Camp Imagineerz is my son's favorite camp. He has gone to 4 different camps this summer with this…read moreyear being the first year going to summer camps for him (rising 1st grader). When I asked him which camp he would want to sign up for next year, he listed Camp Imagineerz as his "must" choice without hesitation. Pick up and drop off were all seamlessly done. The third party lunch option offered at the camp was amazing. All the staff I had encounters with had positive and upbeat energy. The curriculum is focused on creativity, problem solving and social emotional skills, and they weave these skills together by planning and prepping for weekly skits they put out at the end of each week. My son absolutely loved this camp, and we will definitely return.

My daughter has always loved Camp Imagineerz and they have fun themes like "Escape from Candy…read moreKingdom" or "The Great Adventure Park Competition". At the end of the camp, parents are invited to see what the kids constructed during the week and they put on a show for you. What I was most impressed with was that they instill in the kids this "I-Can" mindset, which teaches the kids what to do when they face adversity, issues and driving that positive mindset that they can overcome it. The most fun part is at the end of camp where, the kids get to "dunk" the counsellors with water which always ends with squeals of delight ... This is a truly fun and creative camp that I'm sure any child will enjoy!!

To quote my 11 year old: "This camp is like, actually fun" -- said on the way home on day one. My…read moreboys (8 and 11) will definitely be back at this camp next summer as they ranked it number one, and they have done a lot of basketball camps. Some bball camps they have done have been very intense and some have been very casual -- this one was the perfect mix of bball skills as well as positive games on and off the court. They also really liked the staff and met a lot of other really nice kids. My kids have also done Growth league and Small Group Training with Bald Eagle and we will definitely continue signing up with them. My oldest is looking forward to doing their Leadership camp as well!

This review is for the weekly Basketball skills class. My…read morechild has tried many programs but this by far outshines the others in the quality of instruction. The coaches reinforce team building skills and encourage all skill levels to participate and have fun! It's all about practice and progress at Bald Eagle and we see our child's confidence grow week by week.

Summer rock camp for me growing up was a great time! Making friends, practicing instruments, and…read morelearning how to be in a band! All of the senior counselors at the time I was there are proficient on their instruments and care a lot about the craft and process of being a great musician! I was lucky enough to teach through Mikes camp as well and feel the gifts the camp in its early years provided me later in my life and relationship to music and teaching on my own!

I've been attending Rock Camp for about six years now, starting when I was only ten years old. I…read morecome back each and every year because it is always the most memorable and exciting part of my summer. Mike and his staff are like family to me-- they're always so welcoming and friendly, and they put a tremendous amount of effort into making sure that each kid feels heard. Being in a small band (4-5 kids) with a professional musician as your counselor creates a safe space for kids to explore and grow as musicians. When putting together bands, Mike Finley makes sure to factor in skill level, as well as age. He puts kids into groups where he thinks they will be most comfortable, however, he always leaves room for growth. The distinguishing factor between Summer Rock Camp and its competitors (e.g. school of rock) is that Rock Camp will teach your kids about all aspects of music-- rather than simply copy a couple songs with their bands, kids have a chance to learn important lessons about music theory, rhythm, etc. These skills are what will set you apart as a musician in the long run-- kids are encouraged to be creative, and some bands even learn to write their own original pieces. Rock camp equips young musicians with the skills they need to thrive-- this camp helped me learn to collaborate with others, master the art of performance, and greatly improve my skills on the guitar. Everybody works toward the performance on Friday, and each kid gets a chance to showcase their hard work. Overall, it's extremely rewarding, no matter what your skill level is. I never felt like my was being compared to others at the camp-- the counselors create an extremely positive atmosphere that makes it easy to be proud of yourself and everything you accomplished in just five days. Rock camp has taught me so much, not only about music, but about myself. I met one of my biggest role models at this camp-- nearly all of the counselors are pursuing music professionally, and many of them have degrees in music from top universities around the country. It's truly a phenomenal staff, and they have a lot of experience with working with kids in a musical setting. I plan on coming back to Rock Camp every summer for years to come-- I have extremely fond memories of performing, rehearsing, and just messing around with the other campers and counselors. If your kid is interested in music at ALL, send them to this camp.

My child did not enjoy the camp and did not want to return for the second day. He said it was the…read moreworst camp he has attended and found it quite boring. While the concept of the camp is good, the execution did not meet expectations. In particular, the staff seemed inexperienced in working with children.

