Dear Parents/Guardians,

As the Director of Grand View Ministries, I want to welcome you to the ministry of summer camp. Our staff has a combined 60 years of summer camp experience, and we love what we do. We love bringing the most exciting summer camp experience possible.

All of our full time staff are parents. As parents, we understand the implicit need to reduce risk at our camp as much as possible. Safety has always been our top priority, and this year will be no exception.

We have to ask ourselves, “Would we send our own kids to Grand View Camp? Would we trust them enough to leave our own kids in the care of the staff we have hired and trained?” The answer to both of these questions is “Yes.”

What We Do to Be Proactive

Each staff member has passed the following:

  • Sexual Offender Background Checks
  • Criminal Background Checks
  • Multiple Reference Checks
  • Identification Checks
  • We conduct these checks on both new AND returning staff-each season.

Supervision Campers will be supervised 24 hours a day by trained counselors and staff. Campers will be escorted and supervised to and from all camp-related destinations. All campers have 24-hour access to emergency medical facilities as well as a registered camp nurse who is on call at all times. Our Camp Managers carry radios, cell phones and all summer counselors are CPR/First Aid certified. We are looking to make sure that this camp passes our rigorous safety and quality standards.

Summer Camp Safety

Safety First

Our commitment to safety is reflected in the hundreds of policies and procedures we execute with care. We know that protecting our campers also means being ready for the unexpected. We reassess our safety practices each year, collaborating with experienced safety professionals to implement the best practices.

Safety Benchmarks

With an average of 8 campers per counselor, our small group sizes allow for crucial 1-on-1 interaction. Carefully-selected staff, mindful of our commitment to safety, implement our programs. We only hire counselors who are age 18 and older who have shown good character. Every summer our staff goes through a week of intense training in policies and procedures.

Medication at Camp

Our Medication Policy

For the safety of our campers, we have a strict policy for the handling of medication at camp. If your child will be taking medication while at camp, please be sure to follow the specific procedures listed below. Please note: Campers will not be admitted to camp if these procedures are not followed.

  • Only the camp’s registered nurse is authorized to give any camper over-the-counter medication
  • Please refrain from bringing non-essential over-the-counter medication, vitamins and/or supplements to camp. Our staff members need to focus on administering crucial prescription medication only.
  • Students needing injections (insulin, hormones, etc.) will need to self-administer the medication.
  • Upon arrival at camp, all medication must be placed in the care of our Camp Nurse. (Exceptions: Students may hold on to their inhaler and/or Epipen). Our Camp Nurse will keep all medication with in a locked room. Our staff will then discreetly administer the medication per the physician’s specifications.
  • All medication information MUST be completely entered in your child’s Health History form, which can be found on the summer camp brochure.
  • All medication brought to camp MUST match what is listed on your child’s Health History form. Any discrepancy may result in long delays at check-in and may require the cancellation of the camp week, without a refund. Our camp staff needs your full cooperation and we thank you for understanding.

It is the responsibility of the Parent/Guardian to pick up any remaining medication and/or vitamins at the end of the week. You will need to see the Camp Nurse to collect these items on your last day of camp. Any medication and/or vitamins left at camp will be disposed of.

Background Checks on All Staff

The Volunteers for Children Act, an amendment to the National Child Protection Act of 1993, now allows for Grand View Camp to not only run a comprehensive background check on all our staff members on a local level, but also a national level. Grand View Camp also runs a new check each year for all returning staff members. We not only run criminal background checks, but we also run sexual offender background checks and identification checks. In addition, we also check multiple references for each candidate, and then we train our staff IN PERSON.

– Sexual Offender Background Checks.

– Criminal Background Checks.

– Multiple Reference Checks.

  • Identification Checks.
  • Trained Camp Managers.

Training for Summer Staff

– All summer staff take part in our IN-PERSON training sessions.

– Staff must pass technical & safety exams.

– Staff are evaluated throughout the summer

Signing Out & Company Cell Phone

– Only Parents and legal guardians of campers will be allowed to sign their campers out before the camp week is over

– Cell phones are carried by each Camp Manager in case of an emergency.

CPR & First Aid

  • Summer camp counselors are CPR & First Aid Certified.
  • A registered camp nurse is on site at all times camp is in session

Staff Age Requirements

  • Counseling staff must be 18 years or older.
  • Counselor to camper ratio

– Average 1:8

Facilities

-Regularly checked for safety compliance

-Regularly maintained

Supervision & Safety

Adult staff supervise ALL summer camp activities, dining, and boarding. Campers may only be signed out from Grand View during camp with parents or legal guardians. These are examples of how we oversee the safety of each camper.