School’s Out Early, Summer Camps Approaching

By Chelsea Rose Moore

With schools now closed until the fall, there is no better time to look ahead toward summer camps. The Middleburg area offers many wonderful camps, covering a broad range of topics and interests. We’ve highlighted a few of our favorites to give your kids a memorable week they’ll never forget.

Camp Highroad | Middleburg, Va.

A classic adventure camp, Camp Highroad blends faith with fun. Northern Virginia Magazine listed Camp Highroad as one of 2020’s best summer camps. The camp offers exhilarating experiences, like a high ropes course, zipline, giant swing and rock wall. Campers will go canoeing and hiking, take nature classes, practice archery, and learn to build a fire. Although there’s a dining hall, campers will also learn to cook food over an open fire.

Camp Highroad provides several experiences from June through August, perfect for a broad range of ages. Rising third and fourth graders are eligible to attend the “adventurers” and “trekkers” camps, with other programs offered through 12th grade.

(Photos by Camp Highroad)

For high school students looking for an adrenaline buzz, Camp Highroad offers a High Adventure Camp, with trips to go caving, sailing at Annapolis Sailing School and rock climbing. It even adds a twist on other activities with the addition of night swimming and night ziplining.

If your student loves horses, the Jr. and Sr. Wranglers camp is perfect for rising seventh through 12th graders. Campers will take riding lessons and learn how to care for horses. For students who love to sing, Camp Highroad offers a Choral camp, with a concert at the end of the week.

During the week, campers will participate in group Bible studies and worship. To learn more, visit camphighroad.org.

Camp Woods & Wildlife | Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest

For over 70 years, Camp Woods & Wildlife has been teaching young Virginians about forest resources and outdoor skills. Hosted by the Virginia Department of Forestry, the week-long camp (June 22-27) is held at the Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center in the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest. If you have a student interested in forestry or a wildlife-related career, this is your camp.

During the mornings, campers attend classes on tree identification, mapping, forest ecology, wildlife management and a host of other topics. Afternoons are devoted to exploratory courses, like canoeing, archery, wilderness survival and skeet marksmanship. Campers participate in recreational activities such as volleyball and swimming in the evenings, followed by more in-depth learning about the presented topics.

Campers partake in a Lumberjack Field Day, which is devoted to group competitions in log rolling, crosscut sawing and other outdoor skills. “It’s a camp that exposes teenagers to careers in forestry and wildlife and other natural resources,” said Ellen Powell, the conservation education coordinator for the Virginia Department of Forestry. “It takes them through some of the actual skills that professionals in those fields would need.” She noted that many people working in natural resource agencies attended the camp as teenagers.

Unlike other camps on this list, campers must be nominated to attend. Nominations must be submitted by a teacher, 4-H or scout leader, forestry and wildlife professional or church leader by April 10. Campers must be between the ages of 13 and 16, Virginia residents, and interested in natural resources. To learn more and access the nomination form, visit dof.virginia.gov/forestry/camp.

Ignite Kids Club | Middleburg Community Center

The Ignite Kids Club “Summer of Discovery” camp is coming to Middleburg for the first time. Held at the Middleburg Community Center, the day camp offers week-long experiences packed with fun activities for rising kindergarteners through eighth-grade students.

Kids will go on field trips, spend time at the pool, and participate in team-building activities. Field trips include visits to Purcellville’s Bush Tabernacle skating rink, a reptile show, and the Leesburg Animal Park.

The camp offers free play, music and movement sessions, and arts and crafts. The week is packed with sports, where coaches work with kids and focus on drills. A favorite activity for campers is the Lego competitions, where kids work together to build things.

“I love getting to know the kids,” said camp manager Sarah Glass of Ignite Kids Club, a Chantilly-based organization. “Just being able to have fun with them is my favorite part of being there. We are like one big family here. It’s crazy because a lot of the kids will meet somebody for the first time and at the end of camp will be best friends and carry that relationship through school. The friendships they build and the memories they build, they will have that forever.”

Select from one of four weeks offered from the end of June to early August. Learn more by visiting ignitekidsclub.com. Call 703-956-6060 or email info@ignitekidsclub.com with questions.

Hill School Summer Camp | The Hill School

Let your child’s creativity flow when they spend the summer at one of the Hill School’s summer camps. Kindergarten through eighth-grade students are eligible to attend one of the many camps offered at the Hill School campus in Middleburg. Camps run from June 15 to August 7, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with morning and after care available. Each camp is designed to build confidence, imagination and a sense of adventure.

Do you have a Lego lover? Lego camp allows young students to design cities and build castles and spaceships. For junior chefs, consider the “Make N Bake” camp, where students make bread and butter, fudge and other delicious treats. Arts and crafts lovers will find camps dedicated to getting messy with paint and other artistic mediums.

Outdoor adventurers will love the nature, adventure and explorers’ camps, where they can learn to mountain bike, kayak, rock climb and hike. Older students will enjoy volleyball camp and the high school musical theater camp.

For more details and a complete list of all camps, visit thehillschool.org/summer-programs or email summerathill@thehillschool.org.

Casanova-Warrenton Pony Club Summer Camp | Glenwood Park, Middleburg

Horse lovers can rejoice. The Casanova-Warrenton Pony Club Overnight Summer Camp is happening at Middleburg’s Glenwood Park from June 29-July 2.

According to the website, students will “learn and practice mounted games and polocrosse, ride with a dressage drill team, build show jumping, or cross-country skills in the afternoon. Jousting practice, Horn Annual Jousting Tournament and tetrathlon shooting practice will take place again [in] evenings. We will cool off at the Middleburg Community [Center] pool and enjoy meals together, donated and prepared by our volunteer parents.” Weekday evenings will close with a movie under the stars.