Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromMegan W

  Date: 08/01/2024

  1 star

  Megan W

  Date: 08/01/2024

  My daughter attended a week long sleep away camp from July 7-13th. She was physically attacked by another camper (as were others) and I was not notified for 24 hours, which came in an email, not a phone call. When I spoke to camp officials, they gave me attitude and showed complete lack of empathy for my concern of my daughters well being and safety. The offender was let back to compete after being removed, and put in the same room with my daughter. The owner and director downplayed the entire situation, diminishing my daughter and other campers experience and lying about the events of the week. I would never send a child here out of the lack of safety concerns for all children.In looking at the waiver we signed, there is nothing about safety for parents to sign. Looking at other camps and businesses with childcare and schools, this is an essential part of commitment and understanding. The blatant lying and rudeness in communication with me also shows the lack of care and professionalism for my child. Upon legal guidance, our family could absolutely file a claim with lack of safety protocol communication and the fact that other campers were injured (foot with a sharp stick) from this camper and it not being completely disclosed.Bottom line- no parent or child should have to be concerned for safety and while this situation wasnt caused by the camp, the lack of communication, dismisiveness and blatant lying is completely unacceptable.

  Cedar Lodge

  Date: 08/04/2024

  I would like to start with the fact that **** has stated in all our talks over this matter that her daughter had a great week and loved our riding program (please refer to ***** 1 star google review of us last week on the same topic). We loved having ***** daughter here and it is sad that she will not be allowed to join us again. I think it is important to note that there were 8 girls in the cabin;7 campers to interview, and 8 families to contact. We have heard back from all of them, thanking us for our thorough investigation and the way we handled their camper. M***** is the only one that took issue with how we handled this situation. I never lied to ***** during any of our 3 days of communication on this matter but **** would like me to apologize for our handling of the altercation. Here are the facts which we shared with ****: The facts: There was an altercation between Girl 1 and 3 other girls in the cabin. **** daughter received an open handed slap. Girl 1 was kicked. All campers involved were 10 year olds. Staff were brought in from where they were monitoring the unit. Sr. staff were called in and arrived immediately. Girl 1’s parents were called and she was sent home that night. She had no further interactions with campers. The cabin staff then focused on helping the girls settle for bed. It was after 11, and breakfast was at 7:30. No one asked to call home, and everyone seemed better after decompressing with the staff. There seemed to be no need or benefit to have 7 campers call home to talk about the issue further. If we had, they would have gotten to bed much later and there would have been questions from parents that we could not answer at that time. **** daughter did have a red mark on her cheek. It was checked by medical staff and she was given an ice pack. The other camper that **** referred to  at by medical staff. There was no mark on the foot. This was reported to ***** in one of our many conversations. The next morning, we interviewed staff, and 7 remaining girls 1 by 1. This took most of the morning, as campers were in programs. All campers were asked if they would like to call home to talk to a parent about the incident. None wanted to. ***** daughter's cheek was checked again by medical staff at breakfast. There was no mark. Other camper foot was looked at. No mark. Sr. staff wrote up 8 individual reports (including girl 1) with each girl's involvement, and sent them out to parents. A couple parents emailed questions. We answered. All thanked us for our time, but ****. ***** asked to talk to her daughter. A phone call was set up. ***** daughter told **** she was fine. **** emailed camp to complain about the staff she talked to. In particular, she did not like the fact the staff said, “duly noted.” She did not want a return call or email. Camp went on as camp does. Kids having fun. ***** claimed the camper was let back in after being removed, and put in the same room with her daughter. This is a misrepresentation of the truth. Girl 1 was NOT let back in. She left camp the evening of the incident and did not return to camp. However, she did attend a vaulting competition on the property as a competitor on Saturday. This vaulting comp. is hosted by the stable, and while it is on the same property, it is not affiliated with the camp. It simply utilizes part of the facility-specifically the indoor riding arena. Camp riding had no crossover with this event, by design. Girl 1 was with her parents the entire time she was on the property. Campers were able to watch the competition under staff supervision for short periods of time if they were interested. **** daughter signed up to come watch with staff. The “room” **** referred to is a 240x80 ft arena where the comp. was being held. There were many coaches, athletes, and parents in the arena during this time. Campers were in a separate area reserved for spectators. They did not interact. **** expressed concerns that we did not take her complaint seriously. On my sr. staff that week, I had a pediatric doctor, and a licensed clinical social worker. The decisions made that evening, and the next day were done with the 3 of us together. The decision to not call parents the night of the incident was made for the health of the kids involved. No kids felt they needed to call. There was nothing to be gained and the incident was settled. We felt it was best that the girls be allowed to go to sleep so they could have a good next day. ***** anger here comes down to a difference of opinion between her and I. *nspections yearly which include a health department inspection and LARA (child protective services) and a every other year fire inspection. Our LARA inspection includes our program, staff, certification and training procedures. We literally have a manual that we update yearly with all our staff job descriptions, certifications, training procedures and protocol. Our staff training is 2 weeks long precamp, which exceeds LARA requirements as does our certification requirements for staff. I would be remiss by not acknowledging Girl 1. Megan’s child did nothing wrong and did not deserve to get slapped. It's also true that Girl 1 was having a hard time away from home for the first time, and felt scared and trapped resulting in a behavioral crisis that necessitated her being sent home with her parents. We truly believe that all children deserve camp and are saddened that Girl 1’s struggles resulted in a situation where she acted out against other people. We do not take the decision to remove a kid from camp lightly but feel it is necessary when one camper acts unsafely against another. We also believe that situations like this should be approached with empathy and compassion. This is what guided our decision to allow Girl 1 to participate in the non-camp competition under the supervision of her parents. We could have taken a punitive approach, but I do not feel it would have been of any benefit ****to any of the girls involved. The only person who would have benefitted from further punishment of Girl 1 would have been ****.