Elective activities will be chosen by the camper after check-in. There will always be options for both indoor and outdoor activities. Campers will have 2 electives between breakfast and lunch each day. After choosing their electives for the week, our administrative team will create individualized schedules for each camper and counselors will help them find the proper groups. The afternoon and evening activities are “all camp.”
Parents are welcome to visit and tour on opening and closing days of each session. The Biophilia Center (main campus) is open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays during June and July. However, Camp Longleaf is closed to the public and to family members except for drop-off and pick-up. We understand that you may want to check up on your child, but visitors can distract from camp activities and may lead to homesickness. If you need to drop-off a forgotten item or a care package, etc, please leave it with the office and we will make sure that your child gets it.
Drop off will be at the E.O Wilson Biophilia Center (main campus) followed by a tour and hike to Camp Longleaf. Pick-up will be at Camp Longleaf dining hall. If the person picking up your child changes, please call the office to let us know ahead of time. See Getting to Camp
No. Please do not pack or allow your child to bring their cell phone. Please understand that this policy is in place to help your child have a positive camp experience. See our posted cell phone policy for full details.
Parents and family members of current campers can send up to ten emails per camper/ per week. Follow this link to the online form. Emails are printed at 10:30 am and delivered to campers during mail time, after lunch. This convenient way to communicate with campers is offered to parents at no extra cost.
We also encourage our parents to send letters or care packages during the camp session. You may write letters ahead of time and leave them with camp staff at check in to be distributed throughout the week, or you can send them via standard mail. If leaving them at check-in, please put in an envelope labeled with the child’s name! If sending through the mail, please send them early in the week since our camp sessions are short. We ask that you DO NOT send food, candy or money in care packages.
If you want your child to send letters home, make sure they pack pre-addressed and stamped envelopes with stationary. All out-going mail will be collected at breakfast.
If you want your child to send letters home, make sure they pack pre-addressed and stamped envelopes with stationary. All out-going mail will be collected each morning at breakfast.
Camp Longleaf will post pictures once a week during the camp session on our website, under summer photos. We will try our best to have your child in at least one posted photo so that you can see how much fun they are having!
You are more than welcome to send a disposable camera to camp with your child so that they can take pictures themselves. However, we ask that you DO NOT send your child with an expensive or fragile digital camera, as our activities are often outdoors and may involve water.
Security is extremely important at camp. Our staff are in constant contact with one another, and with the camp office, via hand-held radio. Each cabin will have 2 resident counselors who will always be on duty at night time. We have staff who live on campus to ensure that no unauthorized people are at camp outside of normal business hours. Any person not cleared to be at camp are immediately identified, approached, and asked to leave. 1-2 nearby administrative staff will be on call per night for emergencies.
No. In the future, we may offer a discount for our Bio-members, but Camp Longleaf is open to any children (9-14) who wish to attend. There is currently no discount for Camp Longleaf registration through our membership program.
While many times campers come to our infirmary feeling ill because they are overtired or a little homesick, some campers do actually have an illness that must be cared for. Our staff will treat their symptoms (as outlined in the health form) and call you only if your camper has a sudden illness (such as vomiting), visits the infirmary repeatedly with the same medical concern, has to visit our local hospital for an emergency or if our staff has a question about your camper’s medical form.
We will have the camp store with available merchandise open during pick-up and drop-off each week. Since we do not allow campers to bring personal money to camp, feel free to stop by with your child during these times.
Schedule changes can only be made by Camp Longleaf administration. Please fill out a cancellation/session change form found here for any schedule change request. A completed form is required for all changes. Please do not call the office for a session transfer.
Requests will be granted based on availability and are not guaranteed. Any requested change must be confirmed through e-mail by a staff member to be considered valid. A $25 administrative fee will be applied and must be paid before completion of the change can occur.
Accurate forecasting of camper participation is crucial to the camp planning process. We recognize that planning ahead is not always possible and that summer plans can change. We strive to accommodate change requests as best we can, and the administrative fees we charge aid us in doing so.
