Summer Day Camps
Why Summer Day Camp?
- Children across all demographics experience learning loss if they don't take part in educational activities in summer
- Two-thirds of the achievement gap in youth starting high school is explained by insufficient access to summer learning programs
- Low-income children lose two months or more in reading and math grade level equivalency
- Half or more of the achievement gap between low– and middle-income children is explained by access to summer learning activities
- This achievement gap is a large contributor to why low income youth are less likely to graduate from high school
(John Hopkins Center for Summer Learning; 2005, Cooper, 1996; RAND, 2011)
Fast Facts:
Summer Day Camp
- 5 locations in DC
- 8-10 weeks each summer
- Children ages 3-12
- Service Corps for youth 15-21
- Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
- Academic remediation and tutoring
- Hands-on projects in subjects like science
- Computer-based learning
- Recreation and fitness
- Local field trips to the library, pool, museums
- Language immersion (Tenleytown location only)
- Full and partial scholarships available
Summer Day Camps Include:
Day Camp in SE
and NE DC Neighborhoods
Children in underserved neighborhoods need high-quality opportunities to learn and grow in the summer months. Our day camps give them a chance to improve math and reading skills, explore their world through hands-on learning and field trips, all while serving three nutritious meals each day.
Language immersion programming, academic enrichment, and exploratory field trips are a great combination! This camp offers children a chance to gain language skills at an age they can learn them best, combined with the classic summer fun activities every child needs hands-on learning and unique field trips.
In summer, our science clubs are integrated into DCPS summer school. This is the perfect opportunity to do science right kids use the scientific method to explore their world and develop a life-long interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
Scholarships
Our mission includes making summer fun and enrichment experiences available to all children in our city.
Part of fulfilling this vision is offering programs in underserved neighborhoods in D.C. Funding from grantors and generous individuals allows us to provide full scholarships to many campers.
Full scholarships to City Gate out-of-school time programs, including after-school and summer day camp programs, are available on a first-come first-served basis to children and youth in households that qualify for free or reduced cost school meals. In some cases, City Gate may offer partial scholarships to families of children and youth wishing to participate in out-of-school programs but do not qualify for a full scholarship. For more information including how to apply for a scholarship, please see our Out-of-School Time Programs Scholarship Eligibility Guidelines.