Dinosaur Ridge Summer Camp Safety Measures

Our new camp guidelines include the following:

1. All camps will operate with 10 or fewer campers, each with two dedicated camp counselor and up to one junior counselor.

   1. Each week of camp will include two separate groups with capacity limited to 20 total campers per week (down from 23). To accommodate campers that may prefer to move to another week, we added a session of Nature Trekkers Camp to August 10-14. Parents of children registered for sessions  that had exceeded the new 20 campers limit will be contacted and provided with options to transfer to another open and equivalent session.

2. All camp leaders, junior counselors, and guest speakers will be wearing masks during camp hours (and will wear gloves when necessary, in accordance with state and county guidelines).

3. Campers also need to wear masks while at camp. Exceptions will include while eating and drinking, and reasonable provisions are in place to allow time for students to take a break from mask-wearing when necessary. Details on our mask-wearing practices for campers are ready and will be provided prior to the start of camp.

4. Parents/guardians will be required to wear masks and gloves during pick up and drop off procedures, and encouraged to arrive alone when possible. This consideration comes as advice from the state.

   1. There will be two different drop-off/pick up areas, one for each separate group. We will provide this information in advance of your child’s week of camp; you will have at least two weeks’ notice on pick-up and drop-off procedures for your camp group.

5. Camp COVID procedures, as driven by state guidelines and requirements:

   1. Campers will be given a “kit” that includes their own activity utensils, instead of having a community container for things like pencils, scissors, glue/glue sticks, markers, etc. These, as well as name tags, will be cleaned after camp each day and set aside for the same camper’s daily use.

   2. Hand-washing stations are being installed at both camp areas and campers/staff will wash their hands several times throughout the day (up to once an hour but at least 3-4 times per day, in addition to following all bathroom breaks). Portable spigot-style handwashing containers will be brought on field trips.

   3. We are updating field trip plans: Plans for trips to locales that are likely to be crowded locations will be replaced with trips to less crowded options or replaced with new guest speakers or visits to open space park areas. Some activities will also be replaced with alternate experiences.

   4. Washable vinyl tablecloths will be used for all camp tables and cleaned at least twice per day.

   5. Camp areas will be “closed access” to anyone but campers, leaders/counselors, or guest speakers, in order to limit camper contact with outside parties.

   6. A letter signed by a parent/guardian indicating that no one in the household has had a fever or signs of COVID-19 for at least two weeks prior to their camp session will be added to supplemental documents and required from all participants. We will send this out to registrants via email two weeks out from the start of your camp session, though you should wait to fill it out until the day prior to the start of camp in order to reflect accurately on the two weeks prior.

   7. Morning procedures for drop-off will include temperature readings for staff, junior counselors, guest speakers, and campers. We will be keeping a daily log of temperatures. If a camper, staff member, counselor, or guest speaker has a temperature of 100.6 or higher, they cannot be admitted to camp for that day.

   8. Changes or additional requirements may come into play with new developments from state and county levels, and some of the procedures we’ve laid out above may be affected. We will always be in contact with parents/guardians should adjustments be necessary.