Schedules and hours
Summer program
Nine weeks of mostly being outside, in our yard and the two parks we can walk to. Deliberately not a camp with a coach and a theme.
Summer is the hardest ten weeks of the year for working parents of school-age children, and the market's answer is a patchwork of week-long specialist camps at wildly varying prices, most of which require a car.
Ours is simpler and narrower: nine weeks in this building and this neighbourhood, booked by the week with a two-week minimum, for children who are already school age. Preschool-age children stay in their own rooms year round and pay their usual rate — summer changes nothing for them.
What it is
Mostly outdoors. The yard in the morning while it is still bearable, one of the two nearby parks when it is not, and the shaded end of the yard in the afternoon. Water play most days in July.
Then the things a school year has no room for: long building projects that stay up for a fortnight, cooking with Sunita, drawing that takes three days, and substantial amounts of doing nothing in particular. Boredom is a legitimate part of a summer and we do not schedule it away.
Mixed ages, five to twelve, split for the parts that need splitting. The older children get things that are genuinely theirs, because an eleven-year-old folded into a seven-year-old's summer stops coming.
What it deliberately is not
There is no coach and there are no trips outside the neighbourhood. That rules out the day at the beach and the trip upstate, and it is a real limitation rather than a philosophy — transport is a category of risk and expense we have chosen not to take on.
There is no specialism. We do not run a coding camp, a soccer camp or a drama camp, and if your child wants one of those, one exists and it will be better at it than we would be.
And there is no theme week. A summer organised into pirate week and space week is organised for the convenience of planning rather than for the children living it.
The heat, which is the real operational problem
July and August in Queens produce days when outdoor play is genuinely unsafe, and we publish the thresholds rather than deciding on the morning. Above them we stay in, with the yard used only in the shaded early hours.
Air quality is the other one, and it has mattered more in recent summers than heat has. The same principle applies: a published threshold, checked in the morning, communicated before you dress a child for a day outside.
Sun cream comes from home and is applied by us, on a signed permission. Hats are essential and we keep spares because they are the single most forgotten item of the year.
Things we do not do, including one we are not permitted to. We do not offer night care, and could not — it requires its own separate Health Code permit which we do not hold. We do not take sick children, we do not collect from schools, we do not run a minibus, we do not employ a speech therapist or an occupational therapist, we do not tutor, and we do not offer a premium curriculum tier because there is only one curriculum here. Where you need one of those, we will tell you what it is actually called and where in this borough to look for it.
Included as standard
What is included
$385 a week, two-week minimum
Booked by the week across the nine weeks of the summer break.
Mostly outdoors
The yard and the two parks within walking distance, with water play most days in July.
Breakfast, lunch and two snacks
Cooked here, as in term time.
Long projects that stay up
The building and drawing a school year has no room for.
Ages split where it matters
The older children get something genuinely theirs rather than a younger child's summer.
Published heat and air-quality thresholds
Checked each morning and communicated before you dress your child.
Sun cream applied on a signed permission
From home, plus spare hats, which are the most forgotten item of the year.
Time to be bored
Deliberately unscheduled stretches. A summer organised into theme weeks is organised for the planner.
When to make an appointment
Signs this is worth an assessment
- You need nine weeks covered rather than a patchwork of one-week camps.
- You do not have a car and most camps assume one.
- Your child has been in our after-school programme and knows Diego already.
- You want a summer that is mostly outside and mostly unstructured.
- You would rather your child was bored occasionally than scheduled continuously.
- You want to know the heat and air-quality rules before July rather than during it.
Summer — what it costs
- For school-age children through the summer break, booked by the week with a two-week minimum. Preschool-age children stay in their own rooms year round and pay their usual rate.$385 / week
Every rate on this site is published in full on the tuition page, including the ones that make us look expensive. Meals, snacks, nappy changing, settling-in sessions and the whole curriculum are inside the weekly fee — there is no premium tier and no outside provider invoicing you separately for a music class. The two charges that are not in the weekly fee are registration, at $75 a year per family rather than per child, and late collection after 6:15pm at $1 a minute, which goes to the two members of staff who stayed. If your child is three or four, read the 3-K page before you read this one.
Questions we are actually asked
Summer — frequently asked
Who is the summer programme for?
School-age children, five to twelve. Preschool-age children stay in their own rooms year round at their usual weekly rate — summer changes nothing for them.
What does it cost?
$385 a week with a two-week minimum, including breakfast, lunch and two snacks. It is booked by the week across the nine weeks of the break.
Do you go on trips?
No. There is no coach and nothing outside the neighbourhood, which rules out the beach day and the trip upstate. Transport is a category of risk and cost we have chosen not to take on, and it is a genuine limitation rather than a preference.
Is it a specialist camp?
No. If your child wants coding, soccer or drama, a camp exists that will be better at it than we would be. What we offer is nine reliable weeks in a familiar building with people they know.
What happens when it is too hot to go outside?
We publish the thresholds — heat and air quality both — and check them each morning rather than deciding on the spot. Above them we stay in and use only the shaded early hours of the yard, and you will know before you dress your child.
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Holiday care
The days the public schools close and nobody else does. Published in September for the whole year so you can plan around them.
$95 / day
Before & after school
The two hours at each end of a school day that decide whether a parent can hold a full-time job.
$185 / week
Outdoor play
Twice a day in almost all weather, in our own enclosed yard. The published exceptions are heat, ice, thunder and air quality.
Included
Meals
Breakfast, a cooked lunch and two snacks, made in the kitchen here. The week's menu is posted, and it is the menu we actually cook.
IncludedTuesday and Thursday mornings, while the children are here
Come and see the room
A tour here happens during a session, in the room your child would actually be in, at the time of day they would be in it. You meet the person who leads that room rather than only the director, and you see the noise and the mess that are genuinely there. It takes an hour. If your child is three or four we will ask whether you have applied for free 3-K or Pre-K for All before we quote you a rate, because a good many families should not be paying us at all.