Anthony Bowen has 2 huge problems.
- The first problem it shares with many DC summer camps and after-care programs, except the few that are ultra-expensive: Its staff is uninterested, unprofessional, unmotivated, undersupervised and untrained. Seriously, the counselors in DC, suck terribly at being adults, and they seem to have much contempt for the parents and disdain for the children.
- The second problem, which they seem to create all over again year after year, is utter chaos and disorganization.

I've tried their camps multiple times, and when I get "Sign up now!" emails, I know better than to even look into it.

Anonymous wrote:considering this as an aftercare option for my preK3...any recent experiences/comments?

Is it a school based after-care?

Look at this thread.....concerning to say the least.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/744463.page

I just send my children to the camp at Anthony Bowen toward the end of the summer one was enrolled in the preschool camp and the other in the mini traditional camp. Unfortunately I was very disappointed by both and won't be sending my children there again. I will add though that I had a positive experience at the silver spring YMCA camp.

The first day at camp which was 8 weeks in, i came to pick up my child and they did not know where he was. His counselor for the traditional mini camp told me that she didn't know he was there the whole day, which means that no one knew he was there the entire day even though i had signed him in at drop off and properly put him in the before care room with a counselor. I found him with the soccer group - I chalked it up to a one time mishap but I made sure his counselors knew who he was each morning at drop off thereafter which was also chaotic because there are only two counselors there that greet 100 kids in the morning meeting room. One of the three weeks of the camp he was enrolled there it was Jungle Explorer themed and they were supposed to take them to the zoo twice during the week and they canceled both activities because they thought it might rain (it did not), and took them to the tiny splash park behind the YMCA as a make up activity. The second week he was enrolled for "Water Water Everywhere" they were supposed to take them to six flags and changed it to a book session at the YMCA. The third week was "fun" theme, and they did not take them anywhere not even the the splash park behind the building. I asked him what he did that he enjoyed and he said playing with a box of toys. Doesn't seem very educational for 350$ a week I was paying for.

As far as the preschool camp, on her first day none of the teachers greeted her or asked her name or seemed enthusiastic to be there and it made my daughter not want to come back. I packed snacks and meals for her and they would tell her (my three year old) that she needed to be in charge of finding her snack and putting back all her lunch box items into her bag so there were many times that she did not get all her snacks and that she did not have her lunch eaten when i picked her up. I complained about the warmness of teachers to the children and the next day a different teacher was there and she definitely made a difference but she was not the regular teacher. The other teachers seem inexperienced and have personal issues that they seem to bring to the job. I had another parent tell me their child had been enrolled there for 6 months before he was adjusted.
Out of the few teachers there it seemed only one experienced teacher who really cared about the children and parents (and not just a paycheck). I asked another teacher about her day and she said to look at the pictures from app. Pictures an say a thousand words, and most of the time she seemed fine however i did receive a couple that she is sitting in the background alone with a frown (not even an adult to comfort her) and my child is so easy going and typically very happy. Even one day of seeing this makes me upset unfortunately I could not find another place for her for that short time.

considering this as an aftercare option for my preK3...any recent experiences/comments?

Anonymous wrote:Planning summer camp for 5yo DD and reviving this thread.

Anthony Bowen site looks like it has a lot of neat sounding choices for their summer camp classes, but I've heard mixed reviews about how the camp day actually is.

Have any of you had a good experience with a preschooler in their summer camp? What are the counselors like?

Wow, this thread makes me feel strongly that I should avoid the Y for my 4 year old. Any positive reviews that would sway my mind or is this just not a good option?

Planning summer camp for 5yo DD and reviving this thread.

Anthony Bowen site looks like it has a lot of neat sounding choices for their summer camp classes, but I've heard mixed reviews about how the camp day actually is.

Have any of you had a good experience with a preschooler in their summer camp? What are the counselors like?

Anonymous wrote:I don't have any experience with the camp itself, but I live in the neighborhood, use the Y gym, and spend a lot of time at Harrison playground with my toddler. There is little to no supervision for the camp or aftercare kids - they pretty much run wild.

+ 1, I completely agree. We experienced school-aged kids sitting in a corner and tossing little rocks at my toddler. Looked around to try to figure out the parents and then realized it was one staff member and a ton of big kids let loose. They kind of overrun Harrison, making it not a very nice place to be during camp or after school hours. Such a shame.
I realize this is an older posting, but I found it while searching for responses to a very (suspiciously) enthusiastic posting about their pre-school in another thread...

