By EMMA BARTLETT

Local community partners – including STEM Advantage After School, 21st Century Camp XL, Cranston YMCA, Ocean State Kids Club, Playground Camp and others – recently administered a survey of the city’s families to find out what they were looking for in a summer camp for their children. Caitlyn Blankenship, Statewide Stem Advantage Coordinator for Cranston Public Schools, presented the results at the May 23 City Council meeting.

“After being hit with Covid and trying to recover from that, we recognized that our families’ needs have changed through the years,” said Blankenship.

She shared that this year most parents are looking for in-person camp opportunities which was a strikingly different response from the previous year’s survey where most parents were looking for virtual or hybrid camp options. Blankenship said prior to Covid, there were roughly 1,000 Cranston kids who used the city’s summer programs.

This year’s survey collected 366 responses from Cranston families – which came to over 650 youth; Blankenship told council members that the camps reached almost 100 more families than they did the previous year and noted that participation doubled in Ward 3. In addition to concentrating on receiving responses from Ward 3, Blankenship said the survey received more support from the school district which could have assisted with the additional responses. 

“They see the value in collecting data and we were able to have them send out the survey to families this year; we tried to make sure when the survey went out didn’t overlap with other surveys the district had to do,” Blankenship said.

The survey – which was released to parents to fill out in February – asked families what camp programs their children had previously participated in and what they would like in a camp. Blankenship said the top requests were stem-related programs and sports. Additionally, families were looking for a full time summer program that had weekly flexibility with extended hours and a camp that is affordable – up to $120 per week.

“I also highlighted this year that a lot of families were requesting swimming which they had not requested last year,” Blankenship said, mentioning that 60 percent of families who mentioned swimming inquired about Budlong Pool.

Parents did have environmental concerns such as access to clean water, access to shade/heat relief, air quality with how hot it is in the summer. Additionally, the request for literacy programs was the highest among those in Kindergarten through second grade as well as ninth grade through twelfth grade; parents even noted wanting opportunities for credit recovery for high school youth.

“Last summer we did not see that in the summer survey at all,” Blankenship said, mentioning that last year high schoolers had the lowest ask for academics.

The survey also asked individuals about the importance of academics. When breaking down the data, results showed that the importance of academics decreased for students when they had younger siblings.

“That is because parents usually have the older siblings watch the younger siblings and thus academics – while still important – becomes less of a priority to them,” Blankenship said.

In the comments section, Blankenship said teen program options came up a lot and said they did not have many teen programs for ninth to twelfth; there were also many comments about programs and camps for students with special needs.

Blankenship mentioned that affordability has always been an issue and biggest concerns, and lots of families asked about scholarships and financial aid which many of the programs were able to provide last year – with some continuing to offer aid this year with various funding streams.

“There are also still a good percentage of our families who are concerned with Covid and are waiting to see what that looks like in the summer before signing up for a program,” Blankenship said.

To address parents’ needs, Blankenship said several school-based programs that normally end at 3 p.m. will finish at 4 p.m. Additionally, parents listed transportation as a concern, so Stem Advantage – which is located at Park View – will provide transportation to and from Park View and the YMCA which will be used as a bus stop.

Blankenship said there will be a lot more field trips and opportunities for kids’ social/emotional health this summer.

Most of the camps are first come and first serve, with students being added to the waitlist. Blankenship said the city’s STEM Advantage program has a lot of space left for those in grades one through five as well as room for high schoolers; 21st Century Camp XL is full and Parks and Recreation camp has spots at several locations that are still available. While all camps are different, Blankenship said some will start the week after school and others will run up until when kids go back.