University Village Youth Recreation

Archived Q&A and Reviews

July 2011

I have a 9 year old boy and am looking for good summer camp options in Berkeley. I already have experience with Cal's camps (mixed feelings about those). Was curious to know if anyone has had children in the art and sports camps held at University Village. John

Too late for this summer, but my son had a good time at the half-day basketball camp at UC Village. The coach, with two teenage assistants, taught the campers plays, and they played a lot of games. There was a big age range, but the boys were divided into teams by age to make the games balanced and fun. Jenny

Re: Afternoon Mom & Toddler Classes (Dec 2002)
You might check out the classes offered by the recreation program at University Village in Albany. Thhe classes can fill up quickly, but there are many different weekday afternoon classes that my daugher has enjoyed off & on over the years. You can also check out the Albany library--they have at least a ballet and tap class on friday afternoons. A final source: No Sweat dance studio on solano in berkeley--they have some daytime kids' beginning dance classes. jessica

April 2006

Re: Fun gym for 13-month-old
The gym class at UC Berkeley Village is great and affordable, much more reasonably priced than Gymboree. anon

August 2004

Re: Low-cost tumbling class for 3-year-old
Albany Village has very affordable gymnastic classes w/ classes for ages 18 months to 4 years. We just signed up for the first time so I can't tell you first hand what they're like, but others have given me rave reviews. I hear they fill up quickly so call to see what's available.

Re: Tumbling classes for 2-year-old (June 2004)
I wholeheartedly recommend the UCB Village Recreation Center Gymnastics Plus classes for your child. My daughter has attended classes at the ''Village'' since she was 18 months, and she loves them. Many of her friends also take the classes, so we have built a social life around the weekly visit. We've met new friends there as well. Just as important, the director, Dawn Rugo, is very concerned with safety and staff training. The Village is located in the SW quadrant near the corner of San Pablo and Marin Ave (Buchanan St.). Signups for fall start on August 1. Maria

My son really enjoyed Linda and Pablo at the UC Albany Village Community Center. The prices are reasonable and the children are gently engaged. We had previously tried Windmill and the YMCA. Neither place had skilled teachers, able to speak the language of children 3-5 years old.
Nori

From: Bruce
The University Village Recreation program is about to start its first fall session.

We got our younger daughter in their gym classes three months ago, when she was 18 months, and we were extremely happy we did. It gave her physical confidence, made her more agile, gave her a lot of fun, and started her socialization with other kids.

They spend about half an hour on the various (very basic) apparatus, then get together for circle time.

I _highly_ recommend these classes to anyone with toddlers. We've now signed our daughter up for classes 3 days a week this session, she (and we) loved it so much! Seriously, this is one of the things we feel best about that we've done for her.

Cost is about $4 a class, less than the $6 (?) a class for Kindergym at the Albany YMCA (we tried that for one class only, when the Village program was closed for vacation; we were very dissappointed in the YMCA program, which we felt was poorly supervised and dangerous, and had lots of older siblings shoving their way in).

Phone number to call is 524-4926. University Village is off of San Pablo Ave just north of Berkeley (turn left onto Monroe after McDonalds, turn left again at the end of Monroe).

At the moment, they still have room in all of their classes, I think... but it goes fast.

Best to all, Bruce

From: Harald

Our daughter, now 18 months, has attended two sessions of this program and loves it. It is structured in two parts - open time for children to play on different equipment (ladders, tunnels, beams, slides, rings, mats, etc) and circle time with songs.

She responds differently every time - sometimes she is very outgoing and eager to try out all the equipment, other times she seems just to want to observe the other children. But whatever her mood, there is no doubt of her enjoyment. In fact, everytime we walk past the recreation hall these days, she calls out excitedly and wants to go in. I think it has helped her physical agility. Her caregiver has commented that she is much more confident about climbing and running than other children her age. But honestly, we go for the fun rather than it's developmental importance!

I think they allow one free trial session - give them a call and see. The inquiries number is 524-4926.

Thanks for the great advertising for our gymnastics classes! I manage the Village and also think we have pretty good classes for kids at a reasonable price. Dawn Martin-Rugo, our Rec Director, has been instrumental in developing the gymnastics+ classes. I have attended 2 parent participation gymnastics sessions with my 2 year old daughter on Saturdays and they were great fun--even more fun if you get other parents you know to go.

Tavie

May 1999

My 8-year-old son is returning to University Village camp this year, at his request. Last year he was in their Spanish camp -- he didn't learn a lot of Spanish, but he liked the field trip to Picante, swimming at Albany Pool, and just hanging out there in general. It's more low-key than some of the run-around-the-woods-all-day camps (like Berkeley Day Camp, which he also enjoys).
Debby