Hello! We want to answer your every last questions. Below are general questions, as well as health related questions. If you don’t find all of your answers here, please do not hesitate to reach out to us in the office.
Sandy (704)-936-7459
Randy (704)-960-3949
info@campjeannedarc.com
There are several travel options for campers. Some girls are dropped off by their parents by car, others take the camp bus (departing from one location in NYC and one in Westchester County), and others fly to area airports. For campers arriving by plane, we will arrange for a staff member to meet the camper at the airport. More information about travel can be found in our Parent’s Guide. Would you like to watch a short video about traveling to camp? Click here.
We have an awesome full-time kitchen staff that prepares three hot meals a day. The menus are full of kids’ favorites like pizza, tacos, hamburgers and chicken. Of course we know that kids like choices, so we always have yogurt, fruit and cereal (available at breakfast), as well as a salad bar in the afternoon and evening filled with many delicious and healthy options. We are capable of accommodating your daughter’s special dietary needs such as vegetarian, gluten-sensitive, lactose-sensitive and nut-sensitivites. Please contact us to further discuss your daughter’s special dietary needs. Would you like to watch a short video about food at Camp Jeanne d’Arc? Click here.
Keep in mind that camp is all about play! Your daughter will be very active at camp, clothes should be designed for this. We ask all our campers to wear closed-toe shoes around camp; flip-flops and sandals are allowed only at the waterfront. Clothes may get messy or wet, so nothing should be sent that cannot be replaced. We ask each camper to bring her camp uniform to be worn on certain occasions throughout the summer. For more information, please see our Packing List. Would you like to watch a short video about packing for camp? Click here.
We are a NO TECH ZONE at Camp Jeanne d’Arc! Part of the camp experience is “un-plugging,” and enjoying nature and connecting with others. For this reason, we do not allow campers to have any electronic device that may be used to play video games, watch shows or movies; nor do we allow them to have cell phones. What we do permit the girls to keep in their cabins are music only devices, like Mp3 players. No device with a screen is permitted. Remember that while Mp3s are allowed, we do not encourage campers to bring expensive and irreplaceable items with them to camp. If you have questions about a specific device, feel free to ask us!
At JDA we believe that campers do best when fully immersed in the camp experience. Generally we do not allow phone calls between campers and home. However, we strongly encourage you to keep in touch with your camper through physical and electronic mail. Feel free to send your camper a care package as well. No more than one care packages per week is permitted. All care packages will be opened with a member of the staff. All food will be dis-guarded to keep unwanted critters out of cabins. More information on Staying in Touch can be found here.
At camp, we have at least one full-time nurse (24/7), and occasionally a doctor on site. We also have a working relationship with a local pediatrician’s office. For more specific medical questions, see the Health FAQs below.
We love happy campers! We encourage you to communicate with our staff about cabin preferences on your registration form. Please understand that we cannot fulfill every request. Cabin placement is done carefully by our staff, keeping the best interests of every camper in mind. All input is appreciated and considered, but no request can be guaranteed. All cabins are grouped according to age/grade, and we are unwilling to make any exceptions to this particular rule. It makes for a much happier camp.
Absolutely not! We are a camp of inclusion, acceptance, and respect. On Sundays we provide an opportunity for campers to build their faith but we also provide a non-religious option. Campers are asked to choose one of the following 1-hour activities: 1) Non-religious Inspirational Service, 2) Catholic Mass or 3) Bible Stories. At the end of camp fire each night, we recite the Lord’s Prayer together. Singing grace before and after each meal is also part of our camp tradition.
Nobody wants to come home from camp with lice! In order to avoid the spreading of lice, we screen every camper within the first few hours of arrival. If you camper arrives to camp with lice, we will begin treatment immediately. The charge for treatment is a minimum of $250 for the cost of the treatment. We encourage all campers to use good lice management practices such as not sharing hair brushes and limiting head to head contact. If your child’s school has sent home a lice notice within the last 6 months, it is mandatory to have her checked by a lice professional within the week before coming to camp.
It is normal for campers to miss their home and family when they arrive, even for veteran campers! It is a healthy, common response. We have had considerable experience dealing with homesick campers and are ready to help. Know that homesickness often disappears as quickly as it arrives, and overcoming homesickness is an opportunity for personal growth. It is not uncommon to receive a letter (or several) during the first few days of camp reporting on feelings of homesickness. In this event, we need help from you:
If your daughter becomes sick at camp, she is brought to The Nest (the camp infirmary building). The nurse will tend to your daughter according to standing orders approved by our local overseeing doctor. Medication will be administered if needed. These are the medicines that are listed and approved on your health form. Your daughter will be watched over by the nurse until she is feeling better, and is approved to return to normal activities. Most illness at camp can be cured with a little rest. If the nurse feels it necessary to have your daughter seen by our local doctor, you will be informed, and a member of our senior staff will accompany her to the doctor. You will be notified of any developments in a timely manner. If a hospital visit is necessary, your child will be taken to the CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh, NY. We will always attempt to contact you and/or your emergency contact before seeking off-site medical care for your daughter. The only exception to this is in the case of extreme and sudden injury or illness, when our first call will to be 911.
