By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
In the thick of summer, the playgrounds at some of the local Jewish day schools have historically been lonely, desolate places. With new summertime programs debuting at several campuses this summer, however, for a few warm weeks that all will change.
The Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle in Bellevue and the Seattle Jewish Community School in Seattle’s Northend will both host three-week camps as extensions of the Stroum Jewish Community Center’s summer camp program.
“We feel that we’re the experts in the camping field. We have the most experience, the best staff, the programming and curriculum,” said Zach Duitch, the Stroum JCC’s program director. “It’s time for us to bring our expertise outside the walls of the ‘J.’”
Two of the JCC’s camps — Camp Katan for children entering kindergarten and Camp Kef for grades K–8 — will take over each school’s grounds for one of the three available sessions. The SJCS camp will run July 11–29 and the JDS camp will take place August 1–19. The specialty camp offerings will remain at the JCC’s Mercer Island campus.
The content at the new host sites won’t differ too much from what the JCC has offered in the past, but, Duitch said, “JDS has an amazing [sports field], and SJCS has a gorgeous kitchen and science room. We definitely want to use the facilities these campuses have to offer.”
Sharing resourcs is an objective shared by the schools as well.
“The importance of community and partnering with other Jewish agencies is really a part of the core pieces of our curricula,” said Amy Adler, director of admissions and external relations at the Jewish Day School. “In this area, geographically, the more that we partner with our agencies is really where we want the focus to be and the mindset to be with our children.”
SJCS staffers heard the same conclusions from their own stakeholders.
“They want to see partnership and shared resources, as opposed to duplicating services,” said Deborah Frockt, SJCS’s director of advancement.
But having the camp also expands the reach of all of the organizations.
“It is an opportunity to provide for our families a summer camp in this area, instead of shlepping to the other side [of Lake Washington] — with Jewish content,” said Shoshana Bilavsky, head of school at SJCS. “The facility is empty in the summer, so we feel that the only responsible way to do that is to occupy it and give the service to the wider Jewish community in the Northend. It’s a win-win situation for all of us.”
Having camps in neighborhoods that the JCC can’t serve from Mercer Island also helps with everyone’s numbers.
“We really want to get net new kids, we want to build relationships with new parents, get them onboard and help them establish their Jewish identity and Jewish journey,” Duitch said.
Financially speaking, the schools will see modest revenue from the program, “but that really just helps cover the cost of maintaining the field,” Adler said.
“There’s some income…which is good for any nonprofit in this economy,” Frockt said. But, she added, “I think there are other benefits that come to the school through this.”
This year is the first in a three-year plan by the JCC with a goal of “running almost nine weeks of camp and serving over 100-plus kids in both sites,” Duitch said.
After the last session at the JCC camp ends, a new one-week program will begin at the Seattle Hebrew Academy. Camp Invention, a national science-based camp, will have its first home in the Seattle area during the week of Aug. 22–26.
“This is a way of having kids focus on science in a very fun way,” said Rivy Poupko Kletenik, SHA’s head of school. “The most important thing an elementary school can do for students is help them get engaged in science and love science.”
The camp is open to any child, grades K–6, and will have different activities based in science, technology, engineering and math, and designed for different learning abilities.
“Any child can feel successful, but it’s really going to meet the need of our high-end learners,” said Katie May, SHA’s principal.
“They transform the classroom, using a lot of recycled materials, into another planet,” May said. “You have to use teamwork to create shelters and things that will help them survive in this environment.”
The fact that this camp is scheduled for right before the school year begins is a good transition from lazy summer to rigorous study, May said.
“It gets them back into that thinking part of the brain,” she said.
VVisit www.sjcc.org for registration information on the Stroum JCC summer camps. Early-bird pricing ends April 4. To register for the Seattle Hebrew Academy science camp, visit http://jew.sh/OUn4. Early-bird pricing ends March 30.