Chester Bowl Camps are based on a philosophy of nature play, positive social interaction with peers, teen mentors, and adult staff, and immersion in nature. We see campers thrive in an environment where they are given age-appropriate amounts of choice, responsibility, and risk. A typical day may include unstructured play time on the playground, group games and activities with both the full group and smaller groups, arts and crafts, hiking through Chester on the way to a local field trip, fort building, making boats from natural materials, playing in the creek, smiling, laughing, making new friends, and asking “do I really need to go home now?” at the end of the day.
Camp is Monday through Thursday, June 10 through August 15, and campers are signed up by the week. There is no camp on July 4. Campers can be dropped off starting at 8am and must be picked up before 5pm each day. There are no early drop-off or late pick-up options at Chester Bowl. Parents are required to adhere to the camp drop-off & pick-up times and there will be no exceptions made to the times listed above.
Campers must be between 6 years old (or have completed kindergarten) and 12 years old at the start of camp in order to attend. We have found that campers that can hike at least 2 miles are successful at camp.
Camp is offered at three unique locations in Chester Bowl Park. While each site has different amenities, the programming is very similar at each location.
Lower Chester- located at 1417 E. 5th Street, Lower Chester Park is an awesome resource for our camp. Aside from awesome hiking trails, a great swimming hole, and being a short hike away from Upper Chester, Lower Chester has a paved hockey rink perfect for skateboarding, biking, and scootering. Campers can come with their helmets and wheeled devices to take advantage of the rink.
Middle Chester- The chalet at the base of the ski hill is home to our Middle Chester location. Close the playground and central to the trails in the park, Middle Chester is an awesome place to spend summer!
Upper Chester- Located just past the chalet, Upper Chester is located at the end of the road in the park. Upper Chester has a perfectly paved space where campers can do chalk art, and play games. This location is close to the creek and has access to some of the finest fort building locations in the park.
Parent Handbook: Parents are required to read through our parent handbook before sending their kiddos to camp. This not only will inform families about camp but will ensure that campers and parents are aware of our expectations for behavior. To view the parent handbook follow this link!
REGISTRATION TIMELINE & AVAILABILITY
Registration is managed through Regpack which is an online registration system. Parents will need to create an account, complete health forms & other necessary forms, and then register their children.
Registration opened to returning families at noon on Thursday, March 14. A link was emailed out at noon to all families that attended fall or summer camp 2022 or 2023. This link is not to be shared and if a new family gets the link both the family that shared the link and the new family will be removed from camp.
Registration opened to new families on Monday, March 18 at noon. Families are welcome to register for any remaining weeks of summer camp programming and encouraged to register for wait lists on weeks they were hoping to have their children attend.
Camp is full for the remainder of the summer!
COSTS, REFUNDS, & SCHOLARSHIPS
Costs: Each week of camp costs $170 per camper ($127.50 week of July 4) and there is one-time $75 family registration fee.
Refunds: Tuition is based on registration, not attendance, and camp must be paid in full by May 1, 2024. You can cancel weeks and receive a partial refund (there is a $20 fee applied for each week of camp being canceled) up until May 1, 2024. After that date, if you cancel you will not be eligible for refunds.
Scholarships: Chester Bowl’s scholarship program is designed to support low income families so that their children can participate in our programming. There is a cap on scholarship funding this year and we will be awarding a total of $12,672. This is a departure from past summers where we were able to award 100% of scholarship requests.
All families requesting scholarship support will be required to pay the $75 registration fee. Each camper will receive one week of summer camp at no charge beyond the registration fee. The remaining funds will be dispersed to families based on their need as described by the current HUD income guidelines.
The deadline to apply for a scholarship was Monday, March 4. Award amounts have been emailed to parents. Once families register we will apply their scholarships to their balance and then parents are responsible for paying their balance by May 1, 2024 or they will forfeit their camp spots. Please note that receiving a scholarship does not guarantee registration- you will still need to sign up for camp while there are open weeks.
SUMMER CADET PROGRAM
We will be offering the Summer Cadet Program, a teen volunteer opportunity, again this summer for those that have completed 7th grade up through those who are 15 years old. Find out all of the details and register here: https://www.chesterbowl.org/summer-cadet-program/
QUESTIONS
Getting registered for camp can be challenging especially for new families. If you have questions about camp, registration, or anything else please email sam@chesterbowl.org.
