Village School Summer Camp Specializes in Fun, Learning

Just when you thought you had seen every summer camp offering, you find a new one that makes you want to be a kid again.

At Village School, 12-year veteran camp director Gricelda Gamboa always finds innovative offerings, such as “Kano Camp: Build it. Code it. Bring it home.”, “Spy Training” or “Craft Factory.”

The day is split at Village, so that a camper can take a Duct Tape Art or a Rock Camp class in the morning. In the afternoon he or she can go in an entirely different direction with Jedi Knight Training or creating, building and playing Minecraft.

Or maybe select Waterpalooza, Sushi Making, Summer Zoo, Science Academy, Cheerleading, American Girl Camp, Explosive Sports or Winged Creatures: Fairies & Dragons.

“Our theme this year will be Summer Olympics,” Gamboa said. “We are offering a variety of Olympic-themed classes in addition to our opening and closing ceremonies. It should be a great summer!”

Village School on Swarthmore allows campers to choose from more than 50 selections from June 20 through September 2. Camp is open to all first through sixth-grade students; you do not have to be a Village student to attend.

In addition to unique camp options, there is also an academic booster camp, which allows students, who might need more confidence in a subject, the opportunity to hone skills.

For example, fourth through sixth graders who might need math academic-sharpening can take a special math course from August 15 to September 2, with self-paced lessons, teacher feedback, collaboration with other students with hands-on and web-based projects and pre- and post-assessments to measure mastery of concepts.

There are also sports clinics for fourth through sixth graders, which include boys and girls basketball, girls volleyball and boys flag football.

Village School Summer Camp is an accredited member of the American Camp Association (ACA) and the only school-based day camp in the Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu area to receive this accreditation.

The morning session is from 9 a.m. to 12:15 and the afternoon session is 12:15 to 3 p.m. Parents can choose between half- and full-day camp options and the number of weeks of participation.

Visit: village-school.org or contact Gricelda Gamboa: ggamboa@village-school.org.

“Flying” down a huge slide into a pool of water during Waterpalooza is only one of the many options at the Village School Summer Camp. Photo: Gricelda Gamboa