Camp Carmel Creek

The main K–6 program is organized around four Adventure Tracks: Athletics, Arts, Sci-Tech, and Nature & Outdoors. Families choose a track for each week, and campers can keep the same focus or switch as interests change. Within a track, children work through a specialized set of projects and activities while staying connected to the wider camp through shared parts of the day. Groups are formed by grade and track choice, with consecutive grades sometimes combined depending on enrollment.

Athletics centers on soccer, basketball, pickleball, and volleyball, with additional sports added by week. Arts rotates through themes while using theater, dance, visual arts, and music as core areas. Sci-Tech combines coding, robotics, gaming, design, website building, model-making, and science experiments. Nature & Outdoors includes gardening, culinary work, chicken care, wilderness survival, orienteering, sustainable-living ideas, and outdoor adventure.

The broader camp also includes age-specific formats. ECC Camp keeps routines closer to the school-year experience for current or incoming SDJA ECC students, adding music, nature, physical education, water play, art, and outdoor time. Middle-school campers entering grades 6–8 can choose focused enrichment programs in performing arts, sports, robotics, architecture, and related skill areas, with half-day and full-day formats published for those programs.

A daily lunch is provided through SAGE Dining Services. The main camp program uses an all-you-care-to-eat kosher, community-inclusive lunch model, giving campers a shared meal period as part of the day. Full-day middle-school programming also includes lunch before the afternoon portion of traditional camp activities.

Camp staff receive extensive preparation before summer, including training in health and safety procedures. The staff program also covers behavior management, social-emotional support and guidance, childhood development, curriculum design, and project-based programming. Most staff members are trained in CPR and First Aid.

The campus has security personnel at every entrance and additional security walking the grounds throughout the day. Campers are supervised from arrival through pickup, and families who need an early pickup are asked to contact the camp office in advance.

A nurse is on staff throughout the camp day to care for children who become ill or need assistance. Most staff members are trained in CPR and First Aid, and health and safety procedures are part of pre-camp staff training.

Camp Carmel Creek is led by Travis Pelletier and Anna Pelletier, educators and camp leaders with more than 30 years of combined camp experience. The wider team includes teachers, educators, camp professionals, young-adult staff, Group Leaders, Activity Specialists, and Track Leaders. Staff preparation is described as more than 50 hours before camp begins, covering curriculum design, engaging programs, project-based learning, behavior management, social-emotional support, health and safety, and childhood development. Track Leaders bring professional expertise to the specialty Adventure Track programs.

Families can reach the camp office by phone or email with questions and practical updates. For the main camp, parents are asked to contact the office when arranging an early pickup. Week and Adventure Track changes are also handled through the camp office when space permits.

For the main K–6 program, morning drop-off is between 8:45 and 9:00 AM and afternoon pickup is at 4:30 PM. Families who need an early pickup should contact the camp office. Campers are grouped by grade and Adventure Track choice; consecutive grades may sometimes be combined based on enrollment and track selections. Families choose weeks and tracks through registration and can change them when space permits. Middle-school programs publish both a 9:00 AM–12:00 PM half-day option and a 9:00 AM–4:30 PM full-day option; the full day includes lunch and an afternoon of traditional camp programming. ECC Camp is limited to current or incoming SDJA ECC students.