My middle school daughter only attended one week of camp, but found such unconditional positive…read moresupport and a caring environment, that she had fun learning tennis and volleyball for the very first time ever. She is usually shy and reserved, but was willing to try new things and learn new skills because the counselors were so encouraging and kind. I appreciated that all of the girls learned how to build each other up and boost self-confidence, which is so crucial at this fragile and emotional at this age. I wish this camp had been around when I was a child. GREAT job Athena Camps!!!

My 6 yo daughter love this summer camp. The teachers are amazing. We enrolled her to few…read moredifferent camps last year. This is the one she likes the most! They are really nice with payment too. I made an error on the payment when I was enrolling her for this year. They replied to my concern right away and refunded me. I really appreciate their help! My daughter can't wait for the summer to come, so she can join this camp again! Girl power!

Our older daughter has gone here for the last 2 yrs and had a blast. The camp is a great balance…read morebetween class work and outdoor activities. There is even a parent's lunch at the end and the kids do a performance that was fun. Sadly our older daughter has aged out of the camp, but our younger daughter is excited to be finally old enough to go this year.

This is my daughter's favorite summer camp. She participated 2 summers in a row and loved…read moreeverything about it. It was just the right amount of learning time and play time, and last year they also added a music teacher and a basketball coach in addition to the camp theme teachers. The campsite is amazing, with a beautiful dinning hall, performing stage, amphitheater with a pond, and places to hike. The dorm rooms are very nice and spacious and food was really good. The location is also perfect for South Bay families. It's a short drive but it feels like the kids are staying deep in the mountains.

Absolutely amazing program filled with great nature activities for the children I hear a lot about…read morethis one teacher called big dog he seems great he taught my kids how to use knives safely for carving and fire by friction this camp is so cool great staff professionalism and fun! Highly recommend to other parents in the Bay Area

I love this camp so much!!! There are so many fun activities to do while being here. And I am…read moredefinitely considering becoming an LIT next summer! there are so many curious and excited kids that makes camp more fun! I am SO coming back next summer

My daughter LOVES Cirque San Jose Circus Camp! She's been going for two summers now, and every time…read moreshe comes home, she's glowing with joy, excitement, and new tricks to show off (especially on the aerial silks -- her favorite!). She says being up in the air makes her feel like a superhero. As a parent, I couldn't be happier. Cheryl, the owner, is like the ringmaster of kindness -- she and the staff are so loving and supportive. They treat every kid like family. You can tell they really care. It's confidence-building, creative, and just magical. We'll be back every year as long as she can go. Thank you, Cirque San Jose, for giving my daughter a place to shine!

Best summer camp for building body confidence. My daughter had a great time, learning silks and…read moreglobe walking and stilts. It's a joy to watch her thrive and learn new skills and see the amazing things her body is capable of. She went back in 2019, and now again six years later and both times I came home with a more confident girl. The team there is encouraging and knows how to balance safety and skill building.

Our daughter loved the Cooking n Baking camp. Even though she has been a picky eater her whole…read morelife this camp encouraged her to try new things, and was very proud of the new concoctions she would bring home each day. It greatly boosted her confidence. It was the perfect Spring Break experience after the long school shutdown during the pandemic. The organizers were wonderful in their communication, sending us pictures and videos each day of her experience. She has been to other baking camps before that were little more than child care. This one she actually learned some cooking skills, and was by far the best.

Waste of money. My 6 year old attended a week of chess camp. He did not know the objective- that…read moreyou attack the opponent pieces. He did not even know how pieces are killed. They do art in the same room indoors all day.

great experience for kids... they absolutely loved it. they tried other basketball camps but this…read moreone was the best.

Great place, nice indoor gym, enthusiastic coaches. Just the right place to have to play basketball…read morefor the summer.

We took our girl scout troop here for three days and two nights during the week. it was GREATread more

First, as others mention, ignore the address on this listing. The San Jose address is for the…read moreoffice. The camp and all the action is in Groveland (in the Sierra Nevada Mountains just outside Yosemite.) We have visited with our kids 5 times over the past decade. Each time is wonderful and different, depending on the weather, amount of water in the river, time of the summer, and what's going on in the world. Family Camp is a super place to unwind away from the ceaseless roar of technology. (My cell phone doesn't even work there!) Because they prepare your meals for you, you are completely on your own about how best to unwind. Hot? Maybe sit in a tube and float in the river. Hungry? Stop by the camp store for some ice cream. Bored? Good! Maybe you'd like a hike, fish a little, or lay on your back and watch the sky. This is a place unlike any other you'll take the kids to. You can let them be free. They get to decide what to do. Maybe they'll catch a fish. (The camp will cook it for them.) Maybe they'll go adventuring or go to the campfires. Got little ones? They'll love the activities. Even now, with our children in their teens, we go - although now we rent extra cabins and have them bring friends, since friends are where all the action is when you're a teenager. They play cards, fish, and laugh. It really is that simple, and it's really just that good. Family Camp is a gem.

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.