Good summer camps (Annandale, Springfield, Fairfax: schools, contractor, centers)

[PatoVa]

My son attended a Jewish Day camp for 8 weeks last year in PA...was wondering what Day camps are they in the Springfield, NOVA area?

[VEIK]

Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia

they might have something, they are in Annandale/Fairfax, not too far from Springfield.

[sweetpotater58]

ARe you looking for all day camps? or for half day camps? The JCC does have all day camps, the Hidden Pond Nature Center in Springfield has 1/2 day nature camps for a variety of ages and there have been camps located over at Lake Accotink Park and South Run Rec Center that run 1/2 and all day during summer for your Springfield areas. Good luck in your search.

[PatoVa]

Originally Posted by sweetpotater58

ARe you looking for all day camps? or for half day camps? The JCC does have all day camps, the Hidden Pond Nature Center in Springfield has 1/2 day nature camps for a variety of ages and there have been camps located over at Lake Accotink Park and South Run Rec Center that run 1/2 and all day during summer for your Springfield areas. Good luck in your search.

Thanks....I am looking for FULL DAY as I am hoping to have a job by the summer ..

The rec center has decent camps?? My son is use to a true camp atmosphere with sports, art, science, color war, trips, etc

[Yankeesfan]

Pick up a copy of Parktakes at the library; it lists Fairfax County programs including a variety of summer camps. I haven't used any of them so can't vouch for the quality. The county also runs a REC-PAC program (you can google it) in many of the county schools. It's less expensive. The couple of times I've used it I found that many of the "counselors" didn't seem very interested in or skilled at the job, but that may have been just my bad luck.

[sweetpotater58]

Okay, since the full day camp is your option and if you would like to try one that would offer a variety of interests-you may want to consider the Burgundy Farm Country Day school which runs some all day summer camps. This is a private camp/school which enjoys a good reputation. As for the county rec-pack, I can say this about it, they work well if who runs it is good. This varies from site to site, better to avoid them. As for the recreation centers, they also vary, but some of the camps that have an outside contractor doing them may have some camp themes which meet your approval. I know Lake Accotink Park had a couple very wide activity offering camps last year. As Yankeesfan posted, check out those Parktakes and look the camp listings over. One word of caution-and I speak from experience-avoid any that are run by an outfit calling themselves Katydid. Hopefully, they are not still being used. Last, the JCC does offer some fine camps as well. Good luck in your search.