Click The Question To Find The Answer...
Was your question not answered? Click here to e-mail a Camp Director with your question and we will get right back to you.
Appel Farm offers 2, 4, 6, or 8 week sessions. Many campers choose to attend either our first or second 4-week session, but many campers stay for all 8 weeks. At the start of each session, we also offer a two-week mini session that runs concurrently with the four-week program.
2011 Dates
Mini Session I (2 weeks) Sun., June 26 - Sun., July 10
First Session (4 weeks) Sun., June 26 - Fri., July 22
Mini Session II (2 weeks) Sun., July 24 - Sun., August 7
Second Session (4 weeks) Sun., July 24 - Fri., August 19
6 Week Session (6 weeks) Sun., June 26 - Sun., August 7
Full Session (8 weeks) Sun., June 26 - Fri., August 19
If there is space available, campers may extend their session.
Appel Farm is located on 176 acres--nestled among fields, pastures, and woodlands, in southern New Jersey, yet we’re only about 30 minutes from Philadelphia and 2 and a half hours from New York City and Washington D.C.
We would love to have your family visit Appel Farm for a camp tour and to answer all of your questions. Camp Tours for 2010-2011 are scheduled on Sunday afternoons at 1:00 PM on the following dates:
TBA
Please call us at (800) 394-8478 to let us know that you are coming. If you are calling after 5:00 PM on Friday afternoon, feel free to leave a message and join us on Sunday!
We are also available for home visits if you are unable to come to a Camp Tour.
Registration for Appel Farm is easy! You can register by phone, by mail or on-line. Feel free to call our Camp Directors, Cori and Jennie, at (856) 358-2472 or (800) 394-8478 during business hours (Mon.-Fri. 9 AM-5 PM), mail in a Camp Application or register online through the link below. An $800 deposit is required to reserve your child’s space at camp.
Our daily activity schedule runs Monday through Saturday, with the exception of the occasional field trip or special event. Sundays are special – a time for campers to relax, write letters, read, hang out with old friends and make new ones, swim, play games or try something completely new and different at optional workshops that are held throughout the day. This weekly break encourages campers to become involved in a new activity, or to just sit back and enjoy the ever-changing scene! Check out our schedule on our website via the link below:
Campers design a dynamic program centered on two Majors and two Minors that they will study six days a week for the entire session.
Majors, offered each summer in our core program areas and listed below, meet in the morning for 75 minutes each and end in a performance or exhibition. Campers can choose both majors in the same department only if they are different classes. For example, choosing Ballet Major I and Modern & Jazz Major II works becuase they are different dance classes, but a double major in Video does not work because the same class is offered in both majors. Campers choose their majors soon after they register for camp, using the Major Selections Form.
Choose two majors! Acting Class, Theater Production, Theatrical Design & Set Construction, Stage Craft & Stage Hands, Costume Design, Chorus, Piano, String Ensemble, Wind & Woodwind Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Elmer Pops, Rock Band, Recording Arts, Rock Vocal Ensemble, Rockestra, Percussion Ensemble, Ballet, Modern, Jazz & Hip-Hop Dance, Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Ceramics, Fiber Arts & Crafts, Multimedia Art & Printmaking, Journalism, Instructional Swim, Soccer, GREEN Corps, Photography, Video, Creative Writing, Tennis, or Group Games.
Minors, which meet in the afternoon for 75 minutes each, are offered in some of our core program areas as well as new and exciting classes developed specifically for each summer. A list of minors will be e-mailed the day before Check-In Day so you can discuss your camper’s choices as a family before you arrive at camp. Campers will meet with our Leadership Team on Check-In Day to make their minor choices.
Examples of past minors: Beginning Guitar Class, Rock Band, Elmer Pops, Chorus, Piano, Experimental Music, Improvisation and Comedic Acting, Musical Theater, Stage Combat, Set Design & Construction, Stage Management, Choreography, Dance for Musical Theater, Tap, Folk Dance, Murals, Color Theory, Landscape Painting, Story Art, Printmaking, GREEN Corps, Mosaics, Experimental Photography, Rocktography, Music Videos, Acting for the Camera, Memoir Writing, Playwriting, Journalism, Instructional Swim, Tennis, and Group Games.
