COVID 19 | Echo Hill Camp - ECHO HILL CAMP

What will our summer look like?

Update April 2021

We are looking forward to the beginning of our summer with enthusiasm and optimism! After a year of so many sacrifices and major pivots, the summer will look a bit different, but jam packed with lots of traditional EHC fun, with activities planned to keep everyone healthy.

Here’s what to expect.

Arrival will be on Mondays and departure will be on Fridays. Monday arrival times will be staggered, you will receive your assigned time frame two weeks beforehand.

Staff will be trained in COVID operating procedures and sanitation and encouraged to receive and complete CDC recommended vaccinations prior to staff week.

We will require campers to self-quarantine for a 7-day period prior to opening day, coupled with a negative COVID PCR test within 3 days of arrival. By self-quarantine, we mean to limit interactions with people outside your immediate family, avoid large gatherings, limit travel, and always wear a mask when in public places.

Each camper will arrive with a pre-screening health form that is completed and signed by their parent/guardian. This form will be in your Parent Portal.

Opening day will be scheduled to allow for a pre-camp screening. One parent or guardian, wearing a mask, will check in their camper(s) on opening day, but their access to most of camp and our counselor team will be limited. More information will be in your inbox as your session approaches.

A camper’s tent or cabin group will be referred to as a “household”. There will be either one or two living areas to a household. These households will be arranged by age and are designed to reduce the possibility of widespread infection and to reduce the use of masks and physical distancing when possible. Your camper will have the chance to experience everything Echo Hill has to offer. Households will share a table in the dining hall and share shower time. Activities will involve as much free choice as possible with campers and their counselors choosing some activities on a daily basis. Evening activities will be together but socially distanced so that our camp community can enjoy being together.

Our continued goal is to operate camp in a manner that reduces the times a camper would be required to wear a mask. Masks will be required anytime they are interacting within six feet of someone not in their household. Each child will bring a minimum of 14 masks.

If your child presents possible COVID-19 symptoms, you will be notified immediately and you will be expected to pick up your camper as soon as possible and within 6 hours. Please have arrangements in place for an emergency designated person to pick up your child if you believe there is a chance you would not be able to come within the 6-hour time limit. While we await your arrival, your camper will go to the comfortable Quarantine Cabin and be cared for by our Registered Nurse. When your child can return will be dependent on several factors and will be decided on a case-by-case basis. We will notify all parents of children who are in the Household of a child who was quarantined and went home.

Since we will be operating within a “camp bubble,” no visitors will be allowed on camp property. Almost all of our staff will remain on campus for each entire session. All programs and activities will be on site.

All campers will leave after every session. This includes multi-session campers. Please make arrangements to have your child picked up on the Friday departure day regardless of how many sessions they are enrolled in this summer. If your child is a multi-session camper you will agree to the same self-quarantine guidelines as you adhered to prior to arrival. Your child will not need to bring results of another PCR test, but will probably be given an antigen rapid test at camp. Multi-session campers may leave their belongings on camp. We understand this is an extra burden on multi-session parents, please know this is not our wish, but yet another pandemic sacrifice. We hope all will be well and normal in 2022.

Care Packages will no longer be allowed, but rest assured we have fun ideas to replace the loss of care package time. Please contact the office if you feel your child needs something necessary. For other ways to communicate with your camper head here: Communication at Camp

We will continue with daily symptoms and temperature checks for every member of our camp community. Additional sanitation and cleaning will be performed throughout camp, with a special focus on high touch surfaces.

Any testing or vaccination requirement and policies regarding campers and parents who may have already been vaccinated will be made closer to the start of camp when we can better assess availability, the best science, and timing concerns.

We are looking forward to safely reuniting our community and enjoying a much-needed summer of social and emotional growth and outdoor fun. We will publish our final COVID operating guidelines for summer 2021 in May when we will have the most current information as we head into summer.

Update Winter 2020

We don’t know for sure what the world will look like in Summer 2021, but we do know that Echo Hill Camp is going to safely open next summer. Our hope and goal is for Echo Hill Camp to return to normal next summer. But as we know, the definition of “normal” for all of us is very different from what we once knew “normal” to be.

Our program will have a few changes, including reduced capacity, masks, enhanced health screening, and possible testing requirements for campers and staff. We also expect that our “free choice” program could be a bit different than the norm. The concept of campers being in “pods” (with their pod camper group and counselors) and having limited interactions outside that group is fundamental to how we might operate. We expect this to form the core of our program in 2021 but with enhanced rapid testing and/or a vaccine in place by then, we hope to offer a wide range of program options and some carefully strategized relaxations of these restrictions.

Over the coming months we will continue to update and adjust our safety protocols on our website as our understanding of COVID and its prevention evolves. One thing is clear though. Kids need camp more than ever. We have missed our campers and can’t wait to see them again in Summer 2021.

Reduced Capacity

In order to ensure more room in tents for sleeping and relaxing, we will likely have reduced capacity in each age group. This will allow each camper ample space! Natural ventilation and movement of air in our tents is already excellent!

Meals

We are fortunate to have a large open air dining hall. Tables inside will be spaced accordingly to allow 6 feet of space between campers that are not in the same pod. We will likely have a couple “seatings” for each meal to allow for social distancing. Our head chef will become familiar with COVID related food handling policies and best practices.

Camper Health Screening

At this time, the likely plan is for campers to report to camp on day 1 of their session with a negative COVID-19 test in hand from the past 72 hours. We will also hope that campers will maintain a quarantine bubble with only their household after they receive their negative Covid-19 test in the few days prior to their arrival. Once at camp we will perform daily screenings and temperature checks to ensure the ongoing health of our camper population. We will have a plan in place to quarantine/isolate any camper or counselor exhibiting a high temperature or typical symptoms. We hope to have access to rapid testing by then as well. This plan will be formalized as the summer approaches and will include a specific timetable for testing as well as the type of test required before your child’s arrival.

Health & Cleaning

In addition to following the guidance and protocols set forth by our Health Departments, the CDC and the American Camp Association, our health care staff will be doing daily temperature checks as well as self-screening for Covid symptoms. In addition, we will have mandatory hand washing guidelines set for campers and staff, as well as hand sanitizer stations spread throughout camp. Regular cleaning and sanitizing of common touch spots (door handles, activity equipment, bathrooms, etc.) will take place daily. Between sessions everything will undergo a thorough cleaning and sanitizing process. We will have designated isolation space for any camper or staff who we might believe to have symptoms.

Our Staff

Our staff missed camp in 2020 as much as the campers did! They will be happy to do what they can to make camp happen and maintain a safe environment for everyone concerned. As always, our counselor team is a key part of the success of everything we do and that will continue to be the case in 2021.
We assure you that we are, and will be, using every resource possible so that we can safely and successfully operate for Summer 2021. We will follow all safety protocols, regulations, guidance and advice set forth by the MD State Dept. of Health, The American Camp Association, the CDC, our local Health Department and Governor Hogan.

Tents as "Pods"

Campers have always chosen their daily activities based on our free choice program, wherein, we offer every activity to them and they choose what interests them most. They were not necessarily with their tentmates on activities since every camper has different interests. Our vision for summer 2021 is that each “tent pod” will be able to choose their activities together and then stay in their pod, as a group with their counselor, when they go to their chosen activities. We will ensure that each tent pod will have every option to try every activity. Each tent pod will stay together for all camp activities and meals.

Summer Camp during​COVID-19