‘Camp will look different this year’
Registration to begin for a modified program due to COVID precautions
NORWALK — A telltale sign of summer, and normalcy, is returning to Norwalk in the coming weeks: City-run summer camps, with registration beginning April 20.
With the coronavirus pandemic in full swing last summer, traditional camps were canceled and an entirely remote alternative, dubbed Norwalk Adventure Clubs, took their place. A total of 246 live classes were offered as an alternative last summer, each well attended, Rec and Parks Director Nick Roberts said.
But Roberts and his team knew they wanted to find a way to bring Norwalk kids back for in-person programming this
summer.
“Even early on we decided we were going to do something,” Roberts said. “It’s just how we were going to do it.”
For summer 2021, the city Recreation and Parks Department returned to in-person camps, with a few modifications.
Camps will be held at three of the city’s elementary schools and, new this year, Calf Pasture Beach, Roberts said. With COVID-19 still a concern, the department intends to keep the children outside as much as possible, which required the Calf Pasture addition, he said.
The department reserved at least 12 classrooms at each of the three elementary schools: Marvin, Cranbury and Fox Run. With the classrooms and current COVID-19 restrictions, camps will be able to serve up to 150 kids at each location.
“That holds within line of what we’ve done in the past,” Roberts said of the camp capacities. “Our total participation was probably 580 kids. We are going to serve as many kids as we have in the past.”
There will also be a designated “sick room” at each camp site to prevent potential spread of the coronavirus, Roberts said.
Three of the four camp locations will be solely Norwalk camps, with the fourth location also serving summer school students, Superintendent of Recreation Sandy Korkatzis said.
Children will be kept in cohorts of between 15 and 20 and will remain in the groups throughout the three-week session and potentially the entire summer, according to the camp flier. For safety reasons, camps cannot take requests of pairing friends in the same cohort this summer.
With various cohorts at the same school, groups will contact each other through walkie talkies to ensure they don’t cross paths in the hallways, Korkatzis said.
“Camp will look different this year, but we will still keep it exciting and interesting,” Korkatzis said.
Campers will be required to wear masks when traveling through the school and grounds, and during pickup and dropoff times, but not when partaking in activities or play, Korkatzis said. Camp staff, however, will always wear masks.
Temperature checks for campers will be conducted before entering the building each morning and games and equipment will be cleaned after each pod use, Korkatzis said.
Camps will run from June 21 to Aug. 6 in threeweek sessions. Each session is $450 and the oneweek summers end camp from Aug. 2-6 is $150.
Drop-off and pickup will be at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, according to the flier. Families can also opt for the early morning and extended day sessions for early drop-off and late pickup.
Summer camp registration will open on April 20, but families are asked to ensure their online accounts are up to date, city spokesperson Josh Morgan said.
“It is an understatement to say they’re going to fill up quickly,” Morgan said. “Call, make sure you know your username and password and get accounts cleaned up.”
Registration can be done online or in-person at City Hall.