Choosing a summer sleepaway camp for your children to attend for the first time can feel like a daunting challenge. Here are five topics to ask questions about and have the Camp Director elaborate on in order to get the conversation started and help you get a quick sense of the quality of the summer camp in question.
- Safety and Security: Can you explain your camp’s safety and security measures? How do you ensure the safety of the campers during activities, and what are your procedures in case of an emergency?
- Staff: Can you tell me about the staff members working at the camp? What are their qualifications, and how are they trained to work with children? How do you ensure that the staff members are reliable and responsible?
- Activities: What activities are available at the camp, and how are they structured? Do the campers have a choice in which activities they participate in, and how are they grouped according to age and skill level?
- Accommodations and facilities: Can you describe the accommodations and facilities at the camp? What is the camper to staff ratio? How are the accommodations and facilities maintained?
- Communication: How do you keep parents informed about their child’s progress and activities while they are at camp? What is the protocol for communication in case a parent needs to get in touch with their child, and vice versa?