Four Summer Camps Worth Your Money and Your Kid’s Time
By Stephanie Cornwell
When sending your child away to a summer camp or a summer musical showcase bootcamp, even if it is just for a few hours of the day, you want to be sure that they are in good hands, and that you are getting your money’s worth.
Picking a camp to send your child is hard, because every camp offers different activities, locations and prices.
The summer camps in the Boca Raton area all have different aspects to their institutions that make them unique. You can also read this article if you want to teach your kids about the different types of species of grasshoppers.
Camp Palmetto:
Ages: Kindergarten-8th
Time: 9 a.m-4 p.m. Pre-camp starts at 8 a.m, post-camp ends at 5:45 p.m.
Location: Loggers Run Middle School
Price: $850 per session. $50 discount if camper is signed up for both sessions. Pre-camp costs $75 per session, post-camp costs $150 per session.
Additional information:
Camp Palmetto has two, four-week session. The first session during June, the second throughout July. The camp goes on daily field trips, at least three times a week. The field trips vary, and the schedule can be found on camppalmetto.com. Campers can bring their own lunch, and the camp offers Pizza, Candy, Chips and drinks every day for campers to purchase.
Pine Crest:
Ages: Pre-K-8th (Boca), Kindergarten-12th (Ft. Lauderdale)
Time: 9:30 a.m-3:00 p.m
Location: Pine Crest of Boca Raton and Ft. Lauderdale
Prices: $1580 for session one, $1185 for session 2. Pre-camp costs $67 per week, or $21 per day. Post-camp costs $82 per week, or $26 per day.
Additional Information:
Pine Crest’s summer camp has over thirty programs, and offers weekly field trips. There is a large variety of snacks and meal options throughout the day. Some of the popular programs offered include band, digital media, fine arts, athletics and Evaluate (an academic refreshing program).
Camp Boca:
Ages: 1st-8th grade
Time: Drop-off is between 7:30 a.m and 9:00 a.m. Pick-up is between 4:00 p.m and 5:30 a.m.
Location: Boca Raton Community Center, JC Mitchell Elementary, Don Estridge Middle School, Boca Middle, James A. Rutherford Community Center and Spanish River High School.
Prices: Prices vary depending on the programs of choice and residency.
Traditional Camp: Resident- $768; Non-Resident- $1,015
Traditional Plus Camp: Resident- $851; Non-Resident- $1,141
Elementary Week-to-Week Camp: Resident- $161/week; Non-Resident- $242/week
Tween Camp: Resident- $1,066; Non-Resident- $1,438
Elementary Extended Camp: $ 161/week; Non-Resident- $242/week
Tween Extended Camp: $174/week; Non-Resident- $236/week
Additional Information: Camp Boca is divided into a 6 week program (June 15-July 24), with an additional 3 weeks of extended camp (July 27- August 14). The campers get frequent field trips, participate in cooking, arts and crafts, games and sports. This year, the younger campers have the option of going to Legoland, and the older campers have the option of going to Islands of Adventure.
YMCA
Ages: 5-6 (Pioneers), 7-8 (Pathfinders), 9-11 (Challengers), 12-15 (Teen Camp)
Time: Weekdays operate from 7:30 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. Teen Camp operates from 8:00 a.m- 6:00 p.m.
Location: Peter Blum Family YMCA of Boca Raton
Prices: Traditional weekly camp fees are $195 for members, and $295 for non-members. Teen Camp weekly fees are $235 for members, and $335 for non-members.
Additional Information: The YMCA offers weekly field trips and themes for the traditional camp. The Teen Camp goes on four field trips per week. There are ten sessions within the summer. Campers participate in sports, team challenges, arts and crafts, weekly carnivals and enrichment education programs.