Summer Camp FAQs

Drop off procedures:

• The drop-off window is 8:00-8:20am for morning arrival. Due to the number of children arriving in the morning, we will offer a carline for Summer 2025 attendees.
• Traffic in our driveway goes much more smoothly for all if everyone adheres to the following procedures! We have a lot of people to get through a small space in short periods of time and we have found that everyone benefits if we follow these guidelines. Drop-off and Pick-up are important transitions in the child’s day. Please avoid being on the phone or texting while you are saying good-bye to or greeting your child.
• Our driveway is a cell phone free zone.
• Campers will be greeted at the car door by an Administrator or Camp Instructor, Please do not let your child exit the car without an adult. Please encourage your child to have all belongings ready, and shoes and coats on — taking care of this after the car door opens causes extra waiting time for all.
• If your child needs more time to gather everything, put gear on, etc., please park in a parking space in the lower lot and bring your child to the stop sign when they are ready. This will help keep the carline moving.
• Please have your car seat installed on the right side of the car. It is dangerous for children and teachers to exit and enter the car on the left side in the passing lane. If you have an infant who must be placed on the passenger side of the car, once you have come to a complete stop, please unbuckle your child who is exiting the car and have them crawl to the passenger side of the front seat so that we may retrieve them from there.
• Move slowly through the driveway all the way to the exit area. The speed limit on campus is 10 mph. If you pull left into the passing lane, always look left before proceeding. If you are waiting in the car line, make sure you are pulled close to the sidewalk so that infant and toddler families, who must park and walk in to pick up their child, can drive past you in the passing lane.
• The ONLY parking permitted in the driveway is on the right hand side of the EXIT driveway ONLY. The rest of the driveway is a fire lane and must be kept open to allow fire trucks to reach our children in an emergency.
• All campers are to be dropped off or picked up in the Arrival/Dismissal zone ONLY.  Please do not allow your child to exit onto the sidewalk except in the A/D area. Children may never exit or enter a car in the left lane.
• Administrative staff may deem it necessary to open a second line of cars in the left lane to prevent backup onto Pickett Road.  In that case, when signaled to do so, two lanes of cars will approach the Arrival/Dismissal zone.  A staff member will then direct drivers individually from each lane into the zone; all drivers will wait until signaled to proceed.
• Infant and Toddler families will drive directly to the North Parking Lot to park and walk their children inside.
• If you are new to the school, all of this will be clearer once you’ve experienced our driveway a few times! It takes a couple of weeks for everyone to get the hang of it, and then things do go more smoothly and quickly. Everyone’s patience and cooperation are appreciated, and makes drop-off a safe experience for everyone. Thank you!

Pick-up procedures:

• There is no carline for pick up in the summer months. 
• The official pick up windows are as follows:
  • 12:00-12:15pm
  • 3:00-3:15pm
  • 4:00-4:15pm
  • 5:15-5:30pm
  • Pick ups occurring after the pick up window will be charged a late fee. See our Policies and Procedures page for details.
• To pick up your child, park and walk the gate of the After School playground (see the stars on the campus map) or the dismissal shelter, depending on your child’s camp location. 
• Staff will help guide you there as you get acclimated to campus.
• When you arrive, ring the bell and wait for a staff member to come out to greet you.
• Wait for your child either to walk to you or be accompanied by an MSD staff member.
• If no one responds to the bell, you may call the school at 919-489-9045.
• If a child must be picked up early, a parent/guardian must notify Eliza Hudson, Director of Auxiliary Programs, by email (eliza@msdurham.org) to make arrangements. If the situation is unexpected, with no time for advanced notice, call MSD’s main office at (919) 489-9045. Administrative staff will contact your child’s camp classroom to notify the instructor that you are here. You will be directed as to where to wait while a staff member brings your child to you.

We require all parents/guardians to provide a dismissal authorization list of individuals who may pick up their child(ren) prior to the start of camp. Only individuals with government issued identification that matches a name on this dismissal authorization list will be allowed to leave campus with the child they are here to pick up. All individuals must provide their I.D. in order to pick up a child. If an I.D. is not available, the child(ren) will not be released. Please notify any individual who comes to pick up a child from our campus to carry their I.D. with them. If an individual arrives and is NOT on the dismissal authorization list, MSD will contact the parent and request that they authorize the individual in writing. MSD will not release a child unless a parent grants written permission to do so. 

All absences must be reported by email to Eliza@msdurham.org or by a phone call to the office at 919-489-9045. Any families who have not reported an absence, and have not arrived at camp will receive an email and/or phone call from an administrator to inquire as to the reasons for the child's absence and to determine whether the child needs a doctor's note to return.

