult counselor invalidating big emotions that the kids are experiencing or minimizing injuries. One recent example of that is a counselor saying, to an injured kid "you're making too big a deal out of this, it's not that bad." In my experience, this only escalates the situation and/or makes kids feel less safe. I think it would be advantageous to help the counselors learn how to better support big feelings, even while also sometimes setting/maintaining boundaries. I recognize this is challenging.
Again, our experience is very positive, and I'm only offering this feedback in the hopes this is useful. Thanks for everything you do!
My son has had a great experience and loves going to the YMCA. He looks forward to seeing his friends and loves the counselors. Everyone is so friendly and creates a safe and positive atmosphere for the kids!
We are so grateful to the wonderful staff at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA After School Program. Our child feels a powerful sense of safety, belonging, and community at YMCA, and loves the activities offered.
Great program! I wish there were more spots my child’s friends have been on the waitlist for sometime. Hopefully in the future more staff can be added to allow more children.
I like that the staff is friendly, organized and accountable. I like that my kid gets to run around and be silly but also learn good values like inclusivity and kindness.
Friendly staff , clean facilities
The YMCA staff were extremely inviting, and welcoming both when we came for the first time to tour and see the facilities, and every day we’ve come in since then. In particular, we had very particular questions regarding our accounts that they were able to help us work through of the course of the next half-hour! Al of the equipment we have been using has been very well maintained and cared for.
A good variety of activities, friendly staff, nice facilities!
People at the Chapel Hill YMCA are so friendly and helpful. I mainly use the lap pool and never have difficulty getting a lap lane.
The wide range of amenities (weights, childcare, running track, basketball gym, cardio).
Friendly staff, clean facilities and accessible group activities like yoga and aquafittness.
Good classes. Chair yoga is very good. The equipment has been updated. The facility is well maintained.
Chair yoga. More sessions!
Like h20 but too crowded.
Friendly staff, clean facility, sauna and steam room!
WARM WATER POOL!!
Excellent, friendly, and accommodating staff.
Wonderful members.
I love my yoga classes with Alta and Brandi. I appreciate the friendliness of the staff who greet us. I like to lift weights and sometimes I use the upstairs exercise machines but I find it difficult to be bombarded by the horrible news that is in front of our faces all the time. Please shut off the TVs or find educational and health oriented stations / videos.
Cost, facilities, locations.
The water aerobics classes with Gwen and Beth have been invaluable in getting me back to normal after knee replacement. Love the community feel.
The friendliness of staff and other personnel. The cleanliness of the facility on an on-going basis. The maintenance and variety of exercise equipment. The availability of sanitary wipes to clean after each use of the equipment. The schedules and variety for group exercise classes. The people who conduct the classes are so friendly and humorous.
staff are welcoming and friendly, facilities are clean, and the fitness schedules are very clearly laid out on the website.
The staff and the facility are very nice. I like having access to the pool and the weight room.
I use the swimming pool and steam room. I like those
As a new member I have been so impressed. The staff have been incredibly welcoming and helpful.
Amazing, clean facilities, classes for all interests and levels, pleasant and capable staff.