Anonymous wrote:I'm from mill valley where Steve and Kate's is big. It's a great camp with a great reputation. Highly recommend.

The CA camps on Yelp have terrible reviews. I think someone from that camp is posting in this thread. It is very expensive for what it sounds like you get--a bunch of wandering kids fighting over toys and equipment while bored HS students text their friends.

Anonymous wrote:doesn't GDS run their own summer camp? Oh I remember the TIC camp runs there? How they hold 2 camp programs in 1 school? Sounds like a nightmare!

Don't know about GDS's own camp, but TIC is at the high school and since the email above talked about 5th grade classrooms, S&K must be in the lower/middle school, which is a different campus.

My kids need more structure than it sounds like what this camp provides, but it spunds like a great idea.

I'm from mill valley where Steve and Kate's is big. It's a great camp with a great reputation. Highly recommend.

doesn't GDS run their own summer camp? Oh I remember the TIC camp runs there? How they hold 2 camp programs in 1 school? Sounds like a nightmare!

No, I got the brochure in the mail. $2450 if for all summer. You can buy day passes for $89, packs of 5 or more for $79 each and packs of 20 or more for $69. I do like the drop in nature so if I need a day to do something, this would be a good option. I would probably bu a block of 5 to try it out because they do say that any passes not used will be refunded at the end of the summer. I'm waiting for the Arlington location too.

I think it's a minimum of $2500 for the summer, though?

H0urs are listed on the site as 7:30-6:00

I could not find anything about their hours.

Agreed annoying web site and the local link to GDS is not working right now. But, this is what I've wanted for ages - a camp where I can send my kids a few days a week. I have a flexible schedule and would prefer to send them to camp every Tuesday & Thursday for example over a few set weeks. I'm very tempted to try it out...

Thanks for posting this. Am curious about where they will set up in Arlington.

I sent them an email and got this response:

To tell you more about what activities we offer, each location has five studios (animation, dance, music, style, and breadmaking). Studios represent the core of our program offerings and we want to be sure campers have enough time to work on the projects they are excited about. All our studio activities are offered during both of our main activity periods (9:30am – noon and 1:30 – 4:00pm).

Besides our studios, we offer both indoor and outdoor recreational activities, including sports, a lounge (with board games, books, and other indoor activities), rotating Weekly Specials (examples include rock climbing walls and giant inflatables), and a Filmmaker-in-Residence (a designated staff member who facilitates the filming and production of videos at camp – with the help of our talented campers, of course!)

While GDS is a new site, Steve & Kate’s Camp has been in existence for 34 years. In that time, we have fine-tuned our logistics to be able to bring the same dynamic program to different locations. All of the studios listed on our website and in the brochure are offered at all locations, as well as most of the activities (some of our weekly specials or show specials may be specific to certain areas or campuses). The program tends to be virtually identical across campuses. The biggest differences that you will find between locations are weather and the physical layout. Additionally, we thoroughly research every site when considering it as a camp location to make sure it is safe, secure, and has both indoor and outdoor areas. In fact, we actually already know the spaces we’ll be using at GDS: the 6th grade wing (5 classrooms), black box theatre, and half of the field. This will be more than enough room to support all our activities.

As for the food, we provide all of the items and all of the equipment needed to prepare and serve it. The philosophy behind the food at Steve and Kate’s camp is that everything is “kid focused.” The campers are eating food that has been chosen for its accessibility (it tastes good to kids), creativity (the menus have exciting stuff on them), and novelty (kids get to try new stuff).

All camp food, from morning oatmeal (starting around 9:30am) to lunch to afternoon snacks is designed to be delicious to campers. These meals have thirty-plus years of research and development behind them. Everything we serve is professionally prepared and kid tested.

Every day of the week, there will be a different menu featuring a salad, side veggie, soup, and at least two main courses. These daily feasts are themed for cultural exploration — with the dishes coming from different global cuisines (Italy, France, America, Latin America and Asia) every day. And of course, there are vegetarian and gluten-free options available.

We use real food in our food. We ethically-source all of our farm products. We use local and organic products wherever possible. We use wholesome foods in our recipes. And our dishes are designed to be nutritious and yummy.

I wish they had more info on their website and their website wasn't so incredibly annoying - too large photo/graphics/video

I don't know. But I have done some research. they run this camp in other areas. It looks pretty cool. revolutionary!

Ditto on the request for more info

I got a brochure in the mail today advertising this camp. Apparently you can buy passes for individual days or a membership for the summer and the refund unused days at the end of summer. Has anyone ever heard of this camp? I am thinking of doing it as a filler camp....