If the staff determines that your child is too sick to continue to participate in activities, you will be notified immediately and you will be responsible for picking up your child within a reasonable period of time. If you are unable to pick up your sick child, you will be asked to contact someone from your authorized pick up list to do so for you and inform the office as to who that person will be.

• If your child is experiencing symptoms of an illness that may be contagious, such as COVID-19, the flu, pinworms, etc., you must communicate with the office (office@msdurham.org and Eliza@msdurham.org) and follow the guidance for return.
  • All children and staff who meet any of the criteria below will be denied entry or will be sent home. (We understand that this may be inconvenient but is necessary to minimize exposure and spread of common illnesses:
    • Temperature of 100.4°F or above. Children and staff are not allowed to come to campus if medications were used to lower their temperature.
    • Any of the following symptoms, if the symptom is of greater intensity or frequency than what is normally experienced:  chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, nasal congestion or rhinorrhea, vomiting or diarrhea, and skin rashes.

• Contact the office to determine the timeline for return following COVID-19 symptoms, diagnosis, or exposure during Summer Camp.
• Keep an ill child at home until fever-free for 24 hours without suppression. (Do not send a child back to school on fever-reducing medication.)
• Keep the child at home until 24 hours after the cessation of vomiting or diarrhea.
• Keep the child at home until they are no longer contagious.
• Keep the child at home until 24 hours have elapsed since administering the first dose of prescribed antibiotics.
• Keep the child at home until the results of a throat culture are known (Strep).
• Keep the child at home until nit-free (Head Lice) and at a minimum until the next school day.
• We understand a doctor may say a child may return to school without the knowledge of the severity and length of a particular outbreak, but the school reserves the right to request that the ill child remain home longer than 24 hours fever-free.

Parents/Guardians must report to the MSD office when their child is experiencing symptoms that may be COVID-19. Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 can include fever (temperature of 100.4°F or higher), chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, nasal congestion, runny nose, or rhinorrhea, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea (more than two loose stool within a 24 hour period), and skin rashes. 

If a student or staff member has a positive COVID test result, we ask that they remain home until they have been fever-free for 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing medication, and symptoms have improved significantly. If the student or staff is able, they are encouraged to mask indoors on campus for 5 days after returning. 

• If a child exhibits symptoms at school, they will need to be picked up promptly (as soon as reasonably possible). Thus, we ask that parents/guardians ensure that either a parent/guardian or an emergency contact is readily available to come get a child if necessary on any given day. This means if a parent/guardian is out of town for any reason, the emergency contact should be notified ahead of time and made aware of their responsibility to be available to pick up an ill child as promptly as possible.

• Families will be notified following a positive case in the classroom. In general, masking will remain optional following a positive case in the classroom.

If your child needs any  form of medication during the day, including cough drops or ‘natural’ and/or prescribed medication, you will need to fill out the Permission to Administer Medication form in the office, and leave the medication and form with a administrative staff member. Absolutely no medications should be sent in your child's belongings. Please provide only those doses that are needed during the day, and keep evening doses at home.

• Minor incidents and injuries receive the prompt and careful attention of staff members who are trained in First Aid and CPR. Parents are notified with an incident/injury report.

• In the event of a serious accident, parents (or your Emergency contacts) are notified at once. In cases of emergency, a staff member will call 911 to dispatch an ambulance, and parents (or your Emergency contacts) will be notified immediately.

• The National Weather Service and the American Red Cross recommend that “children are safer at school than in a bus or car” and that “many people are injured or killed when remaining in their vehicles.” Should there be a tornado warning in effect when you arrive to pick up your child, please come inside to an interior of one of our buildings. We encourage you to join us, for your own safety, until the danger passes. Children will not be released if we are in the middle of a tornado warning.
• Afternoon storms are likely during the summer months. If thunder is heard on campus, all staff and children will be brought inside, as lightning is likely to follow.
• During severe storms with lightning: You will need to pick up your child from inside the building. We will not be able to bring your child to you outside during such conditions.

• Regardless of age, we do not allow the use of electronic devices, including phones, tablets, games, smartwatches and mp3 players. Please do not send these devices with your child(ren) to camp.
• Parents that need to reach their camper during the day should call the MSD Main Office at (919) 489-9045. The Main Office is able to reach any camp instructor.
• Children must leave all toys (including Pokemon or other trading cards) at home. Any toys or trading cards brought to school will be collected by a staff member to hold until the child is picked up to go home.

• Please allow your child to dress in clothing that they can get in and out of independently.

• Straps, buckles, belts, and small buttons that may be difficult for a child to maneuver are discouraged. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather, as children will spend a portion of their day on the playground, including in light rain. 

