What if I need to cancel after I register?
If you need to cancel prior to May 1, you will recieve a refund minus a $250.00 cancellation fee. If you need to cancel after May 1, you MUST notify us by the Friday prior to the week you are registered for camp. If you do notify us prior to that Friday, your tuition will turn into a credit with Tumbleweed Day Camp that you can use for any of our programs through August of the following year.
Please note we will not prorate or provide credits for your tuition if you have to miss part of your registration.
How will campers be grouped together?
Your child will be assigned to a co-ed group of up to 11 other campers of the same age range and two counselors. The makeup of that group will stay constant over the course of the week and from week to week. As always, you can request one friend in your child’s same grade to be in their group. Siblings who are in the same grade or one grade apart will be grouped together, in accordance with LA County’s directives on reducing contacts.
I can see that Tumbleweed has been open straight through since July 2020. How did you know it was safe to reopen and stay open during the pandemic?
At Tumbleweed, we implement layers of safety and multiple COVID-19 mitigation practices.
Here is an excellent article that one of our director's wrote about how camps can operate safely.
Tumbleweed Day Camp was one of the very few camps to operate last year and has been hosting in-person programs straight through since last July. We follow very strict protocols from the CDC, Los Angeles Health Department and the American Camp Association. But beyond just "following" the protocols, we really live them day to day. We turned camp inside out prior to last summer in order to effectively and successfully implement layers of covid-19 mitigation practices while at the same time still offering life-changing experiences for our campers. I do not exaggerate when I tell you we went foot by foot and minute by minute to adjust our programming so that we could do three major things: continue to deliver our camp's values and experience, create the safest possible in-person experience available, and support and care for our campers and staff's mental, social, and emotional health.
To learn more about the protocols from the Health Department, take a look
here. And, to learn more about our layers of safety policies and COVID-19 mitigation practices, feel free to call us at 310-472-7474.
How will campers get to and from camp each day?
The requirements we’d need to follow for camp vehicles make it impossible for us to efficiently provide transportation like we normally do. Campers will need to be dropped off and picked up each day by a parent/guardian; it’s highly recommended that your family designates one person to handle this for the entire time your child is at camp. Camp guidelines require that we stagger arrival and departure to avoid having large groups at camp, so when you register, you’ll select a window of time to do that (either 8:30-9:00 am and 3:30-4:00 pm OR 9:00-9:30 am and 4:00-4:30 pm).
How to I register for camp?
For 2021, campers are required to sign up for consecutive, full weeks of camp (Monday through Friday); you can choose as many consecutive weeks as you’d like between June 14 and August 13.
What happens when we arrive at camp?
When you arrive at camp each day, a staff member will greet your car in the parking lot. We’ll ask you some questions about potential symptoms and COVID exposure and check your child’s temperature, and then we’ll bring them to their group. Parents/guardians will not be allowed to park or exit their cars this summer, including on your child’s first day of camp.
What does a typical camp day look like?
Even in a typical summer, most time at camp is spent engaging in a variety of activities with your group, and that won’t change this summer! Each day, your child will participate in five different activities, including swimming, with their group. While we’ll have to avoid large group activities like assemblies and all-camp events, those will take place within the group throughout the camp day.
Will activities be the same this year?
Guidance from the American Camp Association includes lots of information about various activities. Each group will have the appropriate supplies, sports equipment, etc. that won’t be shared with other groups, and this will be cleaned after each use. Playground equipment, inflatables, climbing walls, and similar activities will be cleaned between groups and at the end of each day. For “seated” activities like art and crafts, we’ll space campers apart as much as possible, and for other activities, we’ll minimize contact between campers and with counselors. Most activities should be pretty normal with lots of cleaning and sanitizing!
Because it’s very difficult to ensure equipment is sanitized and staff are able to maintain distancing, we won’t be able to offer horseback riding this summer.
Swimming will be relatively normal (chlorinated water is a great disinfectant) and will still be a daily activity. Each group will swim on their own to ensure there’s enough space in the pool for distancing, and we’ll stagger swim times so that only one group at a time uses the changing rooms.
Can I visit camp? Can I come with my child on the first day?
In a typical summer, we love visitors! Unfortunately, state and county guidance requires us to limit the number of people who are at camp, and so we won’t be able to allow visits this summer. If you have questions or want to talk about your child’s experience, please give us a call.
What happens if my child gets sick? What if someone in their group does?
We expect families to monitor their campers for symptoms of and exposure to COVID-19 for 14 days prior to camp and throughout their time at Tumbleweed. If your child gets sick, has a fever of 100.4 or higher, or exhibits any other symptoms consistent with COVID-19, please notify us immediately. Campers won’t be able to return to camp for at least 10 days after symptoms start AND three days after symptoms including fever have improved.
If your child has had close contact with someone who has COVID-19 or have been advised to quarantine, please do not send your child to camp until they’ve completed the quarantine required by Los Angeles County.
If someone at camp becomes ill with COVID-19, we will notify you. We’ll then follow LA County’s protocol for cleaning, sanitizing, and possible temporary closure of camp.
What about masks?
All of our staff will be wearing face coverings at all times, except while in the pool. LA County’s guidance is also requiring campers to wear masks, and we do too! Please send your child to camp with a cloth face covering.
Do you have any discounts?
Because of our limited number of spaces for this summer, we aren’t able to offer any discounts, camperships or financial assistance. If you had registered for camp prior to our suspension and didn’t receive a refund, we’ll apply the rate you paid at the time you initially registered.
How will lunch and snack work?
As usual, you will send a lunch with your camper each day. We recommend sending some extra snacks this summer as well. We already discourage campers from sharing food, because of allergies, and that’s been a recommended practice to continue in 2020. We’ll provide an afternoon snack.
What about Twilight Riding / Overnights / Extended Care?
These programs all have a lot of moving parts, and unfortunately, we won’t be offering them this year. They’ll be back in 2021!
What should my camper bring each day?
Please send your camper with two face coverings (one to wear and an extra), a towel, bathing suit, lunch (plus extra snacks), reusable water bottle, and sunscreen. We have extra face coverings, water bottles and sunscreen at camp so if you forget that, we've got you!
Please note that counselors are highly encouraging washing hands and when hand washing is not available, they carry hand sanitizer with them. Please do not send your camper with hand sanitizer as the FDA has specific requirments for hand sanitizers.
