Whoops - meant to include my email address on the above recommendation in case anyone has any specific questions. (And also to prove I'm not schilling for the camp.) Feel free to email me at kenlyn.klamper(at)gmail(dot)com if you have any specific questions about the GDS location of Steve and Kate's. As I mentioned, we have a 6-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter.

Our kids (6-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter) spent a week at Steve and Kate's at GDS, and they loved it.

We have a fantastic nanny, but her week of vacation meant that we needed to find a camp for the week, so we opted for Steve and Kate's. (Honestly, it would have been cheaper to go with Steve and Kate's for the whole summer, especially given the amount of food that we don't have to buy for lunches and snacks.)

Our kids didn't seem have any trouble with the lack of structure - there are adults everywhere, so if they needed ideas, someone was always available to direct them to the water slide, bread-baking room, dance studio, sewing room, movie making booths, etc. In fact, they seemed to enjoy the self-directed learning (but they've gone through Montessori schools, so perhaps that helps).

A couple of other things I really appreciated about the camp as a parent:
-Our son is dairy- and gluten-free. While this is often very difficult at kids' events - pizza, ice cream, and almost everything fun is out - Steve and Kate's has gluten- and dairy-free options at every meal. He simply got a sticker on his wrist band and ate away.
-The hours are great. My husband and I could drop them off at 7:30 and pick them up at 6:00 after a full day of work - there was no need to truncate our work hours to make sure we would be on time.
-Registration couldn't have been easier. They even made sure we knew that the other local location (in Virginia) required some specific proof of immunization certificates so we didn't opt for that location if we didn't have those at the ready.
-We didn't need reservations, so once we had registered we could simply show up. I can't overstate how valuable that is on days when something goes wrong and we need last-minute childcare support.
-The teachers knew our kids' names (right off the bat) and kept in constant contact with us. When our son left his pet turtle, they happily put it aside for us, and they frequently emailed us to make sure the kids were having a good time and see if there was anything they could do better.

My 7th grader went and really enjoyed it.

Any updates on how this camp is going? Thanks.

You may need to call to get a since of the grade breakdown, but it appears to be 3rd to 5th grade weighted.

Are there lots of kids going into 5th grade - or is it mostly younger kids? Considering this camp for my DS.

DS is on his second week and he is really enjoying it. Numbers seemed low last week but seem to be picking up. He's loving the freedom to choose his activities and what he eats for lunch. Very different activities than his experience at Burgundy Farms last summer. He's made some good friends....they have made movies and music together. Lot's of freedom...which works well with my DS. So far, so good!

bumping - looking for feedback also!

Would love feedback from anyone who attended last week. Thanks.

Steve and Kate's Camp is a wonderful camp! My nephew has gone there two summers now and he can't wait for each summer. There is always a plentiful amount of activities, staff, and food. They hire great staff, and the flexible enrollment options are great for parents! I wish they were around when I was a kid! It looks like so much fun. My nephew is visiting from California and attending for a few days here in DC while he is in town.

My kid did a few days in SFBay a few years back when she was 6YO and she loved it. It's definitely unstructured, with a one or 2 big daily activities for everyone and then studios the kids can choose from for the rest of the day. The kids were grouped by grade with age-appropriate activities. They also offered an great lunch program - healthy, organic and tasty. There was plenty of opportunity for her to have fun and make new friends - and she never wanted me to pick her up early. I think she ended up making a short video with another girl by the end of the week. If you think of it as a drop-in, fun camp with incredible flexibility, then it hits the spot. She still has fond memories and I'll definitely try the GDS campus for the few days to see how it translates.

Hello all!

My name is Carlota, Community Director for Steve and Kate's Camp at the Alexandria location. I'd love to be able to answer any remaining questions or concerns that you may have. I know that the website can be a bit vague, so please reach out!

alexandria@steveandkate.com or (202) 350-4369 ext. 141

Carlota

I asked about this camp earlier, reluctant to try it with my kids because they are 7 and 5, and this is the camp's first year in D.C. Not sure how I feel about the possibly chaotic atmosphere of a camp full of drop-in kids, will they do a good job keeping track of my kids and be attentive, comfort them when something goes wrong? I need all day, multi-week summer coverage. The price is right though. Maybe when kids are older...

From what I could infer from online forums (not scientific methodology or personal experience) - it seems like it is OK for very self directed or older children; my youngest is 7 and it's probably better to have some structure. Sad, though, the structure of choose your day would be great for those working part time.

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 mill valley in the *other* Bay Area? I never even looked up Steve & Kate's camp since moving here, because I thought we had left it behind. Indeed, it was a big deal around the San Francisco area. So... for VA, they are only in Alexandria and DC... would be nice to see them in Reston, Vienna or Fairfax...