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Find the Right Summer Camp for Your Child

Duke offers an array of camp options, many with discounts for employees

Kids playing in Duke Gardens.
The Sarah P. Duke Gardens Nature Adventures camps are a popular choice for parents and children. Photo courtesy of Duke Gardens.

For the past few summers, Sondra Ponzi has enjoyed picking her two children up from the Nature Adventures Summer Camps at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens and hearing about their day.

The stories have involved feeding ducks and geese, cooking in a solar oven and learning the science behind the composting process.

“We feel really lucky to have such a beautiful place on campus for our kids to explore with such caring staff and counselors,” said Ponzi, a program coordinator for The Duke Graduate School. “It’s been such a positive experience.”

The camps at Duke Gardens are some of the many summer camps offered by different parts of Duke. From science to sports, Duke offers camps that appeal to a wide variety of ages and interests. A frequently updated list of camps can be found on the Duke Human Resources website. Most of the camps feature discounts for Duke staff and faculty.

Duke Gardens, which offers camps to rising kindergartners to rising eighth graders, offer a 5 percent discount to people who enroll more than one child or have children attend more than one session.

With two children attending the camp, Ponzi was eligible for the multi-child discount. Greyson, Ponzi’s 11-year old son who has an innate curiosity about nature, science and understanding how things work, has attended summer camps at Duke Gardens since 2016. Margaux, her 8-year old daughter, has been going for each of the past two summers.

“We’ve all loved the experience,” Ponzi said. “The counselor-to-student ratio is very low and it is so evident how much they care about the children and the gardens.”

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