Upper Merion Dance & Gymnastics Center LLC

We've tried all the gymnastics centers around and have found UMSGC to be the best run, cleanest, flexible schedule and most class opportunities around for our little gymnasts. We are excited to try the camps here as well, and thus far have been happy with the instructors and communication.

My daughter has been taking tumbling lessons here for many years and likes it. Their classes are very dependent on which coaches they get. Some are amazing and helped her learn so much. And some spend time chit chatting and goofing around. I just watched my daughter literally spend 20 minutes standing around watching her coach chit chat, watching him set up mats, chit chatting some more. Also they don't adhere to the levels of tumbling at all anymore. My daughter worked years getting to her advanced level only to have little kids in the class that can't do half of the required level. Unfortunately the class suffers because she's practicing roundoffs in an advanced level because the younger kids can't do the layouts and tucks that they should be working on.

We tried this facility based on a friends recommendation. I’ve been disappointed with the communication and instructor interaction from day 1. And it’s gotten worse not better. We never met the coach or got any information of what to expect from the class. The coach spends most of the time chatting or looking at the iPad they use to mark skills. I get the IPad is a good tool however I’m paying money for the instructor to literally stare at an IPad for an hour. The interaction with the kids in class is minimal which surprised me. On top of that my son injured his knee. He was hurt so bad that we had to leave in the middle of his lesson. No incident report and no follow up. Crazy! This was our first and last class at the facility.

So I will first say loved my daughters most recent coach Ms. Ashley and how she interacted with all of the children, she was firm while also being mindful of the fact that these are young girls under the age of 10 who are still developing emotionally and may need a little word of encouragement here and there. Ms. Hope was also good with the kids. Did not like at all that for at least the first six months my daughter was in this program I didn't know her coaches names. After speaking with quite a few of the other parents none of us knew the names of our children coaches because they hadn't bothered to introduce themselves. My daughter didn't even know her coaches name which is insane. Do not expect the usual feel you get from being a part of a team from this facility, it just not there. They are very much focused on numbers and its pretty obvious. The class my daughter was originally in was an hour a week class until I received an email which explained that they thought she had the potential to join pre-team. I decided to let her give it a try and as long as she was happy and could keep up with the schedule I would allow her to stay the course. There were many times while watching practice that I was very uncomfortable with the chastising of the girls because it was never balanced with encouragement and I mean almost never. As of recent my daughter was moved up a level again which required practice three days a week for three hours at a time. This became too much for my 8 year old and was no longer fun so she did not want to be apart of the program, so I don't have direct contact for any of the coaches to reach out to them so I contact them on the Band platform which we were given to receive messaging in regards to class etc. just letting them know we would unfortunately be leaving the program after a year of being enrolled and not one of the people on the staff even bothered to respond. Which further confirms here you are nothing more than a number. Response to the below response: My comment " We may see you in the future" was not at all to the facility or coaching staff but to a parent who so kindly responded that she would miss seeing us at practice and hoped to run into us again. We will not be returning to this facility. We were there a year, I've seen enough.

My daughter has taken both gymnastics and dance classes at UMDGC for the past 2.5 years. The facility is excellent and the staff is dedicated to making sure that the kids learn, feel good about themselves, and enjoy their training. I have found the owners, Dave and Michelle, to be extremely responsive to the students' needs and parental requests. They really care about their programs and the kids who train at their gym. My child is progressing steadily in both gymnastics and ballet and, most importantly, she enjoys her classes and leaves the gym happy and confident. We have tried several gymnastics and dance programs and have found UMDGC to be the best for us-dedicated owners, solid programs, and great facilities.