Summer 2021 Video FAQ February 12th, 2021

Transcript

Jared

Hi, everyone. Greetings from Camp Ramaquois. I’m Jared. I’m one of the directors here at camp, and joining me on this chat is Jackie, also one of our directors here at Camp Ramaquois. We are going to be creating videos like this every week to answer some of the many questions that our campers parents and staff have for this upcoming summer. We’ll be posting these videos on a weekly basis and having them available on our blog so you can view them at your leisure. One of the most common questions we get this time of year is what’s the summer going to be like, what’s it going to be like this summer, and obviously we don’t know exactly what it’s going to be like this summer. Things change so frequently. So what we’re doing is preparing for camp with the expectation that COVID will be similar to what it is today. We believe that warmer weather and the distribution of the vaccine are going to allow us to loosen up some of our restrictions, but it’s probably most prudent to prepare for the situation as it is right now. It’s always easier for us to loosen restrictions than it is to tighten them. Our goal in this video in future videos and really at any time is to be as transparent as possible with you. We hope that you understand that some of our plans will likely change over the next five months.

Jackie

As Jared mentioned, the goal in this video is to just answer a few questions each week so that we can keep the videos short and easy to watch. If you want more details, there are two things you can do. You can always call the office. The Ramaquois team loves to speak to parents and answer your questions, or you can go to the website Ramaquois.Com on the upper right corner, You’ll see a tab that says “about” when you click about there will be another option for COVID-19 update that will take you to a COVID-19 manual. This page will be updated throughout the spring as new information becomes available. We know that you have a lot of questions, so we’re going to get started. Okay, let’s get to it. We’re going to start with our first question. This question comes from Jill and Jill lives in Manhattan, and her question is about camp capacity. Jill is asking us if our capacity is going to be limited at all to comply with COVID-19 restrictions.

Jared

Great question. And one that we’ve gotten a lot from a lot of parents throughout the offseason, so we don’t yet know if our overall capacity is going to be limited. The likelihood is that it will be limited in some regard, but we don’t really know overall what that number is going to be. What we do know is that there is going to be a limit on the number of campers that could be placed in a group. So in previous summers, we followed ratios rather than group size limits. So we set our own group size limits here at Ramaquois, what we thought was appropriate for each age group and were able to comply with the legal ratios of campers to staff. In a COVID world, the groups are limited based on the number of campers. You can’t add an extra camper to accommodate a group request like we were able to do in the past. So one thing that’s a little bit different this year, where capacity could be an issue is with regard to a specific age or specific gender and being able to accommodate certain group requests. That’s the only thing that’s a little bit different right now regarding our camp capacity.

Jackie

Okay. That was a great question. Thank you for submitting. Another question that we have is coming from Neil, who lives in Bergen County, New Jersey. And Neil acknowledged that there probably will be some changes this summer, and he was just curious, what are some of the big changes? What’s going to feel different, if anything?

Jared

Also a great question, and also one that we’ve been getting a lot from a lot of people. So I really appreciate you sending that our way. So we feel like camp is going to look and feel like Ramaquois at the end of the day, it’s going to be the same fun, the same excitement, the same energy, the same enthusiasm that we’re all accustomed to on a normal camp day here at Ramaquois. But there are going to be some differences in order to be compliant with COVID regulations. So one in particular is that programs that had traditionally been indoors are all going to be moved outdoors. And so with the exception of maybe one program area, all of our activity programs are going to be outdoors or in covered open air areas. And we think that it is much healthier and much safer to be outdoors. As we’ve all learned throughout this pandemic, being outside is substantially safer than being inside. So that’s one thing. That’s a big difference. I think along the same lines of improved ventilation is the subject of lunch. It’s a question we also get a lot is what’s lunch is going to look like. So lunch is going to have the same great food, the same awesome Ramaquois lunch that we all love and that we can’t get enough of at times. But some things that are going to be different during lunch, we are going to have fewer tables, a little bit more space between the tables and where the groups are sitting. We’re going to have dividers between certain tables in order to increase health and safety. And I think one of the biggest differences is that because we have so many windows and doors in the dining room, we’re going to be able to open that up and have substantially increased ventilation during lunch periods, which is going to make it that much healthier and safer for everybody who’s there at that time. Let’s see what else. Jackie, do you want to talk a little bit about swim? Sure.

Jackie

Well, swim is something that is important in Ramaquois. Everyone knows that we’re very committed to our swim program. We’re lucky enough to have nine heated pools. And the beauty of having nine pools is that we can spread the children out enough to comply with COVID-19 protocols and still provide swim instruction every day for younger campers. Swim instruction is not going to look differently for the campers. They’re going to still be in a very small swim group with their swim instructor, and they will receive swim instruction like they always have at Ramaquois. General swim is going to look a little bit different. There’s still going to be general swim every day. But instead of putting an entire division in one pool, we’re just going to spread the kids out a little bit. They’re going to swim with their group in a safe way, playing with their friends in the pool. They just might not be swimming with their entire division at the same time in the same pool. It’s probably not going to be very noticeable to the campers. They’re going to be used to being in their cohort, and they’re going to stay in their cohort, and they’re going to have a great time in the pool. So that’s pretty much swim. It’s not going to feel that different.

Jared

I think one of the other big topic areas Besides swim and lunch that we get is about transportation. Our plan is to provide the same high quality, safe, efficient door to door transportation that Ramaquois has always provided. But some differences in transportation that we expect to see this summer are things like one camper per seat on a bus. The only instances where we would be able to put two campers on a seat together would be if they live in the same household or if they’re in the same group at camp. Otherwise, we’re going to be able to spread the kids out on the buses. Face coverings will likely be required on the buses as well in order to again help with social distancing and keeping people in their own seats. So I think that’s one of the things that’s important. And let’s see what else. Jackie, what about, like special events and lineups?

Jackie

Thanks, Jared. Yes. Special events are something that are still going to be part of the schedule. We are going to do events on a smaller scale and we’re just going to do some common sense modifications, and they’re going to be as special as they always were. As far as lineups, of course, we are still going to have line ups that’s very important to the Ramaquois community. The lineups are going to be a little bit different in that they just might be spread out a little bit more. The groups are going to sit a little further apart but each side of camp will start their day at a lineup with the same sense of community that we’ve always celebrated here.

Jared

I love line up. So I’m actually thrilled that we’re able to do that.

Jackie

Yes, it’s a great part of the day. It’s wonderful to start the day and end the day with the sense of community group, division, side whatever it is, and we will still be able to do that. Definitely.

Jared

Okay.

Jackie

Well, I think that sums up our first video answering some questions. This is something that we plan on doing every week. We’re not going to bother you by sending you emails and clogging your inbox, but we are going to ask you to check the Ramaquois blog. We will post the videos on social media, so please make sure to follow us on Facebook and on Instagram. Jared, I’m sure we’re going to get a lot more questions. How can they reach us?

Jared

I hope we get a lot more questions because we really like to hear from everybody. So if you do have a question, please feel free to call the office at anytime at 845-3541 600. Or you can submit questions for future video blogs anytime. You can send them to me via email. It’s Jared at Ramaquois.com That’s J-A-R-E-D. At Ramaquois.com.

Jared

Jackie, this seems like the end of a lineup.

Jackie

Yeah. And lineups are something that’s going to continue. So at the end of every line up, Jared:

Jared

Have fun, there’s a camp out there!