Bringing other kids along with your family
We recognize that sometimes circumstances do not allow for some parents to attend camp with their children. To accommodate this reality while at the same time keeping the spirit of our workshops family-centered, we allow a limited number of children to be "adopted" by two-parent families who will be in attendance the entire week of camp.
- Only families with both parents attending for the entire program may bring other kids with them.
- No family may bring more than two kids with them who are not members of their immediate family.
- Each child who comes with another family must pay a slightly higher fee. See the fees page of the program for the amount.
- The family bringing along these kids must assume complete responsibility for these kids during the time of the program, as if they really were their own kids. If the adopted child is of an age required to sleep with the parents, the adopted child will need to sleep in the cabin of the adopting parents. The responsibility would also include bringing the child to a hospital in case of an emergency. This would further include taking disciplinary action toward the adopted child if necessary. As part of disciplinary action, the camp management may require an older child to sleep in the parents' cabin instead of in a cabin with other children.
- Only your own kids may be registered as your children. (We are not overly legalistic about this. If you have a niece, nephew, or other relative living with your family full time, they may attend with your family.) Other children are to be adopted and the "adopted kid" price paid. We are not overly legalistic about this. If you have a niece, nephew, or other relative living with your family full time, they may attend with your family.
- The camp directors have the authority to determine the total number of kids and families in this category that their program can accommodate. This is at their sole discretion.
- Adopted children need to be registered by their parents, under their parents' account.
There are practical reasons for these policies. We have had experiences where a child without their parent was injured at camp. Not having an adoptive family to accompany this child to the hospital could lead to major disruptions at camp, since the staff is involved in camp operations and unable to drive kids to the doctor or hospital. We have also found that disciplinary problems are usually solved more easily when a parent is also at camp.
If you want your child to be adopted, it is your responsibility as parent—not the responsibility of the camp leadership—to find a family willing to look after him/her. Please work this out as soon as possible so it does not become a problem for the camp leadership. To view a list of families attending, log in and go to the "See who's attending" form at the bottom of the page.
Children can only be adopted by families with both parents attending. We reserve the right to refund the payment and send the adopted children (the children going to camp without their parents) home if one of the parents of the adopting family (the family that takes care of the adopted children) does not come to camp. If one of the parents of the adopting family registers and finds out he or she cannot attend camp, he or she must notify both the family of the adopted child and the registrar as soon as possible. This is a courtesy to the family of the adopted child, because they will need to find another adopting family.