Hello!
Thank you for registering for Garden Camp at San Francisco Botanical Garden. We’re incredibly excited for everything this week has to offer your camper! In this email you will find everything about camp that you need to know before dropping off your camper with us. Additional information about your camper’s weekly activities will be shared with you on the first day of the camp week.
What To Wear:
Your camper will be spending almost all of their day outside in the Garden. In anticipation of this we ask that your camper wear the following:
Shoes with a closed-toe and closed-heel
Jacket (rain gear is encouraged if the forecast shows 20% or more chance of rain during camp hours)
Comfortable clothes that can get dirty
Sun hat or cap
Sunscreen
What To Pack:
Extra set of clothes (just in case!)
Lunch
Please pack a no- or low-waste lunch. One of the values of Camp is limiting our contribution to landfill. Lunches will not be refrigerated between arrival and the lunch hour, so please pack accordingly! We will be welcoming campers with allergies to nuts and therefore will be a nut-free camp. Please respect the safety of other campers by honoring this request.
Reusable water bottle. Staying hydrated at an all-outdoor camp is very important. There are various water bottle refill stations throughout the Garden and we will ensure your campers’ bottle stays full!
Rain jacket if rain is in the forecast during the camp hours.
Garden Camp Location:
Please note that the Garden has two entrances, the Main Gate and the Friend Gate. All Camp pick-up and drop-off at will be at the Garden’s Main Gate on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (see Garden’s Location information here). With the exception of Wednesday “Adventure Days” Garden Campers will be within the San Francisco Botanical Garden.
On Adventure Days pick-up and drop-of locations will be the same, however, campers will visit walkable destinations within Golden Gate Park between 9:30am and 3pm. More information about your camper’s weekly activities, including Adventure Day destinations, will be shared in a weekly parent letter that will be emailed to you on the first day of the camp week. Please note that for our week, Adventure Day will occur on Friday, June 7.
Check-in/out Procedure and Locations:
Your camper’s safety is our highest priority. For this reason we will only release your camper to those named individuals you indicated during registration as designated pick-up people OR if you communicate in advance a different designated individual. If an undesignated adult arrives and attempts to pick up your child we will contact you to authorize them for pick-up.
For Early Care (8:00-9:00am):
If you’re using our Early Care services, you may bring your camper to the Garden as early as 8:00am. Please park nearest the Garden’s Main Gate. You must walk your camper inside the first gate of the Garden and bring them to the Helen Crocker Russell Library courtyard and check them in with Camp staff. The Library courtyard can be found through the first gate, on the left, just before the second gate. You will find our Garden Camp staff waiting to greet you. Please be prepared to share the name of the adult picking up your camper at the end of the day.
For rolling/curbside drop-off (9:00-9:15am only):
Please pull into the cut-out on MLK Jr. Drive at the Garden’s Main Gate. You will see our Garden Camp staff, curbside, with orange bandanas and orange binders waiting for you. Please be prepared to share the name of the adult picking up your camper at the end of the day.
For walk-in drop-off (9:00-9:15am only):
Please find the Garden Camp staff on MLK Jr. Drive near the Main Gate. You will see the staff with orange bandanas and orange binders. Please check in with a staff member -- they will have you sign in your camper before walking your camper over to their group. Please be prepared to share the name of the adult picking up your camper at the end of the day.
For late drop-off (after 9:15am):
Please visit the Education Office, located in the County Fair Building at 1199 9th Avenue. There, Garden staff will help connect your camper to their group in the Garden. Please be prepared to share the name of the adult picking up your camper at the end of the day.
For curbside pick-up (4:00-4:20pm):
Please pull into the cut-out on MLK Jr. Drive at the Garden’s Main Gate and look for the Camp staff with orange bandanas and binders. They will check that you are the day’s designated pick-up person and contact the group and have your camper escorted to the curb. Please move on from the pick-up area after your camper is safely secured in their seats.
For walk-in pick-up (4:00-4:20pm):
Please find the Garden Camp staff on MLK Jr. Drive near the Main Gate. They will check that you are the day’s designated pick-up person and contact the group and have your camper escorted out to meet you.
For After Care (4:20-5:30pm):
Please park nearest the Garden’s Main Gate. After-care campers will be at the Helen Crocker Russell Library courtyard just inside the Garden’s Main Gate. You will find our Garden Camp staff waiting to greet you. After Care ends at 5:30pm. There is an added fee of $5 for every minute they are in our care after 5:30pm. We thank you in advance for respecting our hard-working staffs’ time.
For early pick-up (anytime before 3:30pm):
Please visit the Education Office, located in the County Fair Building at 1199 9th Avenue. There, Garden staff will help contact your camper’s group and escort them to the County Fair Building.
Open-house Hours Fridays:
Families are welcome to visit Camp on Fridays starting at 3:30pm to view group projects and presentations by Garden Campers. Arrive at the Garden’s Main Gate where you will meet Camp staff and get connected to your camper and their group.
Garden Camp and the Senses:
Garden Camp curriculum is designed to connect campers to plants in as many ways as possible. With campers’ safety in mind at all times, we will be exploring the Garden through sense of smell, touch, and taste/ingestion.
Examples of these activities:
Smell: exploring the Garden of Fragrance with instructor-facilitated smelling of the plants in this incredible garden.
Touch: while learning about plant adaptations, campers might touch a curated selection of plant leaves, from fuzzy to waxy, to understand various adaptations from avoiding predation to retaining water.
Taste/ingestion: as part of wellness curriculum, campers might make a soothing mint sun-tea that they will drink with snack or taste carrots, lettuces, or fruit grown in our Children’s Garden.
If you have any concerns about your camper participating in activities like those described above, please contact us to discuss further.
Lastly, if you need to check on your registration details, please visit https://www.activityhero.com/registrations/my
We look forward to having a wonderful week with your camper!
Jenn Tapler
she/her
Garden Camp Director
San Francisco Botanical Garden Society
1199 9th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94116
Camp Landline: 415-661-1316 x404
Camp Director Cell: 415-653-6160
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