Forum Index
»
Classes, Workshops, Camps, and Playgroups
Summer camps for school age kids - when do you start registering?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Is it coming up soon? Which ones fill up the quickest?
|
Anonymous
| March or so. Arlington County opens registration March 3rd. Their camps fill up incredibly fast. |
Anonymous
|
January, at least for the camps we're looking at.
Valley Mill, Holton Arms, St. Columba's and some of the other super popular camps fill up within hours or days or weeks of opening registration in January. Other camps, like TIC, don't fill up as early but they offer good sized discounts if you register early. I think I've got my son's whole summer planned out, except for one week. We won't register for another week or so (he's got returning camper privilege at the hardest camp to get in to of the ones we're looking at) but I know pretty much what he's doing. |
Anonymous
|
It defintely depends on the camp. My older DD wants to do a Girl Scout sleep away camp (which she also did last summer) and they are done by lottery. I think the deadline for that is end of Feb or mid March. There is also a Girl Scout day camp that she wants to do.
Other than that she goes to camp where my younger DD is in preschool/daycare, the JCCNV. If we register early (I think by the end of Fenruary?) we get a discount as well as priority. She's also doing "Camp Grandma" one week this summer as well. 
|
Anonymous
| Congressional Camp (www.congocamp.org) fills up quick for the specialty camps. Registration will start at 8 pm on Thursday, January 14. |
Anonymous
| This is a bit overwhelming (not the OP, but first time I've had a child in elementary school). |
Anonymous
I'm still overwhelmed and with two kids in elementary school you'd think I'd be expert at this by now -- but I'm not! 
Pull out a calendar and start (if you haven't already) planning your summer vacation. Then figure out which camps are the "must haves", and block those days out on the calendar. Work backwards to figure out when registration is for the must have camps. Then start filling in the weeks around it with other camps, and try to work on a Plan B for the must haves in case things get booked too quickly. Our unknown is always the Girl Scout sleepaway camp. It fills by lottery and it's late (March) so it makes things harder for planning purposes. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the encouragement! |
Anonymous
|
I start with the swim team weeks, hope to get babysitters and not need camps.
Then put the family vacation on. This year I want them to do a multi-week program at Levine and/or Imagination Stage, camps that fill up, and I plan on registering in mid to late January. My unknown is a family member has offered to have them at the beach for a week, plus charter school might have a free summer school/camp Another option are the DC Rec Center camps, they fill almost immediately, very cheap, but registration does not open til mid-March. Our back up, fill in for a week or so, if stuck later are mid-priced camps like YMCA and/or Evergreen. Especially at the Y, usually space in some program still available in June. It might not be the kid's first choice (ballet may be full, but thing a ma jig or sports is available) |
Anonymous
I'm 9:57. After I posted I went and checked and the summer camp brochure is already up. I think the deadlines are a little earlier this year? February 18 is the deadline for on-line registrations for lottery placement. Placements will be made in the week afterwards. http://www.gscnc.org/files/pdf/pubs/SummerCampBrochure.pdf |
Anonymous
| January for most of the camps we went to -- Potomac School, Camp Greenway (their riding lottery is already started), Congressional are all in January. Arlington YMCA is in February. |
Anonymous
Thank you! |
Anonymous
| This is all making my head hurt, I am serious. There's a foot of snow on the ground, I'm baking sugar cookies for Santa in a moment, and now I'm worried about getting into a summer camp that doesn't overlap with the family vacation we haven't even conceived of yet. Wait, are the cookies burning??? |
Anonymous
Go eat a cookie and don't think about it until Saturday.
|
Anonymous
| Sidwell Summer programs are available now and have some good incentives for registering early (aka now). Not as much owed up front, etc. Plus, they have programs in both Bethesda and DC. Easy online registration is a plus and the ability to look at programs by age or topic! www.sidwell.edu/summer |