General Information

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 about 1,000 students from 150 or more schools in multiple U.S. states and countries. Typically, a third of all CFS students participate, but they represent only about 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 2026, 150+ classes across eight 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 1,000 students from 150+ schools (independent, traditional public, charter, and home) in multiple states and countries (for example, China, France, Germany, Japan, India, Portugal, 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. We engage some 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 and are CPR and first aid trained. Summer Programs instructors are assisted by:
  • volunteer Counselors-In-Training (ages 13-15) who've completed our Leadership Challenge course and have leadership development activities facilitated by our CIT/Intern Coordinator
  • paid Interns — many former students and CITs — with experience working with children

• A long history — we've been offering summer programs for more than 35 years. Two instructors have taught with us more than 25 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 (and, for 2023, also winning the inaugural best of the entire Triangle, repeated in 2024!).

• 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 many thousands of families through the decades, we invite you to discover the magic of teaching and learning at CFS Summer Programs for your children!

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

Optional Extended Day care is available from 8:00 to 9:00 am and from 3:00 to 4:00/5:45 pm on our 4809 Friends School Road campus.

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, plus two weeks at our Chapel Hill Early School.

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 Magic the Gathering and math, and social justice activism.

Students ages 13-15 can apply to serve as a Counselor-In-Training. 

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

If your child will not be the required age for a camp by the first day of that course, the option will not appear in your CampInTouch account.

We work closely with our instructors to set age ranges for camps in a way that ensures age appropriate course content and a smooth social-emotional dynamic among campers. 

Occasionally, we can grant age override requests, but this is never guaranteed. Please email us at ExtendedLearning@cfsnc.org to explore options for your camper. 

Detailed drop-off and pick-up instructions will be emailed (along with a campus map) each week before camp begins. 

Extended Day students, depending on age, are dropped off directly at the Gym. 

General drop-off is from 8:50 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 Gym.

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 25+-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 through 2026, Middle Schoolers.

You can order a T-shirt during the CampInTouch enrollment process or at any time. For later orders, we'll do our best to accommodate the requested size.

We invite all enrolled families to join us on our campus for an optional open house at 2:30 pm on Sunday 14 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 fruitsicles, 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 14th!

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?

You can purchase a gift certificate in any amount by cash, check, or credit card. We apply the credit (valid towards all Summer Programs 2026 or other 2025-2026 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 also offer Adult Enrichment courses and transformational travel learning opportunities, including:

• racial justice-focused bus tours of the South
• a Quaker history trip to the beautiful Lake District of Northern England in August 2026.

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

Please contact Anthony and Chloe at ExtendedLearning@cfsnc.org or 984.316.0123 for more information. We'd love to hear from you!