• Children’s clothing may get soiled while at camp, so please dress your child accordingly.

• Children usually enjoy picking out their own outfits. By giving them choices when dressing, it increases their independence and helps them become aware of appropriate seasonal dress.

• Children should come to camp in shoes that are comfortable and sensible for the child to take on and off independently. Please avoid flip-flops, rubber boots, and crocs as they are not suitable footwear for climbing structures on the playground. If children wear the aforementioned footwear, they will be asked to stay off the climbing structures for their own safety.

At MSD, we give children both freedom and responsibility. The Montessori environment is a rich and interesting place where children have the freedom to make choices, decisions, observations, and discoveries. They do their own work. They concentrate and create. They also interact with one another, cooperate, and share work, ideas, and excitement. At all times they are expected to demonstrate care and respect, and grace and courtesy.

The procedures and ground rules in the programs are structured to foster the growth of self-direction as well as self-discipline. The focus is not on the adult's power to control the child, but rather on the development of each child's power and will to make decisions, which brings success to the child and good to the community as well.

Specific expectations grow from the Montessori philosophy of respect:

• Respect for the materials, the room, and ultimately the world we share

• Every person’s respect for each person in the community

• The respect of each person for themself

Behavior will be followed by natural and logical consequences (see Children: The Challenge by Rudolph Dreikurs). If a child behaves inappropriately we do one or more of the following:

• Remind the child of the ground rules, using positive language

• Separate the child from the situation in one or more ways:

  • Ask the child to put away work that is being mishandled.

  • Ask the child to move to a different location (to a different table or away from the group the child was working with, or to a different area of the playground).

  • Ask the child to come and stay by the instructor (to watch someone else's lesson, perhaps).

• For chronic and/or more difficult behavior, we may have the child stay in a particular spot (at a table or in a chair). This is usually a spot where the child has full view and hearing of classroom or playground activity. The child is asked to stay there until they decide that they are ready to behave appropriately and the instructor can see that the child is ready to rejoin the activities.

• Occasionally, if the child's behavior is very disruptive to other children and/or the instructor, the child may be allowed to gain control of themself and/or do work in the school office. The instructor will accompany the child to the office and leave them with a staff member, returning to verify that the child is ready to rejoin the group and behave appropriately.

In all discipline situations we assume that the child is basically good. We use positive rather than negative language. We make it clear that our affection and respect for the child remains constant. Corporal punishment is never used.

As educators, we recognize that conflict, and learning to resolve conflict, is a natural part of social growth. Instructors mediate conflicts between children, guiding the students to use appropriate communication to resolve conflicts. Normal conflicts that arise between children at different developmental stages should not be confused with bullying. Should a pattern of conflict arise outside typical developmental expectations, the instructors will work with the children involved in a way that is developmentally appropriate for their ages and the role they played. Parents of the children involved will be informed of the incident and an action plan to prevent future inappropriate behavior will be presented to all parties.

Contact Eliza@msdurham.org to inquire about adding extended care for your child during summer camp. 

During registration, additional camp care is available as a session option until 3:00pm, 4:00pm, or 5:30pm. In this extended care, the children eat lunch, have quiet time (nap if needed), engage in arts and crafts, water play, and more. 

The additional cost per week for extended care for half day camps is:

• $140 for 12noon-3:00pm
• $185 for 12noon-4:00pm
• $245 for 12noon-5:30pm. 

The additional cost per week for extended care for full day camps is:

• $55 for 3:00-4:00pm 
• $115 for 3:00-5:30pm.

In case of a family’s unforeseen or occasional need for extended care, Drop In afternoon camp may be available for your Early Childhood and Elementary child, space permitting. The Drop-in process is as follows:

• Email the Director of Auxiliary Programs (eliza@msdurham.org) and the office (office@msdurham.org) or call the school as early as possible to determine if there is space available for your child, but at least 15 minutes before the beginning of dismissal for your child.
• If there is a spot for your child, your child’s morning camp instructor and the extended day instructors will be notified. 
• You will be invoiced for the cost of care at a Drop-in rate of $12 per hour. Care is billed after use and will appear on your UltraCamp account. Payment is due on the first of the following month. 
• If you are unable to notify us at least 15 minutes before the Drop-in Care begins, it will be billed at an Emergency Drop-in rate of $15 per hour.
• All Drop-in Care is billed for a one-hour minimum and quarter hour increments thereafter. 
• No penalties apply for canceling, however a courtesy call is greatly appreciated.

Contact Eliza Hudson, Director of Auxiliary Programs, at Eliza@msdurham.org or by calling 919-489-9045.