The Hillsiders Camp provides a warm, nurturing, and inclusive environment specifically designed for younger children to make new discoveries and try new things. Campers will explore our weekly theme together, mixing rich, engaging STEAM activities with lots of fun, active games, messy art creations, and quiet relaxing storytime activities to ensure maximum learning and maximum fun! Our small groups allow for each child to receive plenty of individual attention from staff, ensuring that each Hillsider is loved, acknowledged, and celebrated.

Each week of Hillsiders Camp will have a special theme that will help guide the learning and fun that takes place. And every day will include plenty of time for recess and water play on our beautiful 11-acre campus and with our popular summer inflatable rentals!

Older students will have longer blocks of time for advanced activity choices depending on their interests. Weekly options are developed by our experienced SHS teachers, including Woodshop, Ceramics, Cooking, Sewing, Theater Arts, Lego Robotics, Coding, Makerspace, Sports Program, and more! Honoring student voice and choice is central to this exciting expansion of our traditional summer offerings. Students may make varied choices throughout the day or dive deep into one topic depending on the nature of available activities each week.

Arts & STEM offerings may use the weekly themes as a springboard for collaborative project development with students, but our Sports Program options will focus purely on building skills and gameplay experiences. Also, every day will include plenty of time for recess and water play on our beautiful 11-acre campus and with our popular summer inflatable rentals!

Along with facilitating the summer fun, LIT peer group sessions will include team-building, problem-solving, group management, public speaking, and thoughtful reflection activities that will prepare LITs for future work with peers, adults, and students of all kinds. High school application writing support will also be available for interested students.

We are thrilled to have SHS Teacher, TTC graduate, and previous summer program counselor, Maggie Rosenbaum, directing this pilot program. Maggie has a deep commitment to mentoring young students to reach their full potential as leaders. She also oversaw the test run of the 2022 Summer Program, which inspired the offering of this program. 

Cohorts will be intentionally kept small to maximize one-on-one advising support and leadership opportunities with younger students. In order for the program to run, we will need a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 students per week. 

LITs will be accepted to the program by application. To apply, students must complete an interest form speaking to the qualities that make them a good fit for the program, their desire to participate in the Shady Hill summer experience, and include one SHS teacher as a reference. The interest form can be found in the registration portal. Completed forms are due by May 1st. Early applicants may be confirmed early! 

Tuition is $350/week (pro-rated on holiday weeks). Reduced rates are available for students who attend at least two weeks of LIT training. Financial aid is available. Tuition fees are not due until after placement is confirmed and before May 7. The tuition costs allow us to have a designated mentor teacher to support our LITs, ensure a quality program, and show appreciation for their hard work. 

Visit the registration portal to apply!

“I learned so much by observing the Shady Hill and camp faculty working with kids. I also learned about how challenging running a summer camp is! (I have a lot more respect for my teachers now that I got to help with lesson planning and all of the responsibilities that come with teaching!)... ​​I feel like it was so valuable to me.” - Summer '22 Student Volunteer