~ Registering for camp

• HOW TO REGISTER FOR CAMP? Registration happens online. Click here to register.
• CAN WE SWITCH SESSIONS AFTER WE REGISTER? Sure, provided there is a spot available in your desired session. If there is not a spot available in your desired session, we can place you on the waitlist or keep you in your original session. Contact Chrissy at chrissy@gogirlsoakland.com
• CAN WE SIGN UP FOR JUST 1 WEEK OF CAMP? No. Go Girls! Camp and Go Girls! Change Makers are both designed to be a cumulative experience for girls and gender non-conforming youth with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The curriculum is a comprehensive 10 day pathway. We understand that you may have to miss days here and there. That is fine. But you must be able to commit to the full program when you register.

~ First time at camp

• WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE FOR MY CHILD WHO IS SHY? The focus of Go Girls! is to teach and reinforce social and emotional skills through theater and expressive arts. Because of this, our main goal is for all kids to feel safe, heard, and respected and to teach them the skills to treat others with that same level of respect. The first couple of days of camp are dedicated to building our community so that everyone feels included. We begin and end each day in “Community Circle” to allow for ongoing connection opportunities. We play theater-inspired games that help campers feel comfortable working/playing with others they don’t know.
• HOW DO YOU SERVE SUCH A WIDE AGE RANGE? Go Girls! Camp is for girls and gender non-conforming youth ages 6-10, rising 1st - 4th graders. Go Girls! Change Makers is for tweens, rising 5th - 6th graders. We believe that magic happens when campers and girl advocates come together across ages. Every Go Girls! Camp is a chance for girls and gender non-conforming youth to be in a community that centers their experience and development. Older campers become mentors to the younger ones, practicing leadership, empathy and remembering how to play. Younger campers get to see what kind of 5th grader they might grow up and be one day. In Go Girls! Change Makers, older campers will participate in their own classes led by their own teaching artists. This intergenerational environment is rounded out by our Go Girls! Leadership Team, our Assistant Teachers, many of whom are former Go Girls! who are now college students, and our adult teaching staff.
• HOW WILL YOU SUPPORT MY DAUGHTER WITH SPECIAL NEEDS? We have a long history and proven track record of supporting children with special needs. When you register for camp, please share any and all information you want us to know about your daughter and family. Information that is helpful for us to know might relate to shifts in family situations at home, current social and emotional challenges, experiences during the school year, and presenatations of neurodiversity. At that time, we will contact you and set up a time to have a pre-camp discussion to get more details and learn more about what strategies you have that help your daughter succeed in school and other programs. This information is kept confidential to the teaching artists in charge of that session.
• MY DAUGHTER ISN'T QUITE 6 YEARS OLD. CAN SHE STILL COME TO CAMP? Go Girls! Camp is specifically designed to be developmentally appropriate for girls in elementary school. If your daughter has completed kindergarten and will be turning 6 soon, she is certainly welcome at Go Girls! Camp.
• WHAT IS YOUR CAMPER TO TEACHER RATIO? Our main goal is for every camper to feel safe, valued, and respected. To that end, our camps are intimate – 48 participants maximum with a 7 full-time staff members. In addition to those staff members, our Go Girls! Leadership Team members are on site to play with and role model for campers; all helping to create a loving environment.

~ GROUPINGS/ATTENDING CAMP WITH FRIENDS

• CAN MY CAMPER BE GROUPED WITH FRIENDS AT CAMP? We can try our best. If they are the same grade, they will most likely be in the same Ensemble Group. With morning groups, we very intentionally work to mix it up so campers can get to know other youth at camp. Please keep in mind that there are only about 40 campers at camp and that there is plenty of free play time, and breaks for lunch, snack, and rest. Go Girls! always have a choice about who they spend these periods of time with.

~ Camp Staff

• STAFF - Go Girls! trains an incredible Go Girls! Camp staff. Each Go Girls! Camp is led by a Site Director, Play Director (who teaches drama classes and directs the final play) and features an Expressive Arts Specialist (who teaches visual arts classes, leads Community Circles, and helps campers create the visual elements of the final play) and a Music Specialist/Dance Choreographer (who, of course, brings the funk!). We intentionally hire teaching artists who share our vision for igniting a compassion revolution through the arts and have tons of experience teaching this age group. These leaders are supported by Assistant Teachers who are in charge during free play time and lend their incredible talents to classes and the final play.
• GGLT - Our staff team is rounded out by our amazing Go Girls! Leadership Team (GGLT), our innovative counselor-in-training program for middle schoolers. All of our staff also receives extensive training from veteran Go Girls! staff!

~ Extended care

• BEFORE CARE: The camp day runs from 9am-4pm. In the morning, you may drop your daughter off at 8:30am for no additional charge.
• AFTERCARE: Aftercare runs from 4:00-5:30pm for an additional fee. More specific drop off and pick up information will be available when you register.

