Norwood Summer Camp

[Anonymous]

Hi, we're looking for feedback on the summer camp at Norwood. We're thinking of it for a 6-year-old boy, but any information welcome. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

My experience was that it is very hit-and-miss, based on which counselors your child has. I don't think there's a lot of overlap between the Norwood school admin and the camp admin & staff, and it shows. (Basically, just because Norwood School has a great rep does not mean the same is true for the camp.)

My child had a terrible counselor (was absent almost 50% of the summer and wasn't replaced with a "substitute"--they just had young adolescents running the group)...however, a couple of my friends' kids liked their experience. So, I'd say "no" to Norwood. Maybe you'll get different (more positive) responses from others.

[Anonymous]

I personally feel counselor selection is with any camp your child goes to and doesn't reflect the camp itself. Our daughter has attended Norwood's camp for 3 years now and we have never encountered an issue with counselors. We feel that the programs are designed well for the age of the kids and the relationships that are developed between her classmates and staff have been wonderful. She is now 6 years old and each year she is excited as soon as school ends, for summer camp to start. My experience is that Norwood's camp staff takes the welfare of the children very seriously. If there were issues brought to their attention, they are handled in the best interest of the children and in a timely fashion. I am sorry you had that experience, I would not send our daughter anywhere else.

[Anonymous]

Ditto previous poster. My son had a wonderful six weeks at Norwood last summer. He had an incredible teacher who touched base with me each afternoon when I picked up at carpool. He bonded with his counselors and talked about them each evening. In addition, the admin was helpful and accomodating with all my needs.

[Anonymous]

PP poster here (with negative Norwood experience): But I did--as did several other parents in the group--discuss the issue with the camp admin and they didn't do anything about it. Just told us that if we came back the following summer that they would "make up for it" with pairing our child with a great counselor. Hmmm. I was hoping that my child would have a good (or, rather, present!) counselor THAT summer. I think that there has since been some replacement of camp admin (I still receive Norwood camp mailings and the staff names have changed) so that is likely a very good thing.

[Anonymous]

Timely post. I am also thinking about Norwood summer camp for my soon to be 4 YO. Can someone explain the mix of arts/crafts/sports/outdoor activities at the camp? I am primarily interesed in a camp with a lot of outdoor activities/sports (and in indoor gym option when it gets really hot).

[Anonymous]

Both of my children (girl, now 11) and boy (now 9) have attended a variety of sessions at Norwood over the past three summers and they have enjoyed their camp experience. The first summer, my son was not happy with his camp assignment and wanted to switch to an activity that many of his friends were enrolled in and the camp admin made the switch for us instantly. The Adventure Camp is excellent if you have children entering grades 4 and up.

[Anonymous]

Still looking for more feedback on Norwood camp for a 4 YO. Does the camp have water play? If so, how much and what to the facilities look like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ditto previous poster. My son had a wonderful six weeks at Norwood last summer. He had an incredible teacher who touched base with me each afternoon when I picked up at carpool. He bonded with his counselors and talked about them each evening. In addition, the admin was helpful and accomodating with all my needs.

How old was your child? Thanks for your feedback.

[Anonymous]

our son is going to Norwood for the third year in a row. He is now 7 and will enter 2nd grade next year. He has really enjoyed the camp and had very good camp counselors really bonded with him. It seems to us that the child to counselor mix was appropriate. We really like the camp and would recommend it. However, the deciding factors for us were: 1) that my son had several friends from his elementry school and pre school going to the camp, this was a very important to both us and him, and 2) my son did not want to go to a camp that had a pool or swiming. We belong to a community pool and he wanted to swin at our local pool after camp. We also we did not want to send him to camp like the YMCA or JCC that had a ton of kids. We heard good things about those camps, but thought there were to many kids there.

[Anonymous]

RE the Y. Lots of the kids there are friends as well, so that works for the parents.

[Anonymous]

Norwood has a nice playground.

My 5 year old enjoyed the science glass, and seeing explosions. At the same time, the sampler class was a disappointment. Teacher was a nice, older woman, but she basically took the approach that instead of running the class according to the description (sampling different activities), she was going to let the children teach each other board games the whole time. Also, the drop off/pick up scene is a little chaotic. There isn't a lot of control about who picks up a child; I could very well see a stranger walking off with one. Green Acres is very much more controlled.