Affordable Summer Camps
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Oakland All Day Summer Camp for under $300 week?
Feb 2013
Oakland Parks and Rec . Depending on the location, weekly rates are quite reasonable, from $60 - $150 per week. Dimond, Montclair, Redwood Heights, Allendale, etc.
Another option is Adventure Time . They are the aftercare program at several OUSD elementary schools and they run a summer camp open to anyone - you don't have to be enrolled in the aftercare program during the school year to attend their summer camp. Their summer camp is at Robert's Park in Oakland 3 days per week and then at an OUSD school the other 2 days (typically Joaquin Miller or Montclair). You can sign up for the entire week or by the hour. summer camper
The least expensive summer camp I found was Adventure Time (located in several OUSD schools, and on Monday-Wednesday in Roberts Park). They charge per hour, and although I have not looked at the prices this year, my memory is that if your child goes full time, you pay something between $5.00 and $6.00 per hour. They do a lot of different activities -- crafts, sports and games, and a lot of free play. Very low key. See their website at http://www.adventure-time.com/camp.html Karen
Take a look at Lakeshore Children's Center , which runs summer and school break camps, in addition to its preschool and aftercare programs. It is located on Lakeshore Ave, and costs $150 a week (I think). They have a pretty typical summer camp program, with Monday being ''wheel day'' (bikes, scooter, etc at the park), swimming two days a week, field trip one day a week (bowling, ferry to San Francisco, etc.), and arts and crafts one day. My daughter really enjoys it there.
Other affordable options include Oakland Parks & Rec camps (although I was underwhelmed by the counselors), and the Oakland YMCA . Carrie
Summer camp was a big sticker shock for us, too, not to mention the transportation logistics. The city parks & rec departments are the way to go. In Oakland, our kids have really enjoyed Studio One summer camp, which has 9am-5pm days for -- brace yourself -- $150/week for city residents. Throw in a couple of weeks of that, and you can still afford some Monkey Business or another more expensive camp if you want, if your kid has friends are going there, etc.
I also know that most of the OPR rec centers (Montclair, Dimond, Redwood Hts, etc.) have all-day programs at similar prices. For the Oakland programs, their website is here: https://securerw.oaklandnet.com/registrationmain.sdi For category, enter ''day camp,'' and then you can sort by start date or location, and click through on ages/places/dates that work for you to get more information. Also, there's Berkeley City Camp, which even with morning and after care at non-resident rates is less than $300/week, and pickup/dropoff is at Willard Park in South Berkeley. Summer camp sticker shock
Not in Oakland but nearby in Elmwood/Claremont are the Cal Youth camps , which are $200-300/week depending on the child's age, for 9am-4pm. Extended care is offered from 7:30-9am or for 4-5:30pm for $45/week. Here's their website: see http://camps.berkeley.edu/youth/
Hi! I'm a super researcher, and I have some answers for you.
If your child is at a Berkeley public elementary school (which it sounds like), your child can go to the BEARS summer camp at the schools, most likely what your child did before. Your child does NOT have to be in the BEARS afterschool program during the year to go to the summer session, but if your child IS in BEARS after school, ask the BEARS teachers when the summer sign up is--- it's right around now. Here is the BEARS info pages with phone numbers, etc:
https://www.berkeleyschools.net/schools/berkeley-after-school-programs/…
The City of Berkeley has full scholarships available for low-income Berkeley residents for their Summer Fun camps. I'm not sure if there is a scholarship application deadline, but here is the page with City of Berkeley summer camp info. My child is doing this, and I had to send in camp application plus a scholarship application.
https://www.cityofberkeley.info/activity_guide/
Best of luck, and I hope your child has a great summer!