~ Transfers & cancellations

• TRANSFERS: We want to make scheduling your kids’ summer easy. You can switch to another session or location with no transfer fees by contacting Chrissy Mulvihill.
• CANCELLATIONS: Registration between 2/1/24-3/31/24:: PAY WITH DEPOSIT ONLY - We offer an opportunity to pay a non-refundable deposit of 50% for registrations made before April 1, 2024. PAY IN FULL - If you paid in FULL by March 31, 2024, we refund your balance less the non-refundable deposit and a cancellation fee (50% of the registration fee + $50 cancellation fee). The balance for all camp sessions is due on April 1, 2024. Registration after 3/31/24:: PAY IN FULL: If you cancel after March 31, we will issue a non-transferable credit of your monies (less the non-refundable deposit and cancellation fee of $50) to use towards next year's Go Girls! Programming and will be valid until July 31, 2025. If you need to cancel 10 business days or less before the first day of your scheduled session, ALL monies are non-refundable.

~ Scholarships

• The vision of Go Girls! is to ignite a compassion revolution by putting girls center stage. To that end, funds are set aside each year for the purpose of making Go Girls! accessible to as many campers as possible. These funds go towards creating programs in specific communities of need and to assist families in need to attend our fee-based summer camps. If you are in need of assistance to attend summer camp, click here for more information. Families receiving a reimbursement on subsidized child care programs from BANANAS, Inc may also be able to apply funds towards Go Girls! summer sessions.

~ OTHER CAMP INFO

• WHEN AND WHERE IS THE FINAL PLAY? The play is at 3pm on the final Friday of camp in the performance space of the camp location your camper is enrolled.
• WHAT IF WE HAVE TO MISS THE LAST DAY? Camp is designed with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Although working on the play is not the only part of what we do at Go Girls! Camp, it is a very large part of the experience. Go Girls! are learning what it is like to create something they care about and to share the hard work of their play with a loving audience. Having to miss the final play is a real bummer – for your child(ren) and for us. It is very important for us that every camper has the opportunity to be met right where they are. Go Girls! need times to build skills, go deep, be challenged and feel safe among their peers. At Go Girls! Camp, we break each session into Ensemble Groups, about 10-15 girls, based on age. These groups have their Drama, Dance/Music, and Expressive Arts classes together and they work together to build their own play that will be part of the final performance.
• WHAT SHOULD WE BRING TO CAMP EACH DAY? Your child(ren) should arrive with lunch, a refillable water bottle, and 2 snacks (3 if staying for aftercare). Water is always available. Go Girls! should come in sturdy shoes with a closed heel and toe, dressed comfortably enough to move & groove, play outside, and risk a paint splatter here and there.
• WHAT IF MY CHILD IS AFRAID TO PERFORM? Many campers credit Go Girls! Camp as the first place they fell in love with performing because the environment is such a safe and nurturing space to explore. Plus, Go Girls! Camp is not simply a drama camp. We incorporate visual arts into each day so that girls with a diversity of interests, personalities, and learning styles find their way into the creativity. We never force anyone to perform in the final play if they don’t want to. However, this is rarely a problem. Since the campers make up the plays themselves, they are very invested in them and are usually quite passionate (a.k.a. jumping off the walls) about sharing their final product with a loving audience.
• WILL GO GIRLS! CAMP BUILD HER SKILLS AS A PERFORMER? Certainly. We have designed Go Girls! Camps to teach BOTH performing skills AND collaborative skills. Creating and rehearsing a play from scratch in 2 weeks is not an easy feat for any artist, let alone young ones. We will feel the challenge of having to memorize lines very quickly, express emotions through the choices they make on stage, share their loud voices with audiences of 100+ people, and practices like active listening, generosity, and self-discipline it takes to strengthen their acting practice. It is important to say however, that the experience of making a Go Girls! Play is different than rehearsing a traditional play with an existing script. First of all, it is never longer than an hour long. And second, in the creation of the play, we work hard to make sure all girls are included. This means that, although older campers and/or young people with more performing experience may have a few more lines than others, no one camper is ever “the star of the show.” For campers with a lot of acting experience, the play may feel a little weird at first. But again, because all the campers are so invested in the making of the plays, they feel proud of what they have created together.

~ HEALTH & SAFETY

• WHAT IS GO GIRLS! DOING TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS OR OTHER ILLNESSES AT CAMP? As part of our standard health and safety operating procedures during camp, we work to reduce the spread of communicable illness or disease through regular, rigorous hand washing and facility cleaning, as well as ensuring that campers or staff who are unwell stay home and get well. Camp staff and on-site maintenance crew support the following protocols:
  • Wipes down hard surfaces (door handles, camper desks, lunch tables, etc.) using disinfectant spray at the end of each day.
  • Washes their hands regularly and oversee the hand-washing of campers before and after snack and lunch, and after using the restroom.
• HOW DO YOU PROTECT CAMPERS? Just like the school’s teachers during the school year, our staff is trained to approach all visitors to campus. We have evacuation plans at each of our sites and camp staff is trained on what to do in the event of almost any emergency, including earthquakes, fire, airborne exposures, and much more.
• HOW DO I KNOW YOUR STAFF IS TRUSTWORTHY? Our staff goes through a rigorous interview process that includes: application, in-person interview, reference check, and criminal background check. Once hired, all staff receives several hours of online training plus 2 full days of in-person training, followed by ongoing supervision and professional development provided by their Camp Director.

~ TAX ID Number

• #82-1243891
• After you have registered for and made your final payment for camp, we will provide you with a receipt for your records.