It is normal for campers to miss their home and family when they arrive, even for veteran campers! It is a healthy, common response. We have had considerable experience dealing with homesick campers and are ready to help. Know that homesickness often disappears as quickly as it arrives and overcoming homesickness is an opportunity for personal growth. It is not uncommon to receive a letter (or several) during the first few days of camp reporting on feelings of homesickness. In this event, we need help from you:
Sometimes homesickness, (especially within the first few days of camp)…can cause you to have a stomach ache or headache. Usually by the time you’re reading the letter she mailed from camp, she has overcome her homesickness and having a blast at camp with her new friends!
The nurse or director will call you if your daughter comes to The Nest repeatedly with the same symptoms, and our medical professional has cause for concern. You will also be contacted if there is a question about her medicine, or if she is sick or injured in such a way that she requires a trip to the physician’s office.
During camp check-in all camper medications are taken to the Nest for storage. Medicine is kept locked at all times, and is administered by the camp nurse at the appropriate time. With few exceptions, no medicines are kept by campers and self-administered during the camp session. All medicine administration is documented, and this documentation is available if needed. NOTE: ALL MEDICATIONS, VITAMINS, SUPPLEMENTS MUST COME TO CAMP IN THE ORIGINAL CONTAINER OR IT WILL NOT BE ADMINISTERED TO THE CAMPER.
Before camp starts our nurse will have reviewed all health forms to know who will be receiving medications. Please feel free to call or email the director if you would like to speak to the camp nurse.
During camp training, counselors will be informed of all girls with special medical needs, including those who need to take regular meds while at camp.
Our nurse delivers morning, noon, and dinner medicines during meals in the Hearth, and keeps track of all medications. If your camper requires medication before bed, she will be escorted to The Nest just before “light’s out”. If she missed her visit to the nurse, the nurse will send a messenger to retrieve her. Your daughter’s medication will not be missed.
No, the only medicine a camper may keep is a rescue inhaler or a prescribed Epi-Pen. Everything else must be turned over to the nurse at check-in, without exception. Campers who may require a rescue inhaler or Epi-Pen are allowed to carry this medicine with them, but they must carry it themselves and must know how to use it correctly. It MUST be included on the health form, must be labeled with the camper’s name and the inhaler or Epi-Pen MUST NOT BE EXPIRED.
On the health form is a list of all the non-prescription medicine kept in The Nest. You do not need to send any of these medications, as we keep a sufficient quantity on hand. Your child’s doctor must have signed the health form in order for these medications to be administered. Sometimes situations arise when it is necessary for a prescription to be started during camp. If this occurs, you will be notified.
Our goal is to try to keep campers at camp, but sometimes it’s in the best interest of your child and other campers for her to go home. If your child is likely to be sick for an extended period of time, we ask that you come get her and take her home. This is VERY rare; however, if you will be out of town, your emergency contact (listed on your daughter’s health form) should be aware that this duty would then fall to him/her. Except in the case of severe and sudden injury, we will be in contact with you long before the need arises for your daughter to be taken home.
There are first aid kits located in all buildings around camp. When groups go for overnight trips, the leader carries a first aid kit. Our nurse is available 24 hours a day to respond to any situations that may arise. All groups leaving camp property are accompanied by at least one staff member with first-aid training. Finally, preventative safety measures are discussed with all campers the very first day they arrive.
By far the most common injury seen at camp is a foot or ankle injury; this is why the shoes you send to camp are extremely important, especially for hikers! Insect bites are also common despite our staff being vigilant about reminding girls to wear bug spray. Most cases are minor but some girls do react more severely to insect bites than others. Please encourage your daughter to wear bug spray, and practice applying it at home — girls must apply their own, as staff can only encourage and remind them to do so.
We make sure campers are drinking enough water, eating enough healthy food, and getting enough rest at camp but sometimes cold symptoms appear. Campers and staff are encouraged to wash their hands frequently, and apply hand sanitizer before entering the dining area. Sick campers are brought to the nurse and, if necessary, isolated in The Nest or sent home. We follow the NY State Health Dept. guidelines for the treatment of infectious diseases.
Please contact the Director at sandy@campjeannedarc.com or on her cell phone at 704-936-7459 and she will have the camp nurse contact you as soon as possible.
I thought my job as a counselor would be to build relationships through deep conversations and a listening ear. While this isn’t wrong, the building blocks to get here are much smaller moments. It’s waiting for the girl that took an extra minute rolling out of bed in the morning, sharing easy laughs over lunch in the Hearth or taking the time to say goodnight to each girl and shut off the lights at the end of an exhausting day. These moments capture the loving and family-like feeling that a summer at Camp Jeanne d’arc inevitably provides. While singing campfire songs, diving into the lake or playing games on the field make JDA so lively and exciting, it is the girls building relationships, sharing stories and discovering new things about themselves that make their experience -and mine- so indescribably unique.
We are happy to help and will respond within 24 hours.
154 Gadway Road
Merrill, NY 12955
T: 704-936-7459 (Sandy)
T: 704-960-3949 (Randy)
info@campjeannedarc.com
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