Frequently Asked Questions

Bank Street Spring and Summer Camp programs are for children entering pre-K through eighth grade the following year. Campers going into pre-K must be 4 years old and fully potty trained by their first day of camp.

Through play, creativity, and collaboration, Bank Street Summer Camp provides time, space, and structure for campers to develop outside of an academic environment. Celebrating the child’s non-academic self and providing an emotionally supportive environment for campers to connect with themselves and each other nurtures a zest for learning and contributes to a positive camp culture. This healthy, supportive environment helps children celebrate each other’s differences and ways of life.

Bank Street Summer Camp encourages campers to engage with and investigate the world around them. For young campers, this can mean exploring their classroom and neighborhood, interacting with their peers, and engaging in dramatic play. For older campers, this can often mean experimenting in ways they may not be comfortable with at school. Starting in second grade, Middle Camp and Upper Camp campers participate in more focused programs such as science, theater, sports, and the Spanish language. In these programs, children are encouraged to express themselves so counselors can help steer the direction of the group to support both comfort and skill.

Passionate about their work and dedicated to their campers, our staff brings out the best in children. These remarkable staff members are made up of teachers, graduate students or alumni from Bank Street Graduate School, and other specialists and experts in the field. Our staff body is very diverse with respect to family structure, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and learning styles.

The Supervisory Staff consists of educators who teach during the year as well as educators who have committed themselves to recreational education during the summer. Many of them were students in the Bank Street School for Children and Graduate School and/or campers and counselors in the Summer Camp.

Snack is provided daily and lunch is available for an additional fee through the Butter Beans Kitchen, who also provides lunch for the School for Children. 

Campers are welcome to bring lunch from home but we ask that any lunch brought from home does not require heating. Please also keep in mind that we are a nut-aware camp, which means we do not allow nut products of any kind. While we are sensitive to the needs of children with nut allergies, Bank Street College cannot guarantee a 100 percent nut-free environment. Parents of children with such allergies are required to provide the Health Office with written medical forms, an action plan/instructions, and medications as directed by a physician.

Health
An on-site nurse is available all day from 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM. Each classroom has a first aid kit as well as a mobile kit for trips. Counselors carry a cell phone and all emergency contact lists with them.

Head counselors and supervisory staff members are certified in RTE (Responding to Emergencies) and CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and are taught how to administer EpiPens.

Reporting Illnesses & Incidents  
We take the safety of our campers very seriously. When camp counselors identify a camper who is not feeling well, the camper is sent to the nurse for evaluation and care. If the concern is deemed important or serious, the nurse contacts the head counselor, the camp director, and the child’s guardians. If necessary, parents/guardians will be asked to pick up their children. The same criteria will apply to accidents (slips, falls, etc.).

In an effort to keep all children healthy, campers often wash their hands with soap (not antibacterial) and water. Campers are not permitted to share food or drinks.

Safety
The Summer Camp adheres to the following rules to ensure safety. We ask that all guardians observe the same rules when in the building.

• No running or roughhousing anywhere in the building
• No outdoor-type games inside, especially the lobby or in front of the building
• No shouting
• No profanity
• No headphones, iPods, DS, or portable music devices in the building
• No Switches or portable games of any kind
• No baseballs
• No skateboards or scooters
• No water guns of any kind
• No whistles
• Personal cell phones must be turned off during camp hours except for emergencies

Emergency Procedures for Thunderstorms
In the event of a thunderstorm, all groups must seek shelter immediately. Upon arriving at any facility, head counselors should identify safe shelter. Groups will stay in shelter until 15 minutes after hearing the last strike of thunder.

Fire Drills and Evacuation
Fire drills are conducted regularly at Bank Street. Campers and staff will be instructed beforehand regarding proper conduct and where to assemble after exiting the building.

When should campers stay home?
The following is outside of the policies and Health & Safety plan specific to COVID-19. 

Campers should look and behave like themselves for 24 hours before returning to camp. A sick child who returns to camp too soon is at risk for picking up other infections due to a lowered immunity and may infect other students and staff. All immunizations need to be up to date before campers come to camp.

Campers may not be in camp if they:

• Have a temperature over 100 degrees. Children who attend camp should be fever-free for at least 24 hours (without anti-fever medication) before returning to camp.
• Are vomiting or have had diarrhea within the past 24 hours.
• Have a positive throat culture for strep throat. If this is the case, the child should be on antibiotic therapy for 24 hours before returning to camp.
• Have a red eye with white or yellow eye drainage or with matted or crusted eyelids after sleep.
• Have a runny nose accompanied by a headache or nausea (or the child is too tired to concentrate).
• Have any type of rash, unless it is determined to be non-communicable by a physician.
• Have lice and/or nits. A camper may return to camp after their first treatment and after having a follow-up clean lice check by the camp nurse.
• Have chickenpox (Varicella). A camper may return once all lesions have dried and crusted, which is usually six days after the onset of the rash.
• Have contracted pertussis (whooping cough). A camper may return after five days of antibiotic therapy (which is to be given for a total of 14 days).
• Have been infected with impetigo (a bacterial skin infection). A camper may return 24 hours after treatment has been initiated.

There is a deposit of $500 per session and a non-refundable processing fee of $65 due upon registration. The balance is due on or before June 1, 2024, at which point all fees are non-refundable.

If you are a member of 1199 SEIU, please see our Information for 1199 SEIU page for more information.

Campium is our registration system. Upon registering for camp, you will set up a profile in the Campium system, complete with a login and password.

Logging into Campium allows you to:

• Make and change program selections
• Update and change registration and contact information. Please make sure you’ve updated all of the information on your form before camp begins.
• Make payments
• View important information and communications from counselors and the camp office

All campers must have current medical forms submitted before they attend camp. As per the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, campers are not allowed into the building without the proper medical documentation posted and approved in their Magnus Health system. We are unable to accept forms submitted on your child’s first day of camp. Bank Street School for Children students’ profiles do not need to be updated for camp, as their information is already up to date.

The below medical forms are required.

• Completed by Doctor: Physical Form (pdf)
• Completed by Doctor: Immunization Form (pdf)
• Completed by Guardian: Consent to Treat Form (pdf)
• Completed by Doctor and Guardian: Permission for Over-The-Counter Medications (pdf)
• Completed by Guardian in Magnus Health: Vital Health Record

The following forms are required only if your child has food allergies, asthma, diabetes, and/or seizures. All of these need to be filled out by your child’s doctor.

• Prescription Medication Form (pdf)
• Asthma Action Plan (pdf)
• Diabetes Action Plan (pdf)
• Seizure Action Plan (pdf)
• Food Allergy Action Plan (pdf)

You may also download all of the above forms directly from Magnus. For questions about our health requirements, these forms, or any other medical needs, please contact healthoffice@bankstreet.edu.

Magnus Health System
The Magnus system is a secure and easy-to-use website for submitting health information and securely accessing your child’s information in the event of an emergency. Each family receives an email from Magnus Health SMR with instructions and prompts. Please remember, if your child has food allergies, asthma, diabetes, and/or seizures, you must submit a corresponding action plan filled out by your child’s doctor.

For technical assistance with your Magnus account, please contact service@magnushealth.com, or call 919-502-7689 or 919-800-0356.