Zen Penguin Swim School

★★★★★Lynn Schell

I wasn’t sure my sensory-avoidant tween would ever learn to swim. Loud pool environments overwhelm him, and he needs to understand the plan and the why before trying something new. At other swim schools, instructors pushed him to put his face in the water instead of listening to his concerns, and it never worked. Zen Penguin was completely different. Their instructors truly listen to kids and meet them where they are. The coaches are calm, present, consistent, and incredibly kind. They take the time to build trust and confidence. Now my once water-avoidant tween cannonballs into the deep end with his friends. My younger child has thrived here too; he went from no swim skills to strong streamlines and rollovers in just a few months. I especially appreciate their focus on real safety skills, like making sure every child can back float to breathe so they have a way to self-rescue. We always have eyes on the kids when they swim - but now I have the peace of mind knowing they have the skills to stay safe even when they’re out of arm’s reach. Zen Penguin is truly something special.

★★★★★Jennifer Jensen

We had struggled to find swim classes and thanks to the coaches at Zen penguin my son went from being mildly afraid of the water to being a little fish. My kids have primarily had Coach Penny, Coach Sarah, and Coach Stephanie as their coaches, but all of their swimming instructors are absolutely amazing! They've always treated our children with respect and kindness. I'd recommend them to anybody!

★★★★★Kurt Hudson

I can't speak highly enough about the staff and program that they deliver at Zen Penguin. My daughter is a very "energetic" young lady that loves the water. Unfortunately we made poor choices and let her use a floatie vest too often. It created a false sense of security not to mention the damage it did to her developing swimming skills. It left us with serious safety fears with her around water. In short order, she's ditched the floatie and is swimming like a champ. My wife and I are incredibly confident our daughter can safely handle herself in the water now, and her skills will only continue to grow. Thank you, thank you, thank you to a fantastic team.

★★★★★Barber Family

Cannot say enough amazing things about Zen Penguin Swim School. Both of our daughters (ages 4 and 6) have shown such tremendous growth and confidence in the water in just a few short months with the guidance and expertise of coach Penny. She has been a total game changer in our swim lesson journey and we are so incredibly grateful we found Zen Penguin. Our eldest daughter was quite nervous with water for a long time and now she is happily dunking her head underneath and always excited to go to swim lessons. It’s been remarkable to watch both girls progress and I am confident they will continue to make awesome gains. Breathing a big sigh of relief that they have become so fond of swimming and that they will be so much more safe in and around water! Thank you Penny and staff!

★★★★★SAS

My child loves the water but other swim instructors we worked with struggled to meet his additional sensory and behavior needs. After passing the his first class at the YMCA with flying colors and then being told not to return, we tried a class at PP&R that ended on the second session when the instructor engaged in a power struggle with him after telling him he *had* to put his head under the water. I heard about Zen Penguin through other parents of children with similar needs and on our very first session Teacher Penny had him face down in the water and kicking back and forth across the pool with no problem. The instructors at Zen Penguin are incredible caring and respectful in their approach to instructing children with sensory and behavioral differences and always willing to adapt their methods to meet the child where they are at.