General Information

We take the virus and all its implications seriously, both personally and professionally, hence the decision to operate virtually in 2020 while we learned successful prevention strategies.

In planning for Summer 2023 (as with Summer 2021 and 2022), we've remained in conversation with our school nurse and other independent school and camp counterparts locally, statewide, and nationally. We consult guidance issued by the Center for Disease Control, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and the Orange County Health Department, among others.

Anthony, Director of Extended Learning, has served since its inception early in the pandemic on the six-person COVID operations team that led the successful return to campus for our school-year students and continues to monitor conditions and support safety protocols that allow us to be together in person on campus.

With some 800 students in Summer Programs 2021, we had one breakthrough COVID case with exposure that occurred off-campus. Thanks to our safety layers, we had no transmission through Summer Programs. For 2022, we felt confident that we again crafted an on-campus schedule that prioritized the health and safety of our summer community while maximizing fun for students. As far as we know, we had no COVID transmission across 1,000 students and nine weeks of Summer Programs 2022.

As well-researched, reliable recommendations change, our protocols regarding COVID-19 may shift. We'll alert enrolled families of significant changes to any policies.

We're as eager to welcome you as ever, and we're here to support you as you consider your family's summer plans.

Tracy Hayes, Extended Learning Coordinator
Anthony L. Clay, Director of Extended Learning

We require all Summer Programs instructors and Leadership Team members to be fully vaccinated (including boosters as relevant).

While we don't require Summer Programs participants to be vaccinated, we strongly encourage every family to ensure their medically-eligible child is fully vaccinated (including boosters as relevant). The scientific research is clear about the benefits of vaccination, especially when used in combination with masking and other COVID safety protocols. 

And, as long as they are symptom-free and consistently mask indoors for five days afterwards, students who are fully vaccinated can stay in a class if a fellow student has a positive diagnosis. Otherwise, they have to remain home and no refund would be possible.

As part of the usual health and other forms we collect, we ask families voluntarily to share their child's vaccination status. This information will give us a better understanding of the vaccination context for our Summer Programs population and allows us to make decisions more knowledgeably if a COVID case is diagnosed within a Summer Programs class.

Thank you for helping keep your children, other families' children, and our dedicated staff safe and healthy this summer!

At this time, masking is optional indoors and outside, though this is subject to change depending on circumstances (in a given camp or in the wider community).

Families are asked to make the decision they feel is best for their household, and we hope that all choices will be respected by staff and students alike. 

For masking, please consider the following:

• Evaluating all masks for proper fit is essential. Only use masks that are close fitting at the nose, cheeks and chin, with no gaps. 
• Families should consider the use of KN95, N95, or KF94 masks if they provide a good seal.
• Consider double masking if your student can safely and consistently do so. Those wearing two masks should wear a cloth mask over a medical style mask, per CDC guidance.
• This chart from the Wall Street Journal demonstrates the efficacy of varying mask options:

As part of a Community Health Agreement signed by staff and by families, all staff and students will be expected to ensure there are no symptoms present and no known, recent, direct COVID-19 exposure.

We do not require submission of any COVID screening form each day, but rely on the care and caution of each staff member and parent/guardian to safeguard the health and well-being of our Summer Programs family and the wider community.

With almost all our students eligible for vaccination and our staff fully vaccinated, we relaxed Summer 2021's strict cohorting. We didn't resume in 2022 our all-program Morning Meeting, but we again successfully offered Extended Day care in our two indoor athletic/PE facilities.

We encourage snack and lunch outside as much as possible, but heat, humidity, rain, bees, and wasps can make that problematic at times.

All indoor classrooms are outfitted with HEPA filters. Most have windows that can remain open, weather allowing, and many also have exterior doors that can remain open--of course, with the heat and humidity of a North Carolina summer, this can be a balancing act. 

Each class will also have access to outdoor spaces, which instructors are encouraged to utilize whenever possible.

Instructors will reinforce proper hand-washing and create frequent opportunities for hand washing and/or sanitizing.

High touch surfaces, materials, and equipment will be cleaned and sanitized daily by our cleaning staff, our CITs and Interns, and/or instructors. 