I don't have any experience with the camp itself, but I live in the neighborhood, use the Y gym, and spend a lot of time at Harrison playground with my toddler. There is little to no supervision for the camp or aftercare kids - they pretty much run wild.

My 5 year old was fine. He did say that a kid spit at him, but didn't seem that upset. The one thing that was weird was that he was in a sports camp and barely reported doing any of the actual sport. He also said the aftercare was boring.

Is there anyone with input about the older kids? Preferably people who have sent their kids to camp before (and thus realize that there are almost no camp counselors that older than college aged!).

I too am finding YMCA Anthony Bowen very bad. I enrolled my son in Mini Soccer this week, given Bowen's reputation from families from Inspired who use Bowen for aftercare.

First, they do not get cots to sleep. They sleep on mats, which I assume are then used for other things like running around on, etc.

Second, the teacher are really not trained. The first day another child hit my son, he told the teacher, the teacher asked what's the child's name, my son said "I don't know" and the teacher didn't do anything. It's the first day, how is he suppose to know. She could've asked him to point the other child out, and they could've had a conversation affirming positive behavior. I emailed them, and the "acting director" (the director was on vacation) affirmed that's she'll remind the teachers to do name games so the students get to know each other names, and to affirm positive behavior. Her signature stated that she is a Howard University student getting her Bachelor of Science in 2014. A big young, no?

Third, I asked to observe a soccer session. There was great hesitancy. I finally did. They go to the nearby Harrison playground. There's a nice big green field. They didn't use it. Instead they used the "half basketball court" in the blazing son paved with concrete. They brought one ball. They had all 20+ kids line up and take turns kicking the ball to a teacher playing goalie. That's about it. This was definitely NOT soccer camp. The teachers were half-hearted and appeared to be making a big of an effort knowing that I was nearby and watching. Utterly totally disappointed.

For $300 / week this is awful. I'm just as well off with DCPR summer camps for $50/week.

Thanks to you both. That makes my decision that we will NOT be doing this camp!
I secured 9 am - 1 pm drop-in spots at Cedar Lane Nursery school in Bethesda - closer to where we'll be staying but less convenient to where I need to be in DC. But I trust (from a friend's recommendation) that this place will be a peaceful and friendly environment.

Thanks for taking the time to give input and sparing us a bad experience. Sorry you had to learn the hard way

My three year old had a negative experience in their aftercare program last year which was very disappointing. Beautiful facility, lots of enthusiasm, but some of the staff is green which impacts their ability to read and relate families. Caring for young children requires the ability to judge, redirect and foster good judgment- continually.

None of the staff (or at least the majority) are not parents. As a former teacher/sitter/camp counselor, I look back and admit to my confident younger self that I didn't know how to always manage situations well.

Good luck!

I am so happy you asked this question, as I was just about to ask it.

My 3, almost 4 year old, attended camp at Bowen last week and is currently attending this week. She has been looking forward to camp since I signed her up mid-March. However, her enthusiasm and desire to attend is quickly fading. On Tuesday she said she was tripped by someone - ok, not a big deal. Then yesterday, she was pushed down so hard that she smacked her cheek on the ground. I had to ask someone what happened - no call, no note, no one approached me about it. The counselor who brought her to me after school said she thought my daughter was pushed by someone who was rushing to get outside, but she wasn't sure. Today she said she had a ball thrown at the back of her head while waiting in line and her wrists got scratched by someone. What's really strange is that I found a random first-aid ice pack in the side of her backpack this morning. I'm assuming that it was used for one of the above accidents? Hopefully there haven't been others.

Granted, she is in camp surrounded by many excited, rambunctious kids (including herself), but she hardly ever complains. I asked her about the details, such as were you playing with the person who hurt you (each time her answer was no), is that person your friend/what's their name (she didn't know their names), did they say sorry/was it an accident (no). It's difficult to understand what is actually going on, but she told me that the kids at camp are "really good at making her unhappy".

With so many great reviews, I'm a little perplexed by my/my daughter's situation at Bowen.

I'll be in DC for 10 days at the end of this month to househunt (moving from Idaho in August) and am looking for affordable options for camp for my 3 and 5 year old girls. I fiigure they will enjoy camp far more than being dragged around looking at apartments (as will I). YMCA Anthony Bowen has a camp with openings that week and the location is great for where I need to be in town. But I worry a bit leaving my young kids somewhere that I haven't gotten any feedback on.

Anyone have experience?

Thanks.