Campers choose their majors soon after they register for camp, using the Major Selections Form. A list of minors will be e-mailed the day before Check-In Day so you can discuss your camper’s minor choices as a family before you arrive at camp. Campers will meet with our Leadership Team on Check-In Day to make their minor choices, and confirm their majors as well.
Program areas do not fill up so campers should not worry about being able to choose their favorite activities.
We are very proud of our dynamic diverse staff! Our staff members are mature professional artists and arts educators from around the world. We offer a 1:3 staff to camper ratio, so campers are always sure to receive lots of meaningful one-on-one instruction. Our extensive staff screening process includes personal interviews, reference checks, and a background check to ensure the safety of your camper. For more information about our staff, please visit the webpage via the link below.
Camp tuition is all-inclusive! The only extra money campers will need is a little spending money for personal use on our beach day field trips or for the canteen, which is kept in a secure account and unused funds are returned at the end of the summer. Our canteen does not sell any food or drinks, just merchandise, stamps and essentials like toothpaste and batteries.
Appel Farm does offer a Scholarship and Tuition Assistance Program. Awards of partial to full tuition are awarded for our four-week sessions for qualifying applicants. For more information and an application, please visit the Scholarship and Tuition Assistance page of our website via the link below.
There are several forms we need parents to fill out before campers arrive including a Success Form, Transportation Form, Major Selections Form, Camp Contract, Camper Card, and Camper Health History and Health Recommendations Form. Once a camper is registered, parents will be sent the forms they need as well as our Camp Handbook that has loads of detailed information about the summer. All of these forms can be found online as well via the link below.
Most of our campers’ families bring them to camp, but we do have arrangements in place for campers travelling alone. Appel Farm offers a chartered chaperoned bus to transport campers and their luggage between Manhattan, West Orange, NJ and camp for our four or eight week sessions. We will also pick-up campers at Philadelphia International Airport, Amtrak 30th Street Station, or the Philadelphia Greyhound Station for all our sessions.
Homesickness is common amongst campers and the Appel Farm community works hard throughout each session to help campers adjust to being away from home and learn coping skills. Appel Farm staff members are trained experts for campers struggling with the homesickness battle and will be sure to nurture and empower campers with proven strategies to be successful away from home. We also provide a free information package called our Appel Farm Family Care Package to any camper families who are nervous about being away from home or going to camp for the first time. The package contains a DVD with the secret to a successful summer, coping tips and insider information about daily life at Appel Farm to prepare campers and their families. We find that most campers adjust to Appel Farm quickly as they make new friends and reunite with old ones.
Family Visiting Days for our 4 and 8-week campers are held on the Sundays marking the midpoint of each four-week session. These days are special opportunities for our campers to show their families around camp, participate in family workshops in the arts, and catch up on the news at home. Families are invited to join us for a BBQ lunch, or may opt to take their child off the camp grounds for the day. Families are also invited to campers performances at the end of each session.
Receiving mail is a fun and traditional highlight of being at camp. Parents are encouraged to send letters and e-mails to their campers throughout their child’s session. Each day parent’s e-mails are printed out and distributed to campers with their regular mail during rest hour. Counselors encourage campers to write letters home often and we host “Letter Writing” parties occasionally to ensure all campers are motivated to keep in touch. Parents also might receive a video “letter” from their camper via e-mail. Of course, parents can keep track of their child throughout the summer at Appel Farm by checking in often at our website where we continually update hundreds of pictures of campers in action. Parents are also always welcome to contact a Camp Director with any concerns they are having or to check in on how their child is doing.
We understand the importance of being able to contact your child in the event of an emergency. The Camp Directors live on site and are available to help your family at all times. During business hours, (Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm) you can reach the directors by phone at (856) 358-2472 or (800) 394-8478, or you can e-mail them at camp@appelfarm.org. If it is after business hours, and you have an emergency that cannot wait until morning, please call the Infirmary at (856) 358-2476. Our nurses are available 24 hours a day and can best relay an urgent message to the Camp Directors after hours.
