Anonymous wrote:

PP here - and I would have said the same thing about Campagna and did for a while but I happened to drop by one of their schools aftercare to pick up something I had left the night before during a meeting at the school. Outside there was a counselor playing with some kids and they had cups of water and had just got water from the fountain. The counselor first threw some water at the kids and then of course they did it in return to the counselor. It was such a poor choice on the counselor's part. I was really surprised he would even start such a game or continue it with the kids. Once inside, I then heard a boomkng male voice announcing that all the kids needed to sit down and wait in silence because a certain child was causing problems again and that they could all blame that kid for the delay in them getting out to the playground. I had witnessed that same technique at their summer camps so I doubt it was an isolated incident. I think parents like you are seriously kidding yourself if you really believe the care is any better than the care or staff at Rec.

None of that would bother me all that much. The water throwing is a little weird, the announcement thing seems fine. But my kid is both older (8) and generally well-behaved.

The water thing seems ok as long as all the kids were ok with it. The announcement blaming one particular child is not ok at any age, and I say that even though my kids are well behaved. Discipline should be a private matter between the kid, the counselor, and the kid's parents if necessary.

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing in the VA suburbs that only charges $40/week, as far as I know. Unless you are very low income maybe. The Fairfax County cheapest summer rec camp is Rec Pac and I think that is around $125/week.

The pp (and I think the OP) are in DC.

My kids have aged out of DC DPR camps now but of all the camps they attended, I found the camps at Jelleff Boys and Girls club to be the most organized. The facility is well staffed and I noticed the same counselors returned each summer my kids were there. They have lots of rooms for the kids to engage in activities -- arts & crafts, games, basketball, swimming pool and a large baseball diamond although the diamond is not used during camp. In one week, they take the kids on an outing to the zoo or the movies in Georgetown. For the price, I was very pleased with it and formed a lasting connection to the club director who has reserved a party room for roller skating parties. They offer free skating during the fall/winter months to the public. I highly recommend it.

My kids had a great experience at one of the MoCo sites and a horrible experience at another. The centers were about 2 mile apart but a world apart in terms of staff, activities, etc.

PP here - and I would have said the same thing about Campagna and did for a while but I happened to drop by one of their schools aftercare to pick up something I had left the night before during a meeting at the school. Outside there was a counselor playing with some kids and they had cups of water and had just got water from the fountain. The counselor first threw some water at the kids and then of course they did it in return to the counselor. It was such a poor choice on the counselor's part. I was really surprised he would even start such a game or continue it with the kids. Once inside, I then heard a boomkng male voice announcing that all the kids needed to sit down and wait in silence because a certain child was causing problems again and that they could all blame that kid for the delay in them getting out to the playground. I had witnessed that same technique at their summer camps so I doubt it was an isolated incident. I think parents like you are seriously kidding yourself if you really believe the care is any better than the care or staff at Rec.

None of that would bother me all that much. The water throwing is a little weird, the announcement thing seems fine. But my kid is both older (8) and generally well-behaved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've really enjoyed our experience this summer at Petworth. Counselors are nice and greet my child warmly, keep the kids engaged, and plan some decent activities. This is in contrast to last summer at Banneker where the counselors were mean and spiteful. So, I think it depends on the site and the year. You never know what you're gonna get but for $40/week, I'll take my chances.

So you knew they hired and tolerated crappy unqualified staff yet returned because it was a great deal? Wow.

No, asshole, we tried another site because, like I said, it depends on the location and year.

There is nothing in the VA suburbs that only charges $40/week, as far as I know. Unless you are very low income maybe. The Fairfax County cheapest summer rec camp is Rec Pac and I think that is around $125/week.

Anonymous wrote:We've really enjoyed our experience this summer at Petworth. Counselors are nice and greet my child warmly, keep the kids engaged, and plan some decent activities. This is in contrast to last summer at Banneker where the counselors were mean and spiteful. So, I think it depends on the site and the year. You never know what you're gonna get but for $40/week, I'll take my chances.

So you knew they hired and tolerated crappy unqualified staff yet returned because it was a great deal? Wow.

We've really enjoyed our experience this summer at Petworth. Counselors are nice and greet my child warmly, keep the kids engaged, and plan some decent activities. This is in contrast to last summer at Banneker where the counselors were mean and spiteful. So, I think it depends on the site and the year. You never know what you're gonna get but for $40/week, I'll take my chances.