We welcome students from Carolina Friends and anywhere else in the world to Summer Programs (and other Extended Learning offerings, from music lessons to student enrichment classes)!

In any given year, Summer Programs will serve 900-1,000 students from 160 or more schools in multiple U.S. states and countries. Typically, a third of all CFS students participate, but they represent only 18-20% of all summer enrollees.

Magic in Teaching and Learning

• A program rooted in the mission and philosophy of Carolina Friends School, founded in the early 1960s as one of the first intentionally racially-integrated schools in the South.

• Lots of options — in 2022, 150+ classes across nine weeks for ages 4 to 18 in these curricular areas:
  • Creative Expression
    • digital, literary, performing, and visual arts
  • Culinary Creations
  • Leadership and Personal Growth
  • Learning Explorations
  • Nature/Outdoor Adventures
  • Sports Fun

• A 126-acre campus of woods, pastures, stream, and gardens, conveniently located minutes from downtown Chapel Hill and Durham, close to I-40 and I-85, across from the Duke Campus Farm and adjacent to the Duke Forest. We have two gyms, tennis courts, soccer and Ultimate frisbee fields, a 330-seat performing arts center, and dedicated buildings for students through age 18.

• A wonderful variety of people — in a given summer, we generally serve 900-1,000 students from 160+ schools (independent, traditional public, charter, and home) in some eight to 10 states and six or more countries (for example, China, France, Germany, Japan, India, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Spain). We welcome all students, families, and staff to bring their authentic selves to Summer Programs.

• An experienced, expert staff who genuinely love and care for young people. For 2022 we engaged more than 50 school-year educators and other adult professionals to teach courses in their areas of passion. They pass the same background safety checks as CFS school-year teachers. Summer Programs instructors are assisted by:
  • Counselors-In-Training (ages 13-15) who've completed our Leadership Challenge course and have leadership development activities facilitated by our CIT/Intern Coordinator
  • Interns — many former students and CITs — with experience working with children

• A long history — we've been offering summer programs for more than 30 years. Two instructors have taught with us more than 20 summers! Others began here as students, then became CITs and Interns, and now teach the next generation.

• Positive experiences for students that lead to CFS Summer Programs being named a finalist or winner of the Indy Week "Best of the Triangle" for Orange/Chatham County Summer Camp year after year (including winner for 2022!).

• We're a non-profit organization. All Summer Programs proceeds support learning opportunities for students during the summer and throughout the year.

We know you have lots of summer options. Like thousands of families through the decades, we invite you to discover the magic of teaching and learning at CFS Summer Programs for your children!

CFS is situated on 126 acres of woodlands and pastureland between Chapel Hill and Durham, and convenient to I-40 (Exit 270). Please map Directions from your specific location.

Courses run from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm for five days, Monday through Friday (including Junetenth and July 4th).

Optional Extended Day care is available from 8:00 to 9:00 am and from 3:00 to 4:00/5:45 pm.

We offer courses for students ages 4 to 18. The age of the students is next to the course title.

We trust parents' understanding of their children, including whether they generally work better with older or younger peers. You can determine if your nine-year-old will be most happy and successful as the oldest in a course for six to nine-year-olds or as the youngest in a course for nine to thirteen-year-olds. Thank you for thoughtfully considering the placement most likely to be successful for your student and other students in the chosen class.

Our longstanding Early Learners Program for students aged 4-5 are led by early-childhood educators assisted by a CIT and a high school or college Intern. The weekly courses, each with a different theme, take place at our Campus Early School on Main Campus. Students as young as five may also enroll in other courses in our Lower School and other Main Campus locations.

We're delighted to offer courses for high school-age students! We have experienced educators leading innovative programs, including forensic science, Magic the Gathering and math, and social justice activism.

Older high schoolers (ages 16+) may also apply to serve for a minimum of two weeks (consecutive or nonconsecutive) in our unpaid Internship Program.

Extended Day students, depending on age, are dropped off directly at the relevant athletic/PE facility. 

General drop-off is from 8:45 to 9:00 am at designated outdoor locations. Staff will help direct your student to the appropriate class meeting spot; the CIT, Intern, and/or Instructor will then lead the group to the classroom.

