Round Lake Camp

My son attended RLC for two seasons prior to this past summer, 2018. This year's camping experience was doomed from the beginning. It wasn't until after my son was sent home that we discovered that he was bunking with three autistic boys. As an ADHD kid, there are triggers that set our son off. Each of the three boys demonstrated behaviors that were his triggers. The camp was certainly made aware of his triggers. In fact, from previous summers, the camp experienced his triggers and knew him very well. The first boy tattled. The second boy parroted speech. The third boy made verbal noises constantly-early in the morning and late at night. Truthfully, I'm surprised that my son didn't pop one of these kids sooner! My gripe is that we were not told that our son was bunking with autistic kids. Even when I was at the camp on visiting day and told to take him home, I wasn't told about the bunking environment. I find the practice of selective truth in conversation to be insulting. Setting a camper up for failure is totally unprofessional. What should have been a great experience turned out to be a nightmare. Aryn should be ashamed of herself for speaking half truths an omitting pertinent information. She told me that it was my son's issues and that the camp had him with a one to one shadow. What bullsh-t! What would have been the big deal for her to be honest about in the bunk? We noticed the dullness in the expressions on the kid's faces when the group photos were published. I called her to ask about it. I got a bullsh-t answer. Instead of telling me about the autistic kids the jive I got was that the kids were placed by age. The icing on the cake of this awful experience is that I really broke my a-s to get to visiting day, having the week before gone through a hip replacement. When I was asked to take my son home, I was also asked to take him off the grounds until after visiting day, so that the other visiting parents wouldn't see us packing and leaving. My response was "no way". Had I wanted my son to spend the summer with children with children more severe issues I would have sent him to a camp that advertised this. Somewhere along the line over the past season the guidelines for admission to RLC must have changed. It really pi--es me off that we were not informed. Shameful!!!

Besides being beautiful it is a camp that builds character.

I'm rather surprised at the negative reviews but nothing in life is one size fits all. That said, both of my daughters have attended RLC for multiple summers (and will again this summer) because it has been such an amazing experience for them. One, I would add, is not "developmentally disabled" as one reviewer stated, and she has had two incredible summers there. I don't agree that the camp is run down or a "dump." On the contrary I think the grounds are beautiful, there are a lot of different things for the kids to do, the bunks were great, and the adult:child ratio has been perfect each year. The staff have all been amazing, especially the Director, Aryn. They have been responsible for a lot of growth in my kids and I have always had an easy time talking with them about any concerns I might have. If it means anything, my one daughter, who didn't go the first year her sister did, cried and cried because she didn't want to go. A week into it, she was writing to say she'd found her "home away from home." Now, she FaceTimes her camp family all year long and they are among her best friends. She counts the days until summer arrives. I would caution anyone considering RLC not to dismiss the negative reviews because, as I said, one size doesn't fit all, but talk to Aryn, take a tour, and talk with other parents like me. I love RLC and am beyond grateful that my kids have had a home away from home to go to over the summer, a place where I am 100% confident that my kids are safe, happy, and learning.

My daughter attended RLC last year for 2 weeks and loved it so much she is back this Summer for a month (Fist Session). RLC was a game changer for her as she had all the extra support she needed while being able to have the time of her life. She tried most of the sports - lake, pool, ropes course, horseback riding...the list goes on and on. As a parent I appreciated being kept in the loop with weekly/bi-weekly calls from the director to let me know how she was doing. Nightly posting of pictures on the NJY website lets me see what is going on at camp and to catch a glimpse of what she was up to that day. While she is a part of RLC - there are ample opportunities to interact/hang out with friends in Nah Jee Wah. RLC has a Facebook page that allows for all of us parents to interact with each other and the RLC administration. Both my 9 yr old and I can't give this camp enough stars.

I love this camp! Omg! I Have gone to this camp for 4 summers and I love it! Never shut it down! Ever!