OVERVIEW
Who we are…
Princeton Friends Summer Camp (PFSC) is a memorable summer experience grounded in Quaker tradition and set within the bucolic campus and surrounding woods of Princeton Friends School. Here, campers are offered days filled with adventure, creativity, and fun framed by the Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship (lovingly referred to as “the SPICES”).
What we offer…
PFSC features weekly themes and plot lines, daily swimming, games of all sorts, hikes along the Institute trails, arts and crafts, music, drama, and time spent in our shady woods constructing stick-and-log “villages.” Our vision is for campers to engage with one another in ways that feel authentically connected to the “classic camp” experience from summers gone by. As such, we lean heavily on the power of imagination to transform our wooden villages into fleets of pirate ships, to put a stop to the Phantom Camper’s villainous deeds once and for all, and to create original songs and skits to perform for our fellow campers, all while leaving the distractions of technology and media at home.
And for those who seek something beyond or in addition to the classic camp experience, we offer three specialty camps: Art, Drama, and Kungaloosh Camp.
In our Art Camp, children in grades Kindergarten through 5th spend parts of their day engaged in arts and crafts projects centered around and inspired by the weekly theme. Take Pirates Week for example. During this week, Art Campers might be involved in creating elaborate treasure maps or decorating their own wooden chest in which to keep the treasures they find. During Music Week, you can expect handmade maracas and rain sticks to come home.
For those campers who love the limelight, we offer our Drama Camp program, which is reserved for thespians in grades 5th through 8th. Throughout the week, campers will work alongside their counselors to bring a short, original play into production, including a brainstorming session, set design, prop creation, and ample rehearsals. The program culminates with a performance for the entire camp community on the final day of the week, and families of drama campers are invited to attend as well!
If your child enjoys RPGs or other role-playing activities, then Kungaloosh Camp might be the camp for them. Revered as “the best camp at PFSC” by many of our campers, Kungaloosh Camp aims to cater to the whims of those kids for whom imaginative play and storytelling are the highlights of the camp experience. Campers work together with their counselors to develop and live into characters of their own creations and then to bring those characters into the weekly storylines, all while utilizing the dynamic setting of Village as a backdrop against which those characters come to life. They may even set off on adventures across campus, using their skills to play the heroes in daring quests of wit.
Princeton Friends Summer Camp is open to students from PreK (beginning at 4-years-old) through 8th grade.
What about swimming…?
For nearly two decades, Princeton Friends Summer Camp has proudly partnered with Broadmead Swim Club (located at 184 Broadmead Street in Princeton, NJ) to offer daily swimming opportunities to every child. Each day our campers are bused to and from Broadmead Swim Club and given the option to engage with their friends and counselors in the water for about an hour. In the event of inclement weather (such as excessive rain or nearby lightning) campers will remain on PFSC campus and forego swimming for the day. Please note that PFSC will travel to Broadmead Swim Club in light to moderate rain, so please pack accordingly.
Our hours…
Camp Hours:
8:00am-4:00pm
Monday-Friday (with the exception of July 4th, on which PFSC is closed).
Extra Camp Hours:
4:00pm-6:00pm
Monday-Friday (with the exception of July 4th, on which PFSC is closed).
Our leadership…
PFSC is led by Camp Director Courtney Zakolski and Assistant Camp Directors Firoozeh Wilson and Nick Lavery, who have been with the camp since 2011, 1999, and 2002 respectively. Also on staff is a full-time, licensed registered nurse. Assisting them is a staff of talented and enthusiastic counselors, most of whom have been with PFSC for several summers and who are trained in first aid and CPR.
For more information about swimming, Village, what to bring, and other topics, visit our FAQ page!
Contact us…
Phone: 609-683-1194 x50
Email: camp@princetonfriends.org
Tours are available upon request! Reach out to us via phone or email to schedule yours!