We have had very good experiences at DPR Verano, Little Engineers, and Little Explorers camps. I'm honestly amazed at what a bargain the programs are for what my kids have gotten out of them, and I say this as someone who also uses the camps at Beauvoir and Sidwell. The Verano management can be strict about certain things that don't seem important to me, but not mean. Almost across the board, I've sensed that the DPR counselors knew and were fond of my kids and vice versa.

As for a counselor using the word "stupid," I can totally envision this happening. Many of the counselors are college students and some might still be rough around the edges in terms of working with young kids. As someone who worked at camps and recreational programs throughout high school and college, I have encountered occasional counselors like that at most programs, private and public.

Anonymous wrote:We are having a good DPR little explorers experience. We're at a location with staff whom I've only observed behaving appropriately in terms of language and tone, including the summer job teenagers who run around the playground with the kids every morning. They have crafts every day, hold special events for the kids, take trips to the pool/museums, and use the great playground (including splash park). I could do without the movies but only BC my kid doesn't really like movies, and I totally get it for insanely hot or rainy afternoons. We're paying $500 for a whole summer. I appreciate that this option is available for a family like ours that's not high income. Signing up is stressful but if you stalk the site spots do open.

Do you mind saying which location you're at? My DC just started Little Explorers camp today, and I am feeling somewhat uncomfortable about returning. There were just a bunch of little things that my DH and I both noticed and were bothered by.

The counselors at DD's Montgomery County rec camp were horrendous, just incredibly lazy and condescending to the kids. I observed them yelling a bunch of times when I came to pick DD up because she had to leave early a few times for appointments.

The counselors didn't even seem to look like they liked kids but were there because they had to be there for the money.
It was so disturbing I took DD out of the camp.

I heard from friends that a different location of this same camp had really good counselors so I may try again next year. PP is right that it depends on who is doing the hiring, training and supervision.

I'll push back on this being a blanket issue for all rec center camps. My daughter did two different programs at the Lee Rec Center in FFX last summer and both had outstanding staff. Her junior lifeguard week had tons of programming and they filled every second of non-pool time with games and crafts. She did lacrosse the next week and again, lots of great organized and informal programming. Both weeks were very inexpensive and I hadn't expected any bells and whistles, but I ended being very impressed with the whole thing.

I think this all depends on who is doing the hiring, training, and supervision. That's where the praise or blame lies with and that's the who you need to hold accountable.

Yes, camp counselors yell at and intimidate the kids. No, I don't think anything you can do about it because counselors are long time staff and rough is their way.

Anonymous wrote:

A $300/week/kid for 2 kids, which is on the low-end especially if you need before/after-care, is more than my take-home salary.

If I moved to a DC suburb, do Northern VA cities offer an affordable equivalent to DPR camps where staff is slightly better educated/supervised and less likely to be verbally abusive to children?



Nope.

We are in Alexandria City and have two equivalent camps and the counsellors are the same kind. Lots of yelling, little prep to work with kids, bring their poor habits regarding disciple with them from home - talk in lots of slang and threatening. Happened at both the Rec camps and Campagna camp which is non profit run

NP. Just to clarify, we have not done the cheaper city of Alexandria camps (the Power On and cheaper sports camps). But we have done the Silver Knights chess camp and Hoop Life Basketball camps through the city, and my kids liked those camps and thought the counselors were nice. My son does the Campagna afterschool program, and while some of the staff use slang, they don't curse and have never threatened him. I've only seen staff raise their voices at a kid once, and that kid's behavior at the time was appalling - he was being rough to another kid.

PP here - and I would have said the same thing about Campagna and did for a while but I happened to drop by one of their schools aftercare to pick up something I had left the night before during a meeting at the school. Outside there was a counselor playing with some kids and they had cups of water and had just got water from the fountain. The counselor first threw some water at the kids and then of course they did it in return to the counselor. It was such a poor choice on the counselor's part. I was really surprised he would even start such a game or continue it with the kids. Once inside, I then heard a boomkng male voice announcing that all the kids needed to sit down and wait in silence because a certain child was causing problems again and that they could all blame that kid for the delay in them getting out to the playground. I had witnessed that same technique at their summer camps so I doubt it was an isolated incident. I think parents like you are seriously kidding yourself if you really believe the care is any better than the care or staff at Rec.