My oldest daughter is in her 3rd year of DesignX's fashion camp; my younger daughter was finally…read moreable to join in the fun this year! DesignX offers fashion design and related illustration, fabric and accessory classes, toy design, and product design. In the fashion class, the kids design and make an their own incredible outfit over the course of a week. The outfits are conceived as part of a collection (with a overarching unified color theme). The kids iterate their design ideas, create and sew their outfit complete with accessories, and present it in an exciting fashion show for their families at the end of the week! Each outfit is unique to each child, but work as part of the collection. As a home sewist, I can tell you that the sewing aspect of the fashion camp is set up for real success for the kids, even as they create unique outfits - the skills are age appropriate and build as they get older. 2nd and 3rd graders create skirts and modify t-shirts; 4th and 5th graders create tunics; 6th and 7th graders create more complex dresses and rompers. My husband and I are both professional designers. The design process taught at DesignX is great. The kids work through an iterative process that relates to what designers do in the real world. The fact that they express their personal creativity in real ways but are doing it within an overarching/relational theme speaks to the way designers work in the real world. My older daughter wore her tunic as a cover-up all last summer; I know she'll be wearing her new top with shorts. And my younger daughter will be wearing her skirt as well. We love DesignX camp, and my kiddos can't wait for next year!

Awesome camp! My kids had a wonderful time and the coaches really know how to treat them well :)read more

My 8 year old daughter was here for 2 weeks of summer camp. This is the review for the Los Altos…read moreSummer Camp. The reviews are mainly based on her feedback and my experience on the Friday sessions. - She loves the staff and she enjoyed the Spy Activities - She kept saying the staff love to sing which is fun - The water activities on Wednesday is awesome especially when the weather is hot - For Parent session on Friday, We get to learn more about the counselors and the activities. The video was great .. good job - The T-shirt challenge was fun and we enjoyed it For extended day care, all they did was just playing at the playground and I wish the kids has a option to get inside when the temp hit almost 100F. My other feedback will be to make it easier for kids to get the badges. My daughter want to come back again next year to try other camp activities which mean she really enjoyed it. Updates: We send our daughter to a different camp this week and she keep saying how much she misses Camp Edmo.

This camp at this location is very laid back, easy to manage (no big lines, no fuss at check-in)…read more IT is a small campus and inviting for kids who are shy or nervous about large groups. My daughter enjoyed talking about this camp, and learned some basic science concepts, which she continues to explore on her own. To me, that is a success. I am not giving it five stars only because five stars is what you give the Ritz Carlton. However, this is a really good camp, and as far as my role as a parent, I felt that the camp staff was: 1. Friendly 2. Safety conscious 3. Communicative 4. Flexible 5. Educated

My kids have been going to J-Camp at the Oshman JCC for 6 years. What distinguishes J-Camp from…read moreall the other single-week theme-based camps is the quality of the counselors. The counselors return from year to year, and so they form relationships with the children. The ratios are also great. Two in charge of a group of maybe 10-12. On the whole, the leadership is older than the group leads at several other camps we have tried. I think this gives kids a sense of security and trust. They might not have a strong sense of that at other places. Obviously, the facilities at the JCC are top class. Also, the camp takes them on field trips once a week to fun places like Great America, Golfland, the Academy of Sciences and the Exploratorium. Thumbs up all around.

This lone star is for their registration process. The website says it's open to all races and…read morestudents. I called the camp and emailed 3 times prior to ensure that I would be able to enroll my child even though she didn't go to school there. No one said that it was a problem nor did they say that spaces were reserved for existing preschoolers. Yesterday, I received an email over 2 weeks after I signed up that they are refunding my money, and that my child couldn't go. Whoever is running the show at that camp has clearly dropped the ball as they really don't even communicate to their own staff about enrollment. Who knows what else they do wrong? What an Asshole thing to do to a kid.

