You know it’s coming, parents. With each day that the sun gets a
little hotter and the kids get more and more restless, you know
that summer is on its way and the kids soon will be out of
school.
You know it’s coming, parents. With each day that the sun gets a little hotter and the kids get more and more restless, you know that summer is on its way and the kids soon will be out of school.
For those of you who stay at home, it means no more free time to get things done, especially when your kids keep whining “I’m bored!” every five minutes. And for those of you who work, you have no one to look after your child while you are at work, only the fears that they have destroyed the house or tied up the babysitter.
But there’s a way out – a way that will keep you kids busy and smiling all day with their friends and a way for you to have piece of mind. Some call it a godsend, others just call it summer camp.
However, finding the right place to take your child isn’t always an easy choice to make. Is your kid really ready to go away to camp? Or is it better to have them go to a day camp? What camp is right for my kid? Will they be challenged, or will they just be bored? How much attention will instructors give my child?
When making those decisions, it is important to be careful and ask a lot of questions when deciding on where to take your kid. There are tons of summer camps out there, so don’t be shy.
According to Lisa Dunn, director of Champions for Luigi Aprea Elementary School, deciding on the right camp for your kids means making sure they will have fun while having a good opportunity to be safe and learn.
Dunn knows a lot about looking for a good day camp. Before she ever was involved with Champions, she was new to the area and was trying to find a place for her own kids for after-school and during the summer.
“I was actually a parent before, and I was looking for a place to take my girls,” said Dunn, whose daughters entered the Champions program two years ago. “I was looking for a place where they could do homework and have fun too. Champions was inexpensive, but they offered a lot.”
Dunn said her girls liked the program and often came home talking about what fun things they did during the day. Before too long, Dunn herself was interested in the program and began working for Champions.
“Something pulled me back into working with kids. I saw how my kids liked it and I wanted to be a part,” said Dunn, who said she now hopes that the children who come to her program leave just like her daughters did – talking nonstop about their day.
“I want to have that reaction from them,” she said. “I want the children to do the same thing when they leave here.”
Champions
The Champions Program also runs at Antonio Del Buono, El Roble and Rod Kelley schools in Gilroy, although Luigi Aprea and Antonio Del Buono combine into one program for the summer.
The program, which has been in Gilroy for more than five years, is run through Medallion, which is owned by the national company Aramark. It serves children ages 5 to 12, kindergarten through 6th grade, year around.
“We’re here from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” she said. “9:30 to 4:30-ish is when the activities are going on.”
During the school year the program give parents a way to have their child looked after before and after school, but the summer months is when the most exciting events occur.
During the summer, Dunn is charged with keeping a wide range of ages of kids being safe and having fun not just for a few hours, but all day. To do that, she has set up special themes for each week with .
“We have 10 weeks of summer and each week has a theme,” said Dunn, who added that this summer the themes range from ‘Survivor’ to ‘A Blast from the Past’ to a patriotic theme. “What we do, for example, with magic and mysteries, we’d do a treasure hunt, have a magician and then we’d see a movie.”
The kids also go on trips on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“A few of the trips are to Bonfante Gardens and Raging Waters.”
Each of the different Champions locations follow the same format, but Dunn said the activities my differ a little between each site.
“We all fall under the same curriculum,” she said. “It revolves around that one theme.”
Champions can hold up to 50 students at Luigi Aprea and about 25 to 35 students at the other elementary schools, keeping an instructor-child ratio of one-to-14, except for swimming activities when it changes to one-to-eight. The program’s rates are $60 for one to two days a week and $140 for three to five days.
“Last year we had about 45 at my center,” Dunn said. “We already have about 30 students for this summer.”
For more information about Champions call 842-7150.
City of Gilroy
The City of Gilroy also has several day camp programs for kids during the summer. Gilroy’s Activity Guide comes out in May, and registration for its programs begin shortly after.
The Camper Cubs is a program for children ages 3 to 5 and runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon and costs $40 per week. Happy Campers, for ages 5 to 7, runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and costs $52 per week, and Outdoor Adventures runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is $74 per week. The three programs run from June 23 to Aug. 15, excluding the week of July 4.
The city also offers several sports camps for kids and also a drop-in program called Playgrounds for kids ages 6 to 12. Playgrounds runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and costs just $5 for the summer.
“Kids come and go throughout the day,” said Myra Esparza, recreation coordinator for the City of Gilroy.
Playgrounds runs from June 23 to Aug. 7 and offers three different locations: Wheeler, Luigi Aprea and Las Animas Park. However, the program doesn’t offer the same amount of supervision, as up to 70 kids can be left at any one time with up to five supervisors. The ratio of supervisor-child ratio is one-to-20 at times, Esparza said.
“It depends on the site,” she said.
For more information on Gilroy’s day camp offerings, call Esparza at 846-0460.
Morgan Hill
The City of Morgan Hill also won’t have their camp offerings finalized until May, but Recreation and Community Services does have plans for a few camps – one of which will take advantage of the new Morgan Hill Community Playhouse.
The Stars Drama Camp will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 21 to Aug. 8 at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center. The camp is designed for kids ages 8 to 13 and they will finish camp by putting on a play on Aug. 8, 9, 15 and 16 at the Community Playhouse for parents and community members.
The city also offers several sports camps and their own Playground Program which will take place this summer.
For moreinformation on summer camps in Morgan Hill call 782-0008 in early May.
South County YMCAs
The YMCA also offers children a place to learn and grow during the summer months in many different venues. The program offers the programs Summer School-aged Child Care and Summer Traditional Day Camps.
The school-aged child care program is for children in kindergarten to sixth grade, and is located at Las Animas in Gilroy and at Paradise Valley in Morgan Hill. The program runs from 6:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. It costs $185 per week plus a $25 membership fee to the YMCA.
The summer camp programs offer a much more active summer experience for kids at the YMCA. The Explorers camp for third- and fourth-graders, Adventurers program for fifth- and sixth-graders and Moving On camp for seventh- to ninth-graders take place at the Mount Madonna YMCA and the kids even get an overnight experience.
The camps run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and are paid for weekly. The cost runs anywhere from $185 to $240 per week, depending on the activities.
“If they are looking for a low-energy camp … then the School-aged Childcare program is for them. If they want high-energy, camp where the kids are doing a lot more, than camp is for them,” said Tina Holloway, branch operations manager at the Mount Madonna YMCA. “We encourage parents to mix it up.”
The camps and child care programs run for week-long sessions from June 16 to Aug. 20, and parents can sign up for any and all the different weeks they are interested in. For more information call Holloway at 779-0208 or visit www.scvymca.org.