General pick up takes place from 3:00 to 3:15 pm at the same designated outdoor location for each class--you can pull up and the instructor or CIT/Intern will release your student.

Extended Day students, depending on age, are picked up directly from the relevant athletic/PE facility.

We're pleased to offer a Summer Programs T-shirt for sale. Each year's design is unique, often created by Jamie Charles (CFS' Middle School art teacher and 20+-year veteran Summer Programs instructor) or a student. For 2018's sunflower design, it was an Upper Schooler. For 2019, a Lower Schooler. And, for 2021 and 2022, Middle Schoolers.

You can order a T-shirt (you can see the intricate 2022 design at right) during the CampInTouch enrollment process or at any time, as long as supplies last.

Book Harvest is a Durham-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by a former CFS parent. Its mission is to provide books and ongoing literacy support to families and their children from birth and serve as a model for communities committed to ensuring that children are lifelong readers and learners. Carolina Friends has been a proud sponsor of the organization's annual Martin Luther King, Jr. book drive for many years. 

In Week 3 of Summer Programs 2022, our Superhero Training Camp students (ages 5-6) found a way to be everyday heroes and support our local community by organizing a book drive. The effort went so well (more than 200 books in just a week) that we continued it for the rest of the summer and, with the inclusion of some books from the CFS Lower School, at the end of August donated 1,349 books!

If you have any gently used books in your home that your children have outgrown or just don’t read anymore, feel free to drop them off with your child any day of camp or bring them by our office in the Gym. We look forward to sharing our 2023 Summer Programs community's generosity with Book Harvest.

Thanks for helping bring books into the homes of children across our area!

You're invited to a drop-in Virtual Q&A session (PIN: 657 136 454) to ask questions and talk through summer possibilities with Extended Learning staff on Thursday, January 19 from 7:00 to 7:30 pm. We appreciate your patience if you have to wait a bit.

We're also glad to respond to questions via email (ExtendedLearning@cfsnc.org) or phone (919.383.6602 x*263--please remember to include the *).

We invite all enrolled families to join us on our campus for an optional open house at 2:30 pm on Sunday 18 June. We hope the event helps students and families feel more confident and comfortable as they join us for one or more weeks.

We'll have popsicles, do some staff introductions, share reminders, answer questions, and then help families find their child's classroom(s) and explore other relevant spaces, including playgrounds!

We hope to see you on June 18th!

We understand families may choose various ways to mark Juneteenth and Independence Day. We also recognize many parents/guardians still have to work on these federal holidays. So, as in years past, Summer Programs will operate on a regular five-day (Monday through Friday) schedule and gladly include students who need to miss a day.

Happy Juneteenth! Happy Fourth!

Is there a family member or friend struggling to figure out a good birthday or holiday present for your child? How about a gift certificate to Carolina Friends School Summer Programs?

They can purchase a gift certificate in any amount by cash, check, or credit card. We apply the credit (valid towards all Summer Programs 2023 or other 2022-2023 Extended Learning expenses) to the relevant account and email an 8x10 color certificate that can be printed and wrapped for giving.

Complete this brief Google form and we'll be in touch.

What a helpful way to open up worlds of fun learning in the arts, cooking, the outdoors, sports, technology, and more!

Extended Learning @ CFS is an umbrella created in Fall 2016 to encompass existing after-school care and summer programs. We’ve since been creating new enrichment options for students, adults, and families—in the CFS community and beyond.

We’ve launched:

• after-school Student Enrichment courses (from art to outdoor adventure programs)
• after-school Music Lessons for students and adults
• weekend Family Enrichment courses
• Camp CFS for student care on teacher workdays.

We’re also pursuing Adult Enrichment courses and travel and other opportunities at the local, regional, national, and international levels. including:

• a civil rights bus tour of the South in Summer 2023
• a trip to the beautiful Lake District of Northern England in Summer 2024

All of these programs are available to non-CFS families and community members too.

Please contact Anthony and Tracy at ExtendedLearning@cfsnc.org or 919.383.6602 x*263, for more information. We'd love to hear from you!