Stroum Jewish Community Center

The SJCC’s summer camps are well organized, reasonably priced, and offer high-​quality and varied engagement for kids. My daughter loves it, and I love how on top of everything the staff is from bus service to special events to keeping families up to date on information. My only complaint (a minor one) is that I wish they didn’t assume that everyone texts. Still, I never had difficulty getting information via email or the phone, so this was a minor issue. Overall, the best summer camp experience my family has had yet. Also appreciated (yes!) is the bus service offered from Seattle to Mercer Island.

I have been going to the JCC since I was a kid. I love everything about it – from the friendly staff when you walk in the door to the wonderful preschool my kids went through, to the great workout facility downstairs. The J is unique in our community because where else can I workout while my child is upstairs at preschool? It is a special experience at the J and it truly feels like home.

Jcc is amazing in every way. Friendly staff, clean facility, open and inviting. The fitness gym has awesome new equipment.

My family has been members at the SJCC for 20 years. We arrived from the midwest with a very young family and received financial support for membership and tuition for pre-​school, without any shaming or embarrassment. We had an immediate community that embraced our children and gave my husband and I a place to find fitness and friends. Our children not only had a wonderful pre-​school experience, they also learned to swim and went to summer camp at the J. We continue to participate in SJCC community programming and take advantage of the boot camp, total body conditioning, cycling, PiYo, Zumba, the fitness/​strength training room and experienced personal trainers. The staff is friendly and responsive at all levels, and I am always greeted with a smile.

I so want to give the J high reviews. Really this place is a 2 star but as a prominent place in the community I can’t knock of that last star. Cost is above most other local gyms. Quality of the facility is below average. Complaints are rarely dealt with or when they ae it is not the least bit timely. My biggest complaints are one of safety. While the place has many «safety» features like ID badges as well as multiple different access points that could stop someone. These are all false sense of security features. The safety I am referring to is simple things like keeping the courts (Basketball, Racquetball, etc.) cleaned regularly. They have a preschool and after school program that run around on the courts and bring in dirt, dust, glitter, etc. and they do not have an adult only space or clean immediately following these activities and then they have adults run around and this causes injuries. The work room is far better after the remodel. As for the preschool, a great program that is overpriced. The worst part of the SJCC is the membership staff. This has been the pain point for years. It should be simple and easy to join the SJCC but it can take months. I have heard from a couple of people that it took longer than 4 months to finally become a member. Why this institution doesn’t streamline processes I will never understand.
Some significant positives of the SJCC are the amazing people that are there. Both members and staff. It is great to chat with them. They have some great programs like lecture series, sports leagues, etc.

Great place to hang out. Workout room OK. The open pool hours are limited. The babysitting is not terrific, so noone uses it.
Great Zumba and Yoga classes.
Coffee bar is a great service next to their looby and hangout area.

Not the newest or high end of facilities but it does the job. Never used the preschool or summer camps but heard alot of good things. Monthly rates are reasonable (albeit a little higher than average) and location is excellent. Now for the not so great stuff. Administration staff service is uneven and disjointed. This is mostly due to a lack of communication between amongst staff, weak processes to service and inform their members regarding sign up procedures and billing, and really INCONSISTENT AND SLOW follow up to inquiries via phone or email. For example, the number of times the pool was closed and members weren’t informed more timely is countless, despite having my email and requesting on several occassions to make sure I was on the distribution list for these type of notices. For the higher than average prices that I’m paying, why do I have to remind them to enforce procedures that should already be in place! Customer service is severely lacking once they have your money, which by the way, signing the membership is a required 1 year deal! You would think with all the modern conveniences of computers, they would actually utilize them more often. But no, they work like they were employed by the government and their jobs were for life, with little or no incentive for improvement. If these aspects are important for you, I recommend going to the following places: Pro Sports Club in Bellevue or Seattle, the WAC in Seattle, or Bellevue Club. You may pay a slight premium, but you get premium customer service, facilities, and an excellent overall experience.