This review is to inform other parents of a very humiliating and demoralzing experience my daughter…read morehad at Camp Via West. I spoke to the CEO and he was very gracious. He showed a general concern for my camper and requested my input in asking what improvements can be made for next year. We spoke through e-mail and a zoom call where I shared my thoughts and experiences. From the negativity of this cumulative experience, his compassion was so welcomed. After four relatively successful sessions at Camp Via West, the last session was an utter mess. Every counselor can be drastically different. It can range from winning the lottery to playing Russian Roulette with your campers well being. Our campers well being should not be in the hands of counselors who may have little or no experience working with special needs. I feel validated after reading the last three Yelp reviews where parents had very similar experiences to mine. Some of the complaints had to do with lack of experienced staff, no therapists or behavior specialists on camp grounds, rudeness and lack of empathy, the camp director having lack of awareness of issues happening in real time, and our campers files and behaviors are not shared with the staff. Adding to this; the camp director being very abrupt and inflexible in making decisions about the campers future placement and not willing to listen to experienced parents explanations about the reasoning behind certain behaviors which personal files collaborated information. I wrote a comment about the camp online and a seasoned counselor who worked there since 2011 replied. She wrote that right before the summer started she was fired abruptly. It made no sense to her already being hired for the summer and she was highly fond of both Via West and the campers. I don't know the context of the firing- though a counselor with her expertise would have been ideal for a lot of the new counselors to emulate. I am so proud of my daughter for how well she is developing in conjunction with her disability. I have worked with her tirelessly on her development. She is so happy, cheerful, respectful and well behaved. I take her to a myriad of outside activities and at school there is not one behavior goal in her IEP. Alleged behaviors arose at camp which were unusual for my daughter. She is verbal though delayed, having a speech and language impairment. She has a communication device for language breakdowns. I believe her device may have been confiscated at night with other comfort toys causing her to feel vulnerable. My trust has been eroded. I am so worried that she was left vulnerable during the evenings and that terrifies me. When we send our kids with disabilities to camp we trust they will be safe. I know for sure if my daughter who nevers shows any negative behaviors started to show them; this is a huge red flag. Not only was it humiliating that I was called to pick her up early. On pick-up day she was looking so sad in the cafeteria, I asked her what's wrong? My usually cheerful daughter tells me they took her bop-it. I find her toy which gives her some relief. I know that my job at this moment is to protect her. At breakfast the mood among campers was eerily quiet flowing with low energy. I felt many eyes on my daughter but no one said anything. Possibly sensing sadness from her, she was now being stared at and possibly ridiculed for being sent home. It felt like the camp was turning their back on her and unbelievably they were no goodbyes. We decided to say good-bye to a beautiful hearted counselor named Lucia. As a parent, I wanted my daughter to leave on a positive note. If nobody was going to say bye to her, I would have my daughter go over to Lucia who was with a group of counselors. To my relief, Lucia opened her arms and heart to my daughter. She said, "Come here" and all the counselors in her group followed suit saying their goodbyes. It was such a beautiful moment which I captured taking photo's. Sadly though, it ended abruptly when both the night counselor and her day counselor approached, escorting us away, saying,"We don't want the other campers to get homesick." It felt very suspicious, unbelievable being escorted away like that, as we did something reprehensible. To make matters worse, they tell the camp director misinformation at the reception area, where more counselors are gathered, that I'm taking pictures of campers. The director in a vociferous tone that was both admonishing and accusatory in nature, repeated, "You're taking pictures of campers and to delete them. " I later got an apology from her through an e-mail, though to be spoken like that was brutal and disheartening. A thought - who are the less experience counselors emulating and should the camp director be taking the word of counselors over dedicated parents who have vast amounts of knowledge? Camps like this are made for my daughter where her independence has blossomed; so lets please demand positive change.

This camp maybe needs to have more background info on campers behaviors and needs. Maybe with the…read moreintake information an IEP and behavior plan should be included and looked over by all staff before each session. When it comes to neurodiversity it's not ever a one fits all and the experience could probably be more individualized, similar to a school program. An experienced, licensed behavioral specialist and therapist should be on site to aid with kids with special behavioral issues. Basic training should be backed by specialists. When an issue arises the parent should be notified immediately to help with supporting staff. When staff doesn't know an individual it's easy to confuse behaviors. Overall this staff and facility is undertrained, unprofessional, unorganized, dirty and combative. Staff takes neurodivergent behaviors personally and lets their emotions rule. Staff, surrounds, confronts and calls parent and attendee derogatory names in front of other staff, parents and campers and disrespects parent when parent is just sitting waiting for her camper. My attendee had overstimulated, stressed behaviors that were not identified or handled properly. However, she did make some friends and enjoyed her time with her new friends. I would not recommend this camp for highly spirited independent teenagers.