Summers at Northside
Preschool Summer Camp
2021 Wild LIFE Explorers
Summer Camp for rising 3's, PK, K & 1st grade
This summer, campers (2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018 birth year) will take a trip through some of our earth’s most amazing biomes: Oceans and seas, then rainforests and deserts! Campers will explore the vast differences in climate, flora, and fauna, within these diverse ecosystems. Children will also be treated to a daily dose of unstructured gross motor time on our spacious rooftop playground, visits to our community garden, and a sprinkler setup!
Session 1 - Oceans and Seas (June 21 through July 9)
Our first camp session will dig into all that our oceans and seas have to offer. Through a myriad of art, sensory, and science explorations, campers will learn about the countless animals that inhabit these bodies of water, and how they float, move, and exist in their unique environment.
Session 2 - Deserts and Rainforests (July 9 through July 30)
Through sensory explorations of desert soil and climate, campers will learn about the desert biome which makes up nearly 1/3 of the earth’s land mass. Campers will then juxtapose this stark environment to the rich, vibrant terrain and climate of the rainforest biome, learning about the fascinating wildlife that calls this ecosystem home, and building their own rainforest terrarium as a final culminating project!
Enrichment Offerings & Descriptions
Gardening: Campers will take advantage of our spacious rooftop garden this summer as they engage in a variety of self-directed exploration of natural matter and structured lessons in planting and cultivating seeds, gaining practical knowledge of a plants’ growing cycle all while contributing to and maintaining a beautiful community space.
Music & Movement: In this robust enrichment offering, campers will explore the inherent connection between sound and motion, singing and dancing their way through a wealth of music genres. With a guided focus on creative self-expression, campers will explore basic music concepts and skills, such as rhythm, pitch, and tempo.
Food Science: Campers will get busy in the kitchen in our Food Science offering, following child-safe and appealing recipes and kitchen projects each week. Children will learn about and practice skills such as recipe following, measuring, and will be called on to cut, mix, pour, and lift, all while making observations and inferences about the science behind the changing states of matter they will experience in their projects.
Drama: Under the guidance of a seasoned performance instructor, campers will dive into the art of storytelling, collaborating with their peers to bring their favorite books and stories to life. Through these dramatizations, children will have the opportunity to really familiarize themselves with story structure, immerse themselves in dramatic play, and showcase their own interpretations of stories, both familiar and inventive.
Field Day on the Roof: As if we need any other excuse to utilize our incredible rooftop space, all campers will engage in structured gross motor activities that will challenge and excite children of all ages! This weekly enrichment will give children the opportunity to work all of their gross motor, big movement muscles in a teacher led, fun filled setting with their peers, and will feature activities such as tag, obstacle courses, tug-of-war, water balloon tossing, and more.
Camp Facts:
- Class sizes and ratios:
- Class sizes will not exceed 12 students
- 6:1 classroom ratio (students:teachers)
- Class are grouped by birth year (grade level)
- Snack:
- Whole Foods
- AM and PM snack for all campers
- Diapers, wipes, sun lotion:
- Provided by school
- Strollers and scooters:
- Each class will have a designated area for stroller/scooter/bicycle parking
- Bathroom/potty training:
- Our community of teachers are experts at potty training, and are here to assist you and your child with that process, if applicable
- Clothing and gear:
- All campers will have a cubby space in which to keep...
- A change of clothes, a pair of water shoes, a bathing suit
- All campers will have a cubby space in which to keep...
- Lunch:
- Lunches should be brought from home every morning at drop-off, to be stored in the school refrigerators until lunch time at 12pm
- We are a nut-free school! Please refrain from sending in nut products :)
- Nap and Rest:
- Naptime is built into each class’s afternoon. Sleeping is not mandatory, but all children will be given the space and time to rest their bodies and minds in a dark, peaceful environment.
- Nap time materials that should come in from home are simply a blanket and a lovey/soft toy (optional), which will be kept in a special nap time bag.
1st-8th Grade Summer Camp
Dear Summer Camp Participants,
Our leadership team has been working diligently with Northside families over the past two and a half months to ensure the successful completion of the current school year. During this time we have also begun creating the detailed operating plans required for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year. Our top priority is, and will always be, the safety of our students and faculty. We are becoming more optimistic each passing day, that a fully operating program will be possible this fall. Our team must intensify their planning efforts through the next months, to ensure that both our campuses are ready for the challenges of the coming school year. Significant time and focus will be needed for coordination with the Department of Health, the Board of Education, the Fire Department of New York, and other government agencies, and for planning to meet the still developing guidelines for school operations.
We have thus made the difficult decision to cancel our summer programs for the 2020 summer. This decision was not taken lightly given the preparations that have already been completed. However, we believe it is the best action now to allow us to open our campuses properly in the fall. We absolutely love our summer camps and are extremely proud of them, but at this time we must focus solely on opening our buildings for their main purpose – to provide a high-quality private-school education in a safe environment. Although some businesses are beginning to open throughout New York City, the risks of spreading the COVID-19 virus are still significant and we would never want to put our students or their families in danger.
Williamsburg Northside School is extremely grateful for your patience over these last nine weeks, and the cooperation and assistance we have received from families with respect to the significant changes in all our daily routines. Please be certain that we are making our best efforts to restore our program and bring our community back to a place of normalcy. Our administration also thanks our summer camp directors and recognizes the hard work they contributed in anticipation of opening a summer program.
We look forward to seeing you all again in the fall for the start of our new school year.
Sincerely,
Christopher Mathisen
Director of Operations