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Dear YMCA Camp Families,
We hope that you and your family are healthy and safe.
Our staff have been hard at work navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our work as a YMCA, and we have great news! Camp Knickerbocker will be operating this summer, beginning on schedule starting June 15, 2020.
Although it has been our hope and intent to operate our summer programs as we always have, we realize that we must make adjustments to our programs and schedules to keep our campers, staff, and community safe. With guidelines being released last week from the CDC, Redwoods Institute, American Camp Association, and State of Maine Health officials, we are proud to say that we have protocols in place that will ensure the safety of your campers.
As this is a rapidly evolving situation, one of the most important things we can do right now is to remain adaptive and flexible. For now, with the current guidelines in place, the following list is how we will be keeping our camp community as safe as possible during COVID-19, and what families should know about our day to day operations:
· Increased and advanced health screening: Temperature checks will occur twice a day; upon check-in each morning, and at lunch time. This applies to both campers and staff.
· Sanitation throughout the day: Each program area will be sanitized before and after use by each unit. All equipment will be either sanitized if we need to share, or will be assigned to a camper for the week they are at camp (arts supplies, STEM materials, etc.).
· Frequent & scheduled hand-washing: We have invested in hand washing stations that will be placed throughout camp to allow campers more opportunities to wash their hands. We have also worked it into the schedule 5 times a day to wash our hands before moving to the next activity block.
· Social distancing: The CDC guidelines are recommending social distancing to the best of our ability. We will have a conversation with our campers daily about the importance of social distancing as well as hand hygiene. We recognize that this might be difficult for our campers, but we will enforce this to the best of our ability.
· Person Protective Equipment (PPE): PPE is not required for campers or staff to wear while outside, practicing social distancing. If we need to come in direct contact with a camper (first aid, etc.), staff will wear a mask and gloves before approaching the camper. Situation dependent, a mask will be provided for the camper, too.
1. If inclement weather arises, we will locate indoors where everyone will be required to wear a mask. Social distancing will still be enforced. Inclement weather means thunder/lightening—if we are only getting rain, please prepare your camper to remain outside under tents/pavilions. We will keep our camp outdoors as much as possible, per CDC recommendations.
· Cohorts: The guidelines set in place limit us to 50 people per cohort. We will have two cohorts of 50, split into smaller groups based on age. One cohort will be the Explorer Campers; one will be the Pathway Campers.
1. Within these cohorts of 50, we will be dividing campers into smaller groups based on age and remaining in ratio with State of Maine guidelines.
2. The cohorts will never cross paths while on-site; lunch times will be held outdoors on separate fields maintaining social distancing, and groups will move around camp near their cohorts and distant from the other groups.
3. Campers will be placed in consistent groups if they attend multiple weeks of camp, with the same counselors. The only time another counselor would be involved is if their usual staff are out sick, or on lunch break. Breaks will be covered by the camp director/assistant camp director. Consistent groups will allow us to keep track of anyone who might have come in contact with someone who displays symptoms of COVID-19.
· Staff Training: Our staff will be trained extensively on COVID-19 protocols. They will be responsible to keeping campers socially distant, hand washing protocols, and looking for signs/symptoms of COVID-19.
· Out of state campers/staff: All out of state campers and staff MUST quarantine for 14 days prior to arriving to camp. If the quarantine period cannot be met, we unfortunately cannot have that individual on site.
· Property: Camp Knickerbocker has many places for our campers to participate in activities, which will allow us to keep the groups separated. Areas of camp include:
1. o 65+ acres of land—this allows us to keep our programs outdoors as much as possible, per recommendation of the CDC.
2. Pavilions
3. Sports Field
4. Main Field
5. Centennial Stage
6. Baldwin Center (the ropes course will be closed, but the outdoor space is available)
7. Jackson House
8. Field near the playground (the playground will be closed)
9. Waterfront
10. McEvoy Lodge
11. Hiking Trails
12. Craft Shack
· Transportation: Transportation will be offered this summer from the CLC YMCA to Camp Knickerbocker in the morning and then back to CLC in the afternoons for pick-up. Protocols have been set in place to ensure the safety of your campers as well as our staff and bus drivers:
1. All people riding the bus will be required to wear a face mask.
2. Before entering the bus, sanitizer will be used.
3. Seats will be assigned to campers and staff, ensuring they sit in the same place each day/trip.
4. We will load the bus starting from the back and moving our way forward, and exit starting in the front.
5. Buses will be sanitized and deep cleaned between each use.
· What happens if you camper needs to go home due to illness: If, upon check-in, your camper has a temperature exceeding 100.4 or is displaying signs of COVID-19, we will require you to keep your child home. For all instances where a camper is ill and needs to be picked up from camp during the day or are not able to check-in, we will require that child to see a physician to get clearance to come back to camp. Once this is done and a doctor’s note is provided, that camper will be allowed back into camp!
1. If your camper needs to go home and take the rest of the week off, we are extending a “no risk” enrollment—meaning that a refund or pro-rated amount will be refunded to your account, depending on how far into the week we are when we discover symptoms.
2. Our intent is to have your camper attend our programs, but we also need to ensure they are healthy, as well as all other people on-site.
· CampDoc Online: CampDoc online will be sending a direct e-mail to you to fill out your child’s health forms, waivers, and any other paperwork required for your camp. If you need assistance, please call the number on the CampDoc site, or send them an e-mail. They are fantastic with customer service, and are more than happy to help you with anything you need!
· CLC Specialty & Sports Camps: These camps will follow the same guidelines as outlined above for Camp Knickerbocker, but specific information per type of camp will be sent to all registered participants prior to their camp start date.
· CLC Sailing Camp: Sailing camp will follow the same guidelines as outlined above for Camp Knickerbocker, but specific information will be sent to all registered participants prior to their camp start date.
· NEW Activities: To off-set the activities we cannot offer this summer, we will be introducing new programs for your campers to participate in. Programs are:
1. Nature Exploration: This program will teach your camper all things nature—from the water cycle to different types of clouds, types of rocks to tree identifications and more—this program will be super fun!
2. Outdoor Living Skills: Depending on your camper’s age, this program will focus on knife safety, fire building, outdoor cooking for 1 person, knot tying and more!
3. STEM: Our assistant camp director has been working hard to find really cool STEM activities for your camper to participate in, making science fun! All equipment will be single-use, or will be used by only your camper and then sanitized before the next use.
4. Nutrition: This summer we have a grad student joining us who is majoring in nutrition. She’s got a ton of really cool activities planned around nutrition!
5. Outdoor gardening: The Y has purchased raised beds for our campers to tend to throughout the summer. We will be planting edible plants and then learning about their growing process, how we can use them to cook, and more.
6. Fitness classes: They’re not just for adults! We have some talented group exercise instructors who are willing to come to Camp a couple of times a week to offer yoga, Zumba, and more! Each class will be held either on the centennial stage or on a field, and each person will be placed 6 feet apart.
Camp Knickerbocker & Specialty Camps might be operating a little different than before, but it is our goal to provide a safe and fun camp environment for our campers, staff and community. Our staff team met this week at Camp Knickerbocker, and is super excited to provide a fun-filled summer for your campers!
Stay healthy and safe, and thank you for your patience!
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