Parish Camps Include Baking, Dance, and Taylor Swift

Academic programs offer credit courses and university campus tours

Parish Episcopal School offers so many summer programs, everyone from academic credit-chasing scholars to Swifties should find the ideal experience.

“You can build from a variety of camps to make your day,” noted Parish extend and summer director Jessica Rodriguez. “Dance, sports, STEM, art, a lot of cooking, which is super popular. Something we’re really looking forward to this year is a couple of Taylor Swift-inspired art camps, dance camps, as well as broadcast journalism, and digital creators and content creation camps.”

Day camps for youths in pre-K 3 through 12th grade run for 10 weeks from 9 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. June 3 through Aug. 9. Choose extended care hours, and camp days run from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We do have families that depend on our being here all 10 weeks,” Rodriguez said. “We have students who keep coming back for Day Camp because they love water slides and having a snow cone on Wednesdays. One the kids really like is the Sweet Tooth Art Camp. You know when it’s on because the kids are walking around with a cake they created that looks like art, but it’s so good.”

Parish also offers pre-K 4 to 12th grade programs through The Academy, where campers can explore such basics as reading, writing, and math.

“At higher grade levels, we’ve got science, Spanish, executive function, and note-taking,” said Ann Morgan, director of The Academy. “The majority of the camps are taught by Parish Episcopal teachers. The other side of The Academy was a separate institution that we’ve brought together, that is, summer school, a range of credit-bearing classes our upper school students can take. We’ve got electives and year-long classes; they do get full transcript high school credit for these, and many fulfill graduation requirements. Some meet in person, and some are entirely virtual.” 

Cost depends on content. Elective courses are $750 per student; others are $1,600. Bundling packages allow elective classes to be added at discounted prices.

“Credit courses are open to non-Parish students,” Morgan said. “Last summer, I taught a student from Houston, one in Austin, and one in San Francisco, all in my Latin I class. And they all passed their placement test. Most electives can get done in four weeks. We offer a session in June and one in July.”

For The Academy, math is the most popular.

“Students are surprised they enjoy it,” Morgan said. “The teachers make them realize numbers and problem-solving can be fun and have real-world applications.”

Favorite day camp field trips for fifth grade and up include Top Golf, the Farmer’s Branch Aquatic Center, and Nickel Mania. 

This year, Academy campers in ninth through 12th grade will tour college campuses, including TCU, SMU, and UT Dallas.