Beauvoir Summer Camp Feedback

[Anonymous]

I have heard very mixed things about Beauvoir Summer Camp - any feedback would be appreciated - I am thinking of sending my 4-1/2 year old this summer. Thanks

[Anonymous]

I sent my child there at 4, and it was fairly substandard. Would never do it again for either of my kids.

[Anonymous]

It's a cross between a zoo and a very expensive daycare with rotating activities supervised by young adults who don't want to be there. Did it one entire summer and would never do it again.

[Anonymous]

My child loved it, especially the swimming.

[Anonymous]

My 6-year-old hated it. I thought the staff seemed perfectly nice, but the arts/crafts/cooking activities were unimpressive.

[Anonymous]

Totally unimpressed, went one summer when DD was 4.5 and hated it. For all that money, it was disorganized and they bullied my DD to swim everyday, threatening her with at one point "do you want us to throw you in???" I had to call the director (who was excellent, FWIW) and it stopped, but I felt cheated. Luckily, we had only signed up for two weeks. I felt like a bunch of 15 year olds were running the show and DID not feel like the adult presence was enough of a factor. I really don't expect too much out of summer camps, it is meant to be safe, fun, and active. We did not get even three out of three there many a day.

[Anonymous]

My DD went for 3 weeks last year, at 4.5 and enjoyed it. She was on the age cusp and I aged her up, which worked well for everything but swimming, where the older age group was in the big pool. I don't think she was ready for that, plus, bring on the smaller side, I think she didn't have the confidence in the shallow end that she would have had if she was taller. That said, she opted out of swimming most days, on her own and seemed to be totally supported in her decision. I sent her in her swimsuit, told her to try if she was comfortable, but to make her own decision, and she did. I also agree that the adminstration is great and responsive. She really liked her counselor, assistant counselor and CIT. I didn't have a good sense of what they were doing every day, which is something I was okay with because she was so happy at drop off every day. It seemed to me that she was with a group of kids who really did a great job of engaging each other in free play. She would come home on Friday singing new songs from the Friday morning sing along. A huge plus for me is that it is peanut-free and has trained staff to deal with food allergies. Many of the camps for older children don't seemed attuned to this issue (i.e., I would love to try Levine, but it just isn't happening with her food allergy).

[Anonymous]

My kids also attended Beauvoir and had a lukewarm experience. So glad Headfirst is running a day camp at Sr Albans this summer. We love their sports camps and are expecting great things from the day camp!

[Anonymous]

totally different from Beauvoir the school. Parents like to send their kids there so they can get a feel for the school but it is just not the same. It is a babysitting camp with some amenities like the pool. the arts and crafts activities are pathetic:church like activities to "pass time" with kids.

[Anonymous]

My daugther attended the Spanish language camp last year. She said it was "harder than school", but she liked it. She made very good friends, had a wonderful teacher, was involved in some fun cooking projects (ice cream, kid sangria), put on a play and really enjoyed the daily swimming.

[Anonymous]

I'm a Beauvoir parent.
I send my kids to Beauvoir camp in part out of convenience (famliar setting, minimal disruption to our year-round routine) and the availability of daily swimming (I personally like that my kids are strongly encouraged to get in the pool and partake of the lessons--though it's clearly totally inappropriate to suggest "throwing in" a little kid who might not realize it was said in jest).

Beauvoir camp is nothing like Beauvoir the school--different teachers and different kids. Aside from the camp director (who is excellent) and perhaps 5 or 6 other adults, the camp is staffed mostly by a mix of college students, high school students and CITs (some of whom are 12-14 years old). The staffing is very similar to summer camps I attended as a kid (though the counselors and CITs seemed so much older to me back then, when I was 8). The high camp fees reflect the amazing facility, and lunch and snack are provided. My kids have attended Beauvoir camp for the past 2 summers, and I would say fewer than 25% of the other children go to Beauvoir; most sign-up for camp with a "buddy" (someone they know already) but there are lots of opportunities to make new friends. My DCs ended up having playdates with new friends throughout the summer, which was great.

[Anonymous]

I send my kids to Beauvoir camp in part out of convenience (famliar setting, minimal disruption to our year-round routine) and the availability of daily swimming (I personally like that my kids are strongly encouraged to get in the pool and partake of the lessons--though it's clearly totally inappropriate to suggest "throwing in" a little kid who might not realize it was said in jest).


Yeah, not okay, especially when said day after day to my kid at camp. Said in jest my ass. That was not my kid's fault for "misunderstanding" the 14 year olds running the camp.

[Anonymous]

To the Beauvoir parent - which camp theme did your child do? I've heard that the Art camp counselors were great last summer.
Also - do you sign up for the swim lessons before camp also? Those seem to sell out quickly, but isn't it a lot of swimming/changing clothes to swim before camp & again during camp?
Thanks for any tips!

[Anonymous]

Sending my kids to the new Day Camp run by Headfirst Camps this summer @ St. Albans. Sounds like a real blast and if it is anything like their other pre-existing camps-it should be excellent. They even have instructonal swimming!
www.headfirstcamps.com