06/09/2020
In case you're still looking for childcare this summer:
We have received word from our fantastic partners at our venue, the Hill Center, that we will have the entire 2nd
floor of the building to ourselves this summer. That means that we can take more campers on a case-by-case basis.
We have a long list of safety plans that we can share with you if you're interested in registering, but briefly, this is
what you should know if you're thinking of signing up or remaining signed up:
--We will take 3-9 year olds (no 2-year-olds this summer)
--We cannot take kids in diapers or kids who are still having regular potty accidents (you know your kid!)
--We will be working with groups of 9 kids and 1 counselor with floating counselors as additional supervision
(Tarsha or myself) and an additional cleaning staff to alleviate the cleaning burden for the regular staff while
increasing the cleaning
--Each group will remain together the whole day and the whole week as much as possible in their own room
--This is per CDC and camp guidance to maintain as little social contact as possible between your camper
and other people
--When we move off the Hill Center campus we will move in the groups of 10 (9 kids plus counselor) but with
at least 1 additional group of 10 plus at least 2 additional helpers. We will keep the campers away from kids and
counselors from the other groups
--Masks are required inside the building -- we are fully aware that it is hard for kids to wear masks, but we will
do our best. No one will be kicked out of the building and/or camp for having trouble wearing a mask, just that
we will make that the expectation and help the kids wear them as much as possible
--All drop offs and pick ups will be outside so no parents or other caregivers will be permitted into the Hill Center at any time
during the day. We will be able to facilitate this (and had already been planning on it), but you need to think about whether
your child needs a little more from you than that.
--All drop offs will have to be completed by a certain time, probably 9:30, so you need to plan for that if you have a late riser.
We cannot commit to having staff available outside for late drop-offs.
--You will be required to report your child's morning temperature at drop off
--We have forehead thermometers and will check temps throughout the day
--You need to be able to pick your child up in a short period of time if s/he shows any symptoms (so this isn't a
good camp if you don't have anyone local who can do that)
--Campers will spend as much time outdoors as possible, as per CDC guidelines, so if you have a kiddo who won't be able
to handle that, that's something to think about.
--We will be able to accommodate nappers at 6-foot distances
--We will be closing camp at 5 pm (instead of our usual 6 pm) with no reduction in fees
--We are asking for a $10/week cleaning fee to help offset additional cleaning supplies/labor and separate toys and other
materials for the kids
--If camp is not possible under either Hill Center or government guidelines, there will be no refund of the balance paid
for that current week. There will be no refund of the deposit paid for any week that camp continues to be impossible.
--After June 15, any deposit paid for any week of camp will be nonrefundable. Thus far we have been striving to work
with our families to refund deposits for kids who can't attend camp, but we have to end that at a certain point! We will
owe the Hill Center even if they close and we will strive to pay our counselors for their commitment to us even if they
can't work.
--On June 15 we will require nonrefundable deposits for the weeks of June 22 and June 29 to hold your spots
--Balances for the following week will be due by COB on the Friday before and will be nonrefundable. We will not take
balances for weeks in advance of the following week (so no paying for the whole summer at once).
--We will be paying our staff to stay home if they have any health symptoms so that we will be giving them an incentive to
keep everyone as safe as possible. We have back-up staff on hand to step in. This is another reason why we willbe closing
at 5 pm as that makes this easier to facilitate.
--We will be taking staff temperatures every morning and sending anyone home who has a temperature above 100
--We will NOT be having music or circle time this summer
--We will not have 1/2 day campers, as per the Hill Center. We have very few signed up -- if you are one of them we will be
contacting you to discuss or please reach out to us.
--We will be following very strict guidelines on health, temperature-taking prior to each day's drop-offs, etc. I won't detail
those here as I'm sure you can imagine what most of them are and we will be putting together a detailed checklist soon.
--In order to have reduced staffing (because of reduced group sizes) with the kids but additional cleaning and health
monitoring staffing, plus additional staffing to facilitate things such as outdoor drop-off and pick-up, we will be closing camp
at 5 pm everyday. There will be no reduction in camp tuition. We have made this decision so that we can have plenty of time
and staff to thoroughly clean the facilities and toys everyday. We have decided to do this instead of the recommended
approach (by various camp guidelines for this summer) of increasing the camp fees. We want to make sure we are as on
top of cleaning as possible and not exhaust our camp counselors. By having just 1 full-time counselor a day with your child,
we therefore reduce your child's contacts. We will offer up names/contact info of babysitters who could help you at the
end of the day if you are interested when the time comes.
--We will also be paying our counselors more per hour to make up for the added stress and risk of working at camp this summer.
--We are asking for an additional $10/week supplies fee to help offset the huge expenses of the required cleaning. We will
be cleaning all surfaces regularly throughout the day plus at the end of each day. The Hill Center will be cleaning the
bathrooms between each camp group. We are committed to hiring an additional cleaning staff to do the cleaning so that
our professional counselors can concentrate on your kids. Therefore we will incur additional fees as usually our counselors
clean as they can throughout the day.
Here's our policy on camp cancellation in regard to a positive Covid-19 test:
--The Hill Center has put out the guideline that if ANYONE associated with a camp at or who works at the Hill Center tests
positive, the Hill Center will close immediately and all camps will be cancelled for a period of time (likely 2 weeks at least).
--If camp is cancelled, we still have to pay the Hill Center for that week, at least, and we are committed to paying our
counselors in addition so that they can feel confident in our mutual commitment.