Appel Farm campers always enjoy our beautiful 25-meter swimming pool. Campers may choose to take swim as a minor to learn aquatic and safety skills based on the American Red Cross Learn-to-Swim program or they can swim every day for fun during free-choice in the late afternoon. The pool is also open several days each week in the mornings for early-bird lap swimming and on Sundays for free swim.
At the end of each session, campers do perform or display exhibitions of their work completed in their majors. We have a Mini-Session Showcase the last night of camp for our two-week sessions, and there is an entire week of evening performances for our four-week sessions. Parents are invited to attend the performances of their children. Schedules for the four-week session’s Performance Week are available on Visiting Day. All performances are recorded and available for parents who are unable to attend.
We launder all campers’ clothing and linens at camp once a week, so put your name on everything! Mark all clothing and personal belongings. You can use iron-on transfers, indelible ink or securely sewn labels. Campers are asked to place their dirty clothes into the bunk’s laundry bag, which is brought to our on-site laundry facilities. Laundry is washed, dried, folded and returned to the campers to place back in their cubbies.
We ask that campers bring two sets of sheets for their bed, so they can switch out their sheets on laundry day. Campers also need a sleeping bag for our overnight camping program. All campers are able to go camping one night during their session with the bunk. It is a great bonding experience over a campfire and a great excuse to eat s’mores! Linen packages are available at no cost for campers who are flying to camp.
A goal of our program at Appel Farm is to make campers and staff more aware of the food we eat, the value of nutrition, and of larger concerns for the environment.
Each session, the garden is full of discovery, as campers learn about nature and organic gardening, growing seasons, and all kinds of familiar and unfamiliar fruits and vegetables.
With each changing daily harvest, our chef incorporates fresh corn, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, green beans, snap peas, cucumbers, melons, and herbs into meals and salad bar offerings.
Meals are a wonderful time where campers and staff enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as afternoon and evening snacks as a community.
Meals are served buffet-style, and campers sit with their friends. The always-nutritious menu offers balance and variety that includes vegetarian options at each meal.
Campers start the day with a meal that could include pancakes or breakfast sandwiches, oatmeal, fruit and granola, cold cereal or yogurt.
At lunch and dinner, campers make selections of a main entrée, a vegan or vegetarian entrée, side dishes, soup, the salad bar and dessert.
Fresh fruit, beverages, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are always available! Please inform us if your camper has any food allergies, or special food requirements.
Medication is not a problem at Appel Farm. All medicine and medical care is dispensed from the infirmary, which is staffed by two resident Camp Nurses, and a Physician who visits camp each day. Campers simple visit the infirmary after meals or before bedtime to take their medications.
All of our bunks house 8-12 campers with at least 2 adult counselors. Bunks are organized typically by grade levels and campers are able to request bunkmates who are in their same age group.
During the summer, our campers participate in program specific educational trips, outreach programs into the community, and even recreational trips to the beach. For more information on our trips and outreach programs, visit our webpage via the link below.
The entire camp community gathers every evening to enjoy an entertaining and educational activity to build community amongst our camp family.
Some evenings we can be found participating in special events such as our carnival, photo scavenger hunt, dance through the decades, or even the World Fair during International Week; however, most nights the stage is lit up by our campers, staff and even guest artists performing.
We do offer a Counselor-In-Training program that allows 4 or 8-week campers ages 16 and 17, or campers going into 11th grade, to develop leadership experience, give back to the community, and learn basic counseling and teaching skills. CITs are still campers. Like other campers, CITs will live in a bunk, participate in majors, minors and camp events, but will also assume additional responsibilities, and earn a few special privileges and benefits. CIT’s also receive a tuition discount and cash rebate at the end of the summer. For more information and an application to this program, please visit our webpage via the link below.
Counselors-In-Training Programl
Was your question not answered? Click here to e-mail a Camp Director with your question and we will get right back to you.
