My son attended his first season at Camp Adventurewood in 2023 - it was his first experience at a…read moresummer camp and he was a little nervous and shy but all his counselors made him feel so welcome and comfortable and after the first day he was hooked! He loved the variety of activities and made so many new friends. He came home with fun stories each day. I loved that they offered a variety of options from 2 days/week to 5 days. We returned last summer and an unexpected and sudden medical event threw our summer for a loop. They were beyond kind and accommodating. Michael, the owner, personally made sure we were taken care of at a very scary time and was just incredibly kind and communicative. I can't thank him and his staff enough for the support. I would recommend this camp for any family. Its like a classic, old-school summer day camp experience!

My son attended Adventurewood camp for the first time this week. For the most part he enjoyed…read morehimself -- particularly the characters they introduce throughout the week. However, we decided to pull him out for next week because of a very disturbing situation. He shared that a counselor had pushed him with both hands on his shoulders during a capture the flag activity. He had dropped his flag and was putting it back on when a counselor (he didn't know her name) pushed him back hard enough to make him lose his balance and fall. She also barked "you need to reset!" She didn't ask if he was ok or help him up. You'd think if this was an accidental push and he fell over she would say something like "sorry bud are you ok? Here let me help you up" but nope, not a word. A friend he's attending camp with witnessed the whole incident. Since I pick them both up in the afternoons they both recounted this situation to me and both of them noted how inappropriate her behavior was. I immediately reached out to Michael, the owner of the camp. He said he wanted to identify this counselor and get her side of the story. Understandable. My son felt uncomfortable going back the next day but I reassured him it would be handled and offered to drop him off in the morning and stick around to talk to Michael and the counselor. I wanted him to feel safe. Michael identified her (her name is Carson) and said he wanted to talk to her first, which he did a few feet away from me. I heard her say she didn't push him. They then walked over to me and she again denied everything. So we asked both kids to come over and recount what happened. They both did -- in front of her -- and reiterated she pushed him. She denied even touching him. So Michael suggests at this point that perhaps it was an accident and my son responds by saying "how do you push someone like that by accident?!" No response. So I ask her, are you saying these kids are lying? She again said she didn't touch him and at this point we send the kids away. I'm incensed because not only does she gaslight both of them to their face but tells this bold faced lie to her boss in front of the campers and me. I tell her I believe them and I think she's the one lying. At this point she gives me this dirty look - angry, irritated and almost rolls her eyes at me. I turn to Michael and say "and now she's giving ME an attitude?!" Unbelievable. In a follow up call, he tells me how good of a person she is and that this is shocking for him to hear but that she doesn't seem like someone who would do something like this...that she's getting her teacher credentials and he knows her really well. I am getting the vibe he doesn't actually believe any of this and he sounds very skeptical. I respond by telling him that it's almost always surprising when people exhibit bad behavior and that even teachers do bad things...that doesn't make her any more credible in my eyes. He acknowledged that. In fact, it's worse because I would be really concerned to have someone like that teaching a kid. Lack of empathy, accountability, and integrity. I mean, I think it's great he's trying to have her back but there are moments in life when you need to draw a line and act swiftly...these are one of those moments. Because ultimately, this impacts the reputation of your camp. I told him that it would be good to offer training to his staff in case this ever happens again in the future and honestly he sounded baffled and asked me to clarify...I said well maybe tell your staff not to give dirty looks to a mom who's clearly upset that her son just got pushed by a grown adult at summer camp?? I told him that the response to this situation could've resulted in a totally different outcome. Had she said something like "I really don't recall pushing you but if I inadvertently did and made you feel bad I'm sorry - I didn't mean to do that" - I would've went home that morning feeling fine about the situation. When I told him this he said that he's not going to police all her reactions, that she's still young, that she's still learning and made all kinds of excuses for her. Exhausting. Apparently she got a "warning" and will sit out of the flag activity (umm, ok...). He seems like a smart guy and wish him nothing but success in the future and I was earnestly trying to offer advice for how to handle a situation like this better but it fell on deaf ears. I really hope that some kind of learning comes out of this for both of them. Oh and to top it off, my son's friend told her mom that Carson was giving her looks several times throughout the day today and when she asked what kind she said "side eye" looks. NOT COOL. My son also said she was kind of mean to him but wondering why they were even in close proximity when Michael said they'd absolutely be separated and would not see each other? Validates we both made the right choice by pulling them both out. He offered a refund but I'm still pissed about the situation.

High Chromebook usage daily Denied this until they realized…read moreAUSD sends an internet usage update listing times, duration and websites. Issues at site-promises/advertised enrichment not happening/ chromebook as a babysitter, daiky candy as a reward for behavior- were unable to be resolved with site director over many months. But, when I finally reached out to the owner Linda I was dismissed and referred back to the Site Director. Many parents ended up leaving the program and placing our children elsewhere. The only positive were a couple of the classroom staff throughout the years who were kind and patient with the kids. These staff members often ended up moving on.

Kids are being babysat by you tube and other sites with unsupervised computer viewing despite my…read moreaddressing the issue multiple times with the director. Thanks Alhambra Unified for those very detailed reports of internet usage so I can see exactly when and which sites and for how long my child spent while at Spark...instead of enrichment and outdoor time. It was frustrating that the Director/Owner ignored my messages despite my trying multiple times to resolve the issue with the site director before reaching out to her. The staff says what you want to hear, but again and again no change is made. Disappointing from an owner that is a former educator so she is well aware of the screen time limits and recommendations for elementary aged children. I have noticed that some sites are being run much better than others, so be aware to actually check on what your child is doing each day there after homework is done. Don't rely on the staff, but check internet usage and ask your child. Maybe your school site program differs.