Parent Information Night

Posted onAuthorLesley Calvert

May 15, 2018 
By: Sean O’Connor, Director of Camps 

Thanks to all of the families that came out to meet Camp Directors, learn about The Connection’s 2018 Summer Camps, and ask questions! While we are fortunate to spend a significant amount of quality time with your children, we value the unique insights and perspectives we get whenever we meet with families!

We covered a lot of content, most of which I will summarize here. As always, we’re here to help! If you have a specific question that pertains to your child(ren) or want to understand something more, please reach out to the appropriate Camp Director or me.

If you were unable to attend Parent Information Night, here’s a quick catch-up so you’re ready for camp, too!

  • American Camp Association Accreditation: We are accredited by the American Camp Association (read more here: https://www.acacamps.org/staff-professionals/accreditation-standards/accreditation). To become accredited, we’ve met rigorous standards in terms of staffing, professional development, programming, and administration. What does this mean for you? It means we take extra steps every year to make sure the camps we offer are staffed by well-trained counselors, coordinators, and head teachers at low adult to child ratios to ensure your child has the best possible time at camp.

 

  • A Typical Camp Day: Every child that attends can tailor their experience to be a genuinely unique summer experience. By combining our morning SummerFun, SummerFun Pros, or Guppies program with an Afternoon Specialty Camp, kids can pair a fun day camp experience with a deeper dive into one of their interests in the afternoon! We also offer Sunrisers and Camper’s Club extended day options to help families navigate their work week.See sample morning and afternoon schedules here.SummerFun, SummerFun Pros, and Guppies – Children from ages 3 through 13 will be grouped with similarly-aged peers and rotate through a daily schedule of everything The Connection has to offer including swimming (lessons for younger kids!), STEM, sports and games, arts & crafts, and access to our incredible gym!

    Gymnastics – Kids of all ages will get the opportunity to rotate through all of the great activities and events our gym has to offer while honing their skills in the camp of their choice. All camps offer swimming daily, too!

    Specialty Camps – If art, theater, sports, nature, cooking STEM, or dance are your child’s passions – or they just want to try something new – kids of all ages can join an afternoon Specialty Camp that focuses on exploring a more specialized topic. All afternoon camps also include free swim!

    Sunrisers and Camper’s Club – These two programs extend your campers day on both ends. Sunrisers meet from 7:30am until 9:00am and transition your child to their SummerFun or Gym Camp at 9:00am. Camper’s Club offers a daily wind-down from 4:30pm until 6:00pm for kids to cool off and parents to get home from work!

 

  • Car Line –The car line will function just as it did last year. Please approach the Prospect Street parking lot from Tulip Street (no left turns into the lot will be allowed on from Prospect). There will be TWO drop off locations: 1) in front of The Connection via the parking lot, and 2) on the sidewalk next to the southbound lane of traffic on Prospect Street (heading from Maple toward Tulip). Counselors will be at both locations to greet your campers and safely transition them into the building.

 

  • Camp Switches and Changes – We’re excited for all of the amazing camps we have to offer this summer, and this is our most-ambitious summer yet! In order to make sure the experience is great for everyone that attends, our staff spend months planning activities, creating schedules, AND hiring and training amazing counselors. We do everything we can to plan for the campers we know are coming so their experience here can be the best yet.That being said, we know life happens – and we’re here to help! If you need to drop or add a camp, please do your best to let us know with as much notice as possible. This helps us make adjustments to our staffing, planning, and implementation to better suit the group. We’ll always do everything we can to help when plans change (because we know they do!), and the earlier we know the better!

 

  • Swimming – Our kids LOVE to cool down in the pool. We swim every day during each of our camps! This means if your camper is signed up for SummerFun AND an Afternoon Specialty Camp, they will have 2 opportunities to swim! Morning Camps will always be lessons that help our campers develop better skills in the water, and Afternoon Camps are always free swim so campers have an opportunity to play with their friends. All swim time is supervised by trained and credentialed lifeguarding staff in addition to the group’s counselors!

 

  • Communication With YOU – We’re easy to get a hold of and we love the opportunity to chat with the families of our campers! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us and we’ll make sure your question gets answered. Otherwise, keep an eye on the Parent Portal for up-to-date information and updates about camp: https://www.theconnectiononline.org/summer-camp/parent-portal.html

 

Thanks for taking the time to read check in about Parent Information Night! We can’t wait to see you in June!