Jewish Community Alliance

I've been going there for almost 20 years and I am very pleased with them.  I think they are the one of the best around.  They have a heated indoor pool, very good equipment, and very good classes.  Their price is very good and you can pay them by year or you can pay them by month,

You don't need to be Jewish to join the JCA. It is like the YMCA -- nominally affilated with a religion, but welcoming to all cultures. I find that there is a lot of diversity among the people there, plenty of people who are not Jewish so no one needs to feel uncomfortable.
In terms of the gym, it has all the nautilus-type machines, and in the 10 years I was a member, it upgraded the machines several times. There is both an indoor and outdoor pool. It isn't too crowded and it seems pretty clean. There are always fitness trainers on duty to help you if you have a specific question and for an extra cost you can do personal training sessions. I've done these and they were very helpful.
The hours are pretty good -- the only inconvenience is that it is closed Friday night at 6 and doesn't reopen until Saturday afternoon because of the Jewish Sabbath. There are a lot of free exercise classes as well as free babysitting.
The overall cost is higher than many gyms, but you get a lot more than just a gym, especially if you have a family membership -- year-round access to a pool, free pool parties in the summer, and cultural activities. You can get discounts on art and culture classes with your membership as well. You also get a discount on childcare and summer camps. I sent all three of my kids to the preschool and also to camps from ages 1-14, and always felt like it was worth the cost.

This preschool has smaller classes than the State Ratio. I think they do a better job of having enrichment activities. They go through kindergarten and then they stop, although there is an after-school program. What they do is they really interact with the children and they have classroom rules. They have structure, they work with them on table manners. They are using what you see in school. They are very directive but they are also let the children play. They provide at the pre-school one healthy mid morning snack, and it is usually fruit or vegetable sticks. Sometimes it is pretzels and sometimes it is butter and crackers because they are a kosher pre-school. My feeling is perhaps a little less than half the kids are Jewish, maybe half and half. Anybody can go there. You send their lunch. We breakfast with her and usually send her in with her lunch and then a mid-afternoon snack. They will remove the child from a fight and they will redirect. They will also explain why you don't do certain things for safety reasons. They work with them a lot. You don't climb on the bridge in the classroom because you might fall off. Same as you don't climb on chairs and tables. In the traditional school they move you with your age, with their birthday. Because this is a pre-school, they go with the school year. So she is a Busy Bee, there are three classes of Busy Bees, because she started there in January 28th this year. In this school, you move with your class. You may not be in the same class with all your friends, but you will move up at the end of the school year. So all the children become a Grasshopper. They have just got a new lead teacher, and if she is interested enough they will take her down to the bathroom in the hall, so they are not against potty training, but it is when they become Grasshoppers that they begin to focus on that. Which for her is probably a little late. They change her diapers, and we provide the diapers, wipes and rash cream. She is wonderful, she loves it. They have very nice playgrounds and educational toys. She loves going there: they go out twice a day and when it is really pretty, they will keep them out longer than the usual 15 - 20 minutes. They will keep them out from 3 - 5 in the afternoon. So their typical day - because they don't serve meals, the timing is easy. We get her there between 8.30 and 9, and we pick her up sometime between 4 and 4.30. It is quite nice because you feel your children get attention and they have such beautiful playgrounds. One thing they focus on, which is nice, is sharing and empathy in being nice. They really emphasize these are your friends, and you don't hurt your friends. They really are serious about it. They are very concerned with the socio-emotional development of children. When they hire staff, unless they are grandfathered in, everybody who works with the children has at least the two year associate degree in understanding. They try to get Bachelor's Degree people if they can. They were voted top in our district for the Early Learning Coalition. They are ranked No. 1 in Jacksonville. They are accredited to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, who have very stringent accreditation standards, so getting the accreditation is not easy. They do have food around. Once I sent her to school with my lunch, and they just fed her what they had on hand. They didn't even call me! Not only are they a pre-school, they are part of this larger organization that has fitness centers and so forth. So they have some really interesting programs. They just choose not to prepare a hot meal at lunchtime. I can't say enough good things about the Jewish Community Alliance.