Nanny here- My work kids go there and they absolutely hate it. Last month the eldest called crying at 10am and I had to pick her up, and that was the end of that camp. They went for 2 years.

My boys ages 10 and 8 had a wonderful time at Steve & Kate's in Bethesda this summer. This is the only camp they don't want to go too late or leave too early. It's that much fun. They regularly bake bread (like bagettes from scratch with kosher salt - yum!), make music videos and leggo animation, play a variety of old school games, and best of all, besides their smiles at the end of the day, it's flexible for parents AND it includes a solid lunch and snacks. Success 2nd year in a row - they look forward to attending next year. The counselors are engaged and seem to enjoy being there. I can't tell you the relief it is to find a flexible camp that the kids love love love. At the end of the day, animation movies are emailed to parents. I can't recommend them enough. http://steveandkatescamp.com/locations/bethesda/

Reviews on various mom listservs were not very positive (for the Alexandria location). Long check-ins/check-outs, too few counselors relative to campers, chaos when it comes to the more in-demand activities -- the bigger, bullying kids hog them.

They are located so close to us, and it sounded so interesting but we decided not to attend after reading these reviews.

Be careful of Yelp reviews. Yelp is a commercial business that gets revenue from the companies that get reviewed. Negative reviews will often get deleted or "hidden." If you are looking on Yelp for anything, make sure you look at all the hidden reviews.

Last year at GDS, my rising 6th grader loved the camp. She made friends and participated in many of the activities. We used the camp for a 2 weeks and for some drop off throughout the summer. The staff was great at drawing her out and showing her the various activities. She also loves reading and spent time just relaxing with a book. The kids seem to separate themselves by ages or perhaps the staff assist with it. The staff seemed very engaged. I recommended this camp to all my friends with young kids and older kids. We plan to use it this year to fill in the gaps. You can't beat the flexibility and the price is comparable to other camps. The breakfast and lunch are very nice. The check in and security protocols were tight. I did not worry about my daughter during the day because I knew she was having a good time.

Bump

My DD loved the camp last year. I looked on their site though today and didn't see the GDS location listed?

FYI - there are now some reviews that have been posted on Yelp for this camp. (They are all positive by the way)