Summer Camp Parent Information and Policies

Each week your camper will need:

• A healthy lunch and two to three snack items, each day. Please pack food accordingly, depending on your child’s eating habits and needs, and whether they leave at 3:00pm, 4:00pm, or 5:30pm. See below for more lunch and snack details.
• Sun hat, and personal, labeled bug repellent and sunscreen.
• A full change of clothes, to be left at camp for the week. If your child uses these items, please bring replacements the next day. Make sure your child is dressed in comfortable play clothes.
• We may enjoy water play in the afternoons! Campers staying past 12pm will also need a bathing suit, towel, and water shoes to stay at camp all week. If any of these items get muddy, they will be sent home for a quick overnight wash.
• While we do not require Early Childhood campers to nap (sleep), we do provide a "quiet rest" time in a cozy environment following lunch. This is an important time for stillness, listening to soft music/stories, or for sleep. Please let Eliza (Director of Auxiliary Programs) know of your child's napping needs and habits. If your child would be more comfortable at "quiet rest" with a small stuffed animal, please feel free to send one to stay at camp for the whole week. Remind your child, just as we will, that this object is only for "quiet rest" and will stay in the cubby at all times. We will provide a small blanket and sheet, but if your child prefers their own, please send them in at the beginning of the week, to be returned to you on Friday at pick up.
• Please label all belongings with your child’s name or initials.
• Lunch and Snacks
  • All campers will bring their own morning and afternoon snacks, depending on the length of their day. If you opt for the Extended Hours option, please provide a third snack for late afternoon.
  • All campers staying past noon will bring a lunch. Please label your child’s lunch box with their name. Since we will store lunch boxes inside, but not in the refrigerator, please use an ice pack to keep your child’s lunch cool, as necessary. Feel free to send milk in a thermos. However, we do not have the ability to heat up your child’s lunch.
  • We provide utensils, napkins, water, and cups.
  • Juice boxes, candy, gum, and soda are PROHIBITED at camp.
  • Children do not share food from their lunches or snacks with each other; this protects children’s food sensitivities and promotes good hygiene. All information about food allergies should be indicated in the emergency information form you complete during registration.
    • Our current restrictions are: No nuts, including peanuts, and all tree nuts

    • Do not pack these items or ingredients in your child’s snacks and lunch. It is also important that extra care is taken when washing up at home before coming to school. If you are packing items that look like they may contain allergens, please label with ingredients so we can be sure (ie. Sunbutter sandwich). Please be careful to check food labels (such as on granola bars) for the warning "may contain nuts" so you do not send these allergens into the classrooms.

  • We will often prepare and share food as an additional treat. Please make sure to fill out the emergency information form with as much information as possible regarding food sensitivities, allergies, and/or food preferences (example: vegetarian, vegan, no dyes, sugars, etc.).

• Emails from home help us to understand your plans for picking up your child (if your child will be late, absent, or need picked up early). Send these to both to our office staff at office@msdurham.org and Director of Auxiliary Programs, Eliza Hudson, at eliza@msdurham.org
• One week prior to the start of your chosen camp, you’ll receive a message from the lead instructor with more details specific to that camp experience.
• We will also to email you a camp newsletter highlighting the activities and experiences your children participated in that week every Friday!
• Since camp instructors will be unable to check voicemail or email during camp hours, share  any last-minute changes with the main office at 919-489-9045.

Drop off procedures:

• The drop-off window is 8:00-8:20am.

• Park and walk your child to the gate of the After School playground (see the star on the campus map). Staff will help guide you there as you get acclimated to campus.

• Following check-in, campers will be directed to their camp location by staff.

• Parents dropping off late must ring the bell outside the After School playground. A staff member will come out to help check in your child(ren).

Pick-up procedures

• 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.

• Park and walk to the bell outside the After School playground (see the star on the campus map). Ring the bell to notify staff of your arrival.

• 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, (eliza@msdurham.org) and the Office (office@msdurham.org) as soon as possible to make arrangements. If the situation is unexpected, with no time for advanced notice, call MSD’s main office at (919) 489-9045.

• If you will be arriving late  to pick up your child or need additional camp care beyond your scheduled pick up time, please call the office/Eliza. Drop In care will be billed at $12 per hour if we get notification more than 15 minutes in advance and $15 if it's an "emergency," meaning less than 15 minutes notice. Unplanned late pick ups will be billed as follows:

  • first offense = no charge

  • all other offenses = $5 per each 5 minutes late per child

Dismissal Authorization:

• 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. 

Download MSD's Summer Camp Campus Map

• Montessori School of Durham is located at 2800 Pickett Road, Durham, NC 27705.

• The driveway is one way and has a parking lot next to the office and at the bottom of the hill.

• Please do not use your cell phone while driving on campus.

Absences:

• All absences must be reported by email to Eliza@msdurham.org and our office staff at Office@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 is showing COVID-19 symptoms.

Illnesses:

• 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 that may be COVID-19, you must communicate with the office 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 COVID-19):

    • 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.

    • or is under investigation for COVID-19

*See procedures regarding exposure on the MSD COVID-19 Guidelines packet.

• 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 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.

Medications:

• 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.

MSD's COVID-19 policies and procedures work to mitigate COVID-19 related risks at MSD programs. These plans are fluid and will be evolving over time at MSD’s discretion, while considering national, state, and local government agencies' recommendations and requirements. These agencies include the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), and the ABC Science Collective. We also work closely with the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools (NCAIS) and their member Heads of Schools around the state to arrive at policies and safety practices specific to our areas of operation. The school reserves the right to modify, at any time, any of the policies described or privileges granted.

• Please be sure that your child (2 years-old and above) has a mask with them for school. Wearing a mask is optional indoors and outdoors but all students should have a spare mask on campus. 
• Parents/Guardians must report to the MSD office when their child is experiencing symptoms that may be COVID-19 or if they have been exposed. Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 can include fever, 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. Communicate with the office to determine the timeline for return following COVID-19 symptoms or diagnosis during Summer Camp.
• If COVID-19 symptoms begin while at school, the child must be sent home as soon as possible. Sick children will be kept separate from well children, and staff contact will be limited as much as reasonably possible, while ensuring the safety and supervision of the child until they leave. If a child is sick, they will need to be picked up promptly (as soon as reasonably possible). Thus, we ask that parents ensure that either a parent or an emergency contact is readily available to come get a child if necessary on any given day. This means if a parent 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.
• COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters are encouraged for those eligible as they help protect from contracting COVID-19, limit the spread of COVID-19, and prevent from serious illness, hospitalization, or death due to COVID-19
• The administrative office will communicate with you directly should there be any updates on the COVID-19 situation that might have a direct impact on MSD's operations. All updates and plans will be communicated via email. MSD will coordinate with the Durham County Department of Public Health to determine when and how to inform families, students, faculty, and staff as appropriate and maintain privacy and confidentiality as required by law. MSD may also decide to issue notifications above and beyond what public health notification guidelines call for.