Roselle Park District

Do not move to Roselle if you have a young child. Between the library programs, the park district classes and the public parks there just isn’t enough support for young children. The library storytime, which is the only class offered for toddlers, runs for a few weeks at a time before it cuts out for months. There are few if any, park district classes for kids under 3 and those they have are taught by outside vendors. The gymnastics class for tots was a couple of high school girls who couldn’t have been less engaging to a small child. The city pays for a large veteran memorial fountain which is of absolutely no use in attracting people to this town which is what it desperately needs to increase tax base. Someone or a group of someone’s need fired. We are moving to Palatine at great financial cost to us after 15 years here.

My daughter took gymnastics here over the summer. Waste of money. Different instructor each time. Learned nothing. Go elsewhere.

We love the Roselle Park District. The programs for young children are fantastic. My mother-​in-​law was very impressed when she attended a Thanksgiving party with my daughter over the weekend – she said that the program was far better than anything they have at Elk Grove Village’s park district.
The staff at the Roselle Park District are fantastic. Very friendly and great with small children. Dana, the children’s program director, has got it all in hand. She is very organized and dedicated to making sure the children enjoy and learn in their programs. All of the preschool and lunch enrichment program teachers are wonderful and my daughter loves them all.
They are also very accommodating for children with food allergies. When I brought in my daughter with her Epi-​Pen twinpack, they clearly were accustomed to children who need them. I feel very comfortable with her in the classes because they made it clear if there is any question, they will use her medication and call for an ambulance. Sometimes people don’t «get it» when it comes to food allergies, but everyone at the Roselle Park District seems to.
We’re very happy to live in this district and enjoy what the park district has to offer!

This review is based on the fitness/​rec center and day care.
I started coming to RPD for the indoor track but ended up joining their fitness center during one of their sales.
The indoor track is clean and well kept if just a bit small. There are only 2 lanes and if you happen to run/​walk while certain ladies are there you’ll find yourself very frustrated because they never follow the rules and you end up having to really adjust your running/​walking speed to get around them. But when they’re not there, its a great place to run. 15 laps on the outside, 17 on the inside roughly make a mile.
The Fitness center is also on the smallish side, but if you avoid peak hours in the afternoon, there’s always a treadmill or elliptical free. There are free weights, weight machines, stationary bikes as well. Three TV’s set to different channels help keep you occupied if you don’t have a personal music device. The room is set to the outside so there’s a lot of natural light making it a nice place to work out without feeling claustrophobic.
The Day Care is great. There’s a small fee but Megan and/​or Brittany are so great with kids. The playroom is really clean and well-​kept. I’ve walked in while they were doing some cleaning so I know the toys and counter get cleaned regularly.
The folks at the front desk and the fitness center are really nice and helpful. The thing I’m most disappointed with is that when I signed up for my fitness membership I was supposed to get a trainer session. She has yet to call me and it’s been 3 weeks since I’ve joined. I’ve seen another trainer work with some folks and when I mention to the staff that my trainer hasn’t contacted me yet, I plan to change my trainer to the one I actually see working.

I threw a surprise party here for my parents and aunt/​uncle for their 25^th anniversary. I am so glad I went with this park district. First off, I’m a Roselle resident so I got the room at the resident rate, which saved a lot. I am a college student so every penny counts for me and throwing a party for about 50 people on a student budget can be tricky but it worked! I had the room booked from 6PM and they let us in early so I could decorate. The staff, Tami, Greg, and another man whose name I forgot, were all very polite and helpful. They were joking around with the guests and myself and very helpful whenever I needed help. I loved the service I got from the staff and I will definitely throw another party here when the time calls.

I have lived in Roselle for over 20 years, and aside from their preschool/​early learning programs (which were solid, if not outstanding — also, this was many years ago), I would rate every single adult class I took there to be nothing short of abysmal. Two examples: I took a yoga class there a few years ago. I am glad I was paying for the teacher to get in his exercise time, because he sure wasn’t going around helping anyone. The reason I took the class to begin with was because I did not feel comfortable watching a video or looking at photographs in a book to be able to perform the poses correctly. Very small postural differences can make a big difference in whether you are getting the full benefit of yoga. This teacher’s attitude screamed that he was definitely not interested in teaching a class of beginners.
Second example, a belly dancing class I took for exercise. I am going to be the first to admit that I am not the most coordinated person in the world, so once again, a little individual help would have gone a long way to helping me learn the basic moves. This teacher was way too interested in greeting her returning students, who apparently had formed a performing group, although this class had been listed as a beginner class. The «teacher» was basically using the class time to teach some of the performers their next routines. Those of us who weren’t in the group were left to learn the routine as best as we were able. The quitting point for me was when I took my daughter to a trial class (she had been involved in dance for years, so I wanted her opinion of the teacher/​teaching style). By the end of 45 minutes, my daughter had picked up the routine simply becuase of her past dance training, not through any effort by the teacher. She was then able to correct the teacher several times on what move came next!
There were other classes I tried, all with the same result. The classes seemed to be run by people with little or no teaching ability or credentials. The park district’s attitude seemed to be that, as long as the class met a minimum number of students, they were fine with it; after all, it was making them money!
One last thing. The ability of anyone at the front desk to actually help you or answer a question is spotty at best. It runs the gamut from helpful but unknowledgeable to downright rude. I will pay the extra money and go to Schaumburg from now on.