YMCA of Southern Maine - Northern York County Branch - Biddeford, Maine

melissa M.

Zero stars but I'm forced to give 1!

Do not put your children into the hands of a center that isn't equipped or have the training to be an advocate for your child and fight for what's best for their development just as much as you do. I feel heartbroken for a young 3 year old who was so excited to attend this center.

Again, do not give up stable childcare to send your child here.

They boast on being a center dedicated to bringing families together and the development of children.

This is the same center that kicked out a 3 year old the morning of her 3rd day because apparently she wasn't adapting fast enough and was unable to verbally express her emotions and had ONE incident the day prior. They gave ZERO explanation as to why they kicked her out and then refused, yes they verbally said ABSOLUTELY NOT when a discussion was requested and then chose to ignore email communications.

The current Development Director, according to his bio, started during the pandemic and he has zero background in education or even early childhood development.

They claim they follow policy, but again, like other reviews, that policy is only the one that fits their narrative not the policies they dictate in their handbook. They did not provide anything which they stated they would in their handbook.

At this point we can't advocate to have our child in this program because you'd have to question how they'd be treated daily.

The integrity of this program is non existent!

Laura K.

I always have positive interactions with the staff and the facilities are well maintained. They are still running very strict COVID protocols when it comes to some things. For example, the sauna continues to be closed. It would seem that we should be past that point with COVID (is that really reducing spread in any way?). They also seem to be struggling with staffing issues (isn't this the story everywhere), so the pool schedule is put out on a week by week basis at the moment. However, they offer significant pool time, so I can't really complain.

melissa H.

Showed up with a toddler to use the playground, and was told no. Guess it is used for the preschool program, which they don't have anyone one signed up for, due to no staff cause Tyler Cary is one creepy dude. No one wants to leave their child unsupervised with him... what a waste of a playground and preschool program. Go somewhere else.

Kendra R.

Got told they do day passes on the phone. Got there in person with a family of 4 and told us they do not do day passes (but they said they did on the phone) and we would need a membership in order to use the pool and we offered to pay for the membership but got told they needed a card on file which that was fine but we had cash to pay but we couldn't pay cash it had to be taken from the card.called Sanford ymca they do day passes.why aren't you guys offering day passes at this time(according to your website)?

Vamshi G.

Excellent facility for swimming and exercise. Generally, staff is friendly and helpful. However, lifeguards need more training dealing with members. Understood that’s not a requisite skill for the job but having common courtesy should be. I’ve had a lifeguard tell me that I was wearing an underwear and I should wear swim trunks instead and kicked me out. Now I’m a 40 year old man who can tell a difference between an underwear and one that is not...especially when I bought an expensive item specifically for swimming. Ah.. he asked for the brand and determined it was an underwear because it’s an unknown name. Baffled how such a skintight sportswear can be confused for an underwear. how does one even argue with an unreasonable mind?

Katie G.

beautiful, well maintained pool. The hours are tricky- wish they were open on Sundays. Staff has always been friendly and helpful.

Danny H.

The swim instructor is fantastic, the facilities are great.... when they're open, very frequent pool closing and cancelations. Once ok, but it's been systemic, I love the place and the people, it's just challenged in that regard.

Savanna P.

Unfortunately the childcare portion of the company has drastically declined since I enrolled my child two years ago. Very high staff turnover rate, lately it seemed like they were hiring just anyone off the street. They also do not have adequate training in childcare or seem to know how to handle children having temper tantrums besides to just send them home and ultimately remove them from the program all together. If you’re looking for great childcare, this is not the place.