First Long Island Steve and Kate's Camp to open this summer
A new-to-Long Island summer camp will offer a variety of activities like baking, coding and stop animation. Credit: Bright Horizons
A new day camp opens on Long Island this summer with a focus on flexibility — parents purchase a number of days to use whenever they’d like throughout the season.
Steve and Kate’s Camp, for ages 4 to 12, is scheduled to open June 30 at Lawrence Woodmere Academy in Woodmere. Steve and Kate’s Camp has 90 locations nationwide, with 20 of them new this summer; this is the first location on Long Island.
"The aim here is really to say, ‘We know parents don’t have a crystal ball for the summer. Relax, buy some credits to use when you need them, and if you don’t need them, we’ll refund them,’" says Mike Saperstein, vice president of Steve and Kate’s Camp, which is part of the Massachusetts-based day care company Bright Horizons.
Once parents have signed up, they can go online and buy a one-day credit as late as the night before, he says. There’s no minimum number of days that must be purchased, he says. Families aren’t forced to waste paid camp days if, for instance, they want the children to be home because grandparents are visiting or they want to have a family beach day.
Typically, traditional summer camps will require a weeklong, two-week or even summerlong commitment. While some camps might offer an option for individual days — such as Rolling River Day Camp in East Rockaway — parents have to commit to dates before the start of the camp season. At Steve and Kate's Camp, parents can indicate attendance as late as the night prior by using an online form.
"To pick days and show up is not common in the camp industry, at least in this area," says Marissa Allaben, president of the Long Island Camps and Private Schools association, an umbrella group that includes 26 Long Island camps. That’s typically because camps have to plan ahead for staffing levels, she says.
Steve & Kate’s Camp was established in 1980 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Experience of 40-plus years has allowed them to understand usage patterns and predict how much staff they will need on individual days, Saperstein says. He predicts the Long Island camp will serve several hundred campers in its first summer, with an average of 50 campers projected to attend per day. While in the process of hiring counselors and other staff, Saperstein expects to fill about a dozen new seasonal roles locally.
The cost will be $144 per day; if parents buy 20 days or more the cost is $129 per day, Saperstein says. The fee covers lunch and snacks, and the camp day runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Transportation is not included and there is no pool or swim program, Saperstein says. Activities will include, for instance, sports, stop animation, sewing, baking and coding. Activities will be open to all ages, with staff available to assist younger campers. Those ages 5 and younger will have dedicated staff and a set schedule, though all age groups will mix across activities, Saperstein explains. "Kids actually choose what they want to be doing, with whom and for how long," he says.
Families get refunds for any unused passes at the end of the summer with no cancellation fees or penalties, Saperstein says. Families can also purchase a pass for the entire summer at the $129 daily rate for 44 days.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
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