All Around Academy of Gymnastics

★Jennifer Farabaugh

PRE SCHOOL AGE PARENTS STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!!! We have had an absolutely terrible experience here. I signed my 3.5 year old daughter up for her first gymnastics program which was supposed to be fun and exciting. The preschool class follows an on-going class structure so new and existing students are all together. With that being said, my child was not introduced to the class, shown around, or given any basic first-day rules. It was simply show up and go. I immediately noticed my daughter struggling to follow along because she is brand new, barely preschool age, and has no previous experience. She was not instructed how to do certain stretches, routines, etc. but was expected to do them correctly. After observing the expectations were a little above my 3 year old child’s level I asked an instructor how old the other kids were and if my child is in the right class for her age and level. I was reassured that she was in the right class and all was well. Our most recent class, I stood nearby and observed the class and noticed my child needing redirection a few times but did not notice any concerning or out-of-the-norm behavior for a 3 year old. At the end of class my daughter came to me crying and said “I didn’t get a sticker because I am mean”. The coaches thought that giving every child a sticker and leaving out the youngest child to cry and run to their parent was an appropriate disciplinary action and did not approach me once to express concerns about her behavior. I approached the coach and asked why my child didn’t get a sticker and was met with a hostile confrontational attitude where the coach openly said harsh things right in front of my 3 year old beginner child. It is worth mentioning that when we arrived the two coaches exchanged glances at each other and just seemed so against my child from the start. This has been such a strange experience because I noticed my child not fitting in with this class and even asked if she was in the right class. I emailed “management” who has chosen to remain anonymous and only give responses via email defending their employee and placing the blame on my 3 year old child. If my child was exceptionally misbehaved or causing a safety concern I would expect the instructor to immediately remove my child and bring her to me but that did not happen. Overall, that experience is enough for us to not want to return or recommend this place to anyone. All of that aside, I can say that my son was in the ninja warrior program and I can confirm like another reviewer said, it is unstructured and the coaches are teenagers, which is fine but they’re clearly uninterested in the success of your kid and it shows. We ending up pulling him from the class because my husband who was a gymnastics instructor for 6 years for a ninja program specifically said that the class was not structured or teaching our son anything worthwhile. I am so disappointed in how this situation was handled and waited to see the response from management before posting a review. The mediocre, low effort, and uncaring response from management was very on brand for this establishment so I cannot say I am surprised. EDIT: After the owners response it is important to note that I very calmly and kindly approached the coach with my CRYING child to ask why my child was singled out. The coach proceeded to go on a tangent for multiple minutes degrading a simply excited and not at all misbehaved 3 year old child right in front of her. The coach then stormed off and I then said a comment that I should not have said out of shock that she’d act that way and it was not heard by other families or children whatsoever. Trying to paint an ugly picture of me and my child will not be tolerated and is unprofessional. I did not storm up and yell at a coach or raise my voice at all. Doubling down on the bullying of a young child is not okay and defending it by sharing that other families have had great experiences is shameful. I would not take the time out of my day to speak with management if we were not seriously offended by this.

★Donna Omara

So let me share my experience with all around gymnastics. So my granddaughter was signed up in the preschool gymnastics program, she’s 3.5 years old and a very tiny little girl, she was the youngest in her class and the other girls being 5 and with past experience, I was having a grandma day with my granddaughter and offered to take her to gymnastics, I sat up close to watch her and noticed the other girls sitting together and doing stretches and routines my granddaughter sat off to the side and was given no instructions on what they were doing, so she was mostly sitting and watching the other girls. Then after being split into two groups the instructor gave the girls a routine to do of several tasks, which a beginner of her age could never remember, so she was lost standing and trying to figure out what to do. One instructor in particular kept on telling her to do the routine in a not so nice tone, and seemed aggravated my granddaughter wasn’t doing the routine, she never offered to help her learn it. My granddaughter has never been to school or daycare or any outside activity, this was the first and we wanted it to be a positive experience for her, a way to grow and learn. After the class I was getting my granddaughters coat on and the one instructor approached me and starting telling me my granddaughter wasn’t following instructions and could be a safety concern if she didn’t do what they told her to do, her demeanor to me was very matter of fact and unprofessional, she didn’t talk to me as if to have a conversation but rather to tell me how bad my granddaughter was, I told the young girl I was her grandma not her mother and I reminded her my granddaughter was new, the youngest and had no experience. I was very taken back by her attitude. I watched the class and I would have noticed if my granddaughter was causing an issues. I went home a told my daughter what happened. And we let it go until the next class where things escalated with the same instructor. I was also a witness to that situation which left my granddaughter in tears when we left the gym. Please read the next reviews and you will see. My husband and I are life time Dubuque residents with a well know reputation in the community, I’m a nurse my husband a GM of a company and neither of us would ever stir up false narrative, My daughter tried numerous times to reach management with no response except a nasty email from someone ??only blaming all on an 3 year old , I would not recommend this gym to young beginners.

★★Joey Farabaugh

I truly wanted to love this place, but our experience ended up feeling like a one-star situation. My 3-year-old daughter was thrilled to begin gymnastics. This was her first structured learning environment. Unfortunately, from the moment she stepped into class, she was scolded and singled out for simply not knowing things she had never been taught. During one of the very first stretches, when they asked the kids to do the "butterfly," she jumped up and flapped her arms because she had no idea what the pose was. Instead of guiding or encouraging her, the two coaches exchanged annoyed looks and made faces at each other. This pattern continued throughout our two latest lessons. At no point did they pause to teach her, explain what to do, or help her understand the flow of class. They expected a brand-new 3-year-old to already know every movement. This is especially disappointing because the class description promises "much attention and praise" and says children will be "safely led through obstacle courses and activities that progress their gymnastic experience." What we experienced was the complete opposite. The moment that broke us was when she ran out of class crying, saying, "I didn’t get a tattoo because I’m mean." The idea that a 3-year-old child walked away believing she was "mean" because she was confused and never guided is devastating. When my wife attempted to calmly ask the instructor why our daughter didn’t receive the same end-of-class treat and whether she might be in the wrong level, she was met with hostility and raised voices. The way she was spoken to was even harsher than how our daughter had been treated. We attempted to speak with the manager/owner and were told we would receive an email instead. Management stood by all of these decisions and continued to place all blame on my child. The only reason this review is not one star is because one of the coaches earlier on showed some patience and understanding, something we desperately hoped would be the norm. As someone who coached gymnastics for six years, I cannot stress enough how important it is to train instructors to work with children, especially those who are new, nervous, or young. What we experienced was unacceptable and completely contrary to what a preschool gymnastics program should be.

★Ernest Powell

We signed our daughter up for the ninja class hoping it would be fun and enjoyable but after watching how terrible the class was conducted, it took every bit of energy I had to hold back and not yell at the two boys to least pretend they wanted to be there and help. Worst school ever.

★★★★★Shuree Behr

This is a great place to take your kids to gymnastics. They have a great program in place and amazing coaches. My daughter started when she was 2 in the parent/tot class and now currently is enrolled in the preschool gymnastics(4 year old).