Private Schools Open Their Campuses for Summer Camps
Fun area programs teach skills, promote learning, help keep children engaged
Many private schools offer summer camps each year to encourage students to keep learning, develop new skills, and have fun.
“I think (kids) experience emotional (and) social growth … while they’re here — whether it’s making new friends, or learning how to make new friends, or learning a new skill,” said Mike Schneider, the Episcopal School of Dallas summer program director.
The Episcopal School’s Summer at ESD program, a series of one-week sessions, begins May 30 with options focused on art, sports, STEM, and personal growth.
Whether it’s one week or the whole summer, families, who are a part of the school or not, can choose which programs to register for.
Many schools, like the Episcopal School, have offered summer camps for decades. The Hockaday School has seen previous campers return to enroll their children in the summer program, which has been around for over 40 years.
“It’s kind of neat to see generations coming through,” Hockaday auxiliary programs director Melissa Curtis said. “We send surveys every summer, and we always get some really positive feedback from families.”
Kaleidoscope Day Camp, Hockaday’s bestseller, opens up campers, ages 3 to second graders, to different experiences and activities similar to the variety of colors and shapes you see through a kaleidoscope. The camp is in session from June 12 through July 21.
“We feel like camp brings together all different types of kiddos and families and backgrounds,” Curtis said. “Then, while they’re here, we want them to also have a variety of experiences and activities that they participate in.”
In addition to student enrichment, private schools use the camps to generate more revenue, connect to their communities, and welcome new faces to their campus, as many programs are open to all children, whether they attend the schools or not.
“(Our program) allows us to connect with (and) to extend our reach beyond just our students,” said Amy Gilcrest, auxiliary programs director at the Ursuline Academy of Dallas. “A lot of (students) bring their younger siblings to our camps …, so it lets us connect with the entire family. … Last year, (we) had students coming in from 30 different ZIP codes in the Dallas area.”
Ursuline offers three different camps: summer workshops where Ursuline ninth through 12th graders can take non-credit courses to keep their brains engaged, athletic camps for all girls entering fifth grade and up to try new sports and improve their overall athletic performance, and adventure camps for all kids entering third grade and up to explore new interests and skills.
“We really consider our camps to be an extension of our Ursuline mission,” Gilcrest said. “They are serving and meeting the individuals where they are and giving them great opportunities for growth.”
From Montessori programs, to imaginative and adventurous, to athletic or academic, the private schools of Dallas have a lot to offer that will keep kids active and engaged this summer.