--If camp is cancelled for any reason such as a further shut-down of the city and/or a shut-down of the Hill Center, we will NOT
refund your camp fees for the week during which that happens. So if you paid for a week and camp/the city shuts down on
any day of that week or even before the week starts, you will lose your fees for the remainder of that week.
--For weeks following that week, you will lose your deposits if we continue not to be able to have camp. We will use that money
to pay the Hill Center, which we must do, and also our counselors.
--Please do not pay us more than a week in advance for your camp, except for deposits, so that if camp shuts down you will
not be out any additional money. We cannot guarantee a prompt refund of any additional money expended.
--Usually we are pretty flexible with adding days, weeks, etc. and switching around days after you have registered. Due to
our strict restrictions of no more than 10 people (including adults) in a group, we will not be able to be very flexible this year.
Therefore, even though we usually try to keep people from registering before they 100% know their plans, please do be
aware that if you are not registered for spaces you need, you may not get those spaces. If you back out of your
registration now, you may well not be able to join us later.
Now it's your turn to tell us your plans:
--If you have NOT paid us a deposit and you would like to cancel your registration, please do so now. No hard feelings --
just let us know and we will take you off our lists.
--If you have registered, paid a deposit and would like to cancel your registration before a final determination is made on
whether camp will go forward or not, we will refund 50% of your (non-refundable) deposit. We have a contract with the Hill
Center and have committed to paying our employees so if camp does go forward, we still incur those expenses. We are also
happy to keep those deposits as a 100% credit toward future camp days either this summer or in the future. In order to use
the deposit as a 100% credit, you MUST let us know by June 15. After that time we cannot guarantee a 100% credit.
--If your child is in diapers, we will not be able to accommodate him/her. Therefore, if yourchild is in diapers, please cancel camp
now. We will refund your deposit minus 10%.
--If we do not have camp for any reason, we will refund your deposits minus 10%. This covers the fees to PayPal and a small
fee for our admin expenses. Please do not ask us to engage in transactions via PayPal "Friends and Family." We are a licensed
business and use such resources as such, without breaking the rules.
--Please send us your payment receipt for your deposit to better facilitate a refund on our part.
--If you are definitely still hoping to attend camp, please let us know. It will be very helpful in our planning to know what people's
plans are. If you would like to add any weeks to camp, please let us know what weeks (week 1 or dates).
We are 100% committed to keeping our staff, ourselves, your children, and your families safe. We are buying supplies and
making plans, hand-in-hand with the excellent staff at the Hill Center, to move forward with camp if we are allowed. We know
we can do this and don't make any decisions to do so lightly. Thank you all so much for your patience as we wait for official
guidance. We are really hoping we get to hang out with your kids this summer.
This is not intended to be the final word of our plans, but we did want to get our latest information out to you all. Stay safe
and we hope to see many of you soon.
A couple of quick responses to some of your questions:
--All people over the age of 2 inside the Hill Center will be required to wear masks. We will have spare masks on hand,
but you should plan on providing your child with a mask daily. Our masks will simply be in case a mask goes missing or
gets dirty in an unusable way.
--We will be doing mixed-aged groups because we will keep any siblings together. If you have friend groups you would
like to keep together, we will be asking about that as we put the groups together. Please don't tell me about that now!
--Our groups will be no more than 9 kids with 1 counselor. That is greater than our usual ratio which is usually between
4 and 8 kids per adult and usually at least 2 adults with a group of 8-16 kids. However, this allows us to keep the
group at 10 total people as per Hill Center guidance. That is why we will have cleaners to do all clean up work so that
the counselors will focus solely on your kids. We will also have "floaters," usually Tarsha and me, who can back up
the counselors if there is a problem.
--The cleaner and Tarsha and I will also do things like set out lunches and snacks to further decrease the work of the
counselors. Things like that are actually very labor intensive vs. monitoring the kids while they play.
--Inside the building this is easy. When we are outside the building the kids will travel in larger groups but socially
distanced. This way we have additional adults available in case of a problem. So the groups of 9 will go together in a
cluster with their counselor and then also additional counselors (usually Tarsha or I) will also walk with them in a social
distanced manner.
--We will keep the groups separate as much as humanly possible. They will enter and exit the building separately. They
will not play in the same rooms nor go to the bathroom together. When we go outside together, they will walk in a long
line (as they always do) and distance themselves additionally from the other kids. When we get to any venues, they
will play only in their groups. So, for example, if we go to Watkins, 1 group will play on the playground while another
plays on the turf.
--We will wash our hands and hand sanitize every 30 minutes at a minimum and before/after eating or anything else
that warrants such activity.
--We will have the kids playing separately with their own sets of toys within the indoor space and clean them in between
each kid playing with that set of toys. We will separate the kids at 6 foot distances as much as possible while inside.
--Realistically, kids playing outside will run around near each other. There is not a way to stop that. You need to understand
that as you consider whether camp is right for your family.
--The counselors, to the highest degree possible, will maintain distance from the campers.
--We will not have our usual music/story times.
--We will continue to do art projects, but will strive to use 1-use art supplies as much as possible.
--We have a forehead thermometer and will take temperatures throughout the day.
There are many other health guidelines from the Hill Center and from us and also plans that we will be rolling out to
our families as we get closer to camp. This is just to answer some questions that people asked and, while I'm going
that, to share some of the ways this will work for all.
If your kid can't wear a mask, he/she can't come to camp! That's a requirement from us and the Hill Center!
Hope this is helpful as you're figuring out your plans. Thanks to all of the wonderful families who confirmed their
registrations and I hope we continue to impress you with our diligence in this planning. We know that we can do this
right, hand-in-hand with our fabulous camp families!
11/02/2020