FAQ

Our program is intentionally designed to serve athletes that have completed 4th - 9th grade. This results in an age range of 9-16 years old. Any campers that have yet to complete 4th grade or have already completed 10th grade are not eligible for our standard program.

We have chaperoned buses to and from the greater New York and Boston areas. For those flying, airport pickup is available from Bradley (10 mins from campus), Westchester (1.5 hrs),and Logan (1.5 hrs). Campers may also be picked up and dropped off at camp by parents or guardians.

Our staff-to-camper ratio is 1 staff member to every 3 campers. All of our staff undergo an intensive 5 days of staff training prior to the start of camp.

Campers live in Suffield’s beautiful dorm residences with 1 or 2 roommates and there are approximately 15-20 campers per floor with 4 counselors.

Yes. We work very hard to honor these requests. For those campers coming alone, we will be sure to pair you up with a great teammate and friend.

Roommates will not be finalized until the start of each session. We have the flexibility to make changes a week out to arrival day, so if you have a request, please submit it using the Roommate Request form in CampInTouch

With a strong emphasis on instruction and participation, all athletic activities are grouped by gender. We are structured with supervision - but mealtimes, evening programs and special events allow for co-ed interaction.

Our technology policy is simple: we are phone and “screen” free.

Camp is all about human interaction and being a part of an active and healthy program. One of the great benefits of camp is that it’s a place to unplug. Because of this policy we know our campers will be more engaged and physically active than ever before.

While we understand the need and dependency for electronics throughout the year and at school, we strongly believe their presence at camp is unnecessary. We believe an important life skill learned at camp is the ability to navigate minor challenges with support from caring adults other than a camper’s parents. Having an immediate “life line” to home with a mobile phone can sometimes stifle the ability for a child to learn to advocate for themselves and find their voice to communicate their feelings.

If your child chooses to bring music to camp, please send them with a basic MP3 player without video capability (Campfire Player, SanDisk, iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, etc). These relatively inexpensive items will allow your child(ren) to enjoy music at camp while still respecting our policies.

Other than one of these devices, no other electronic items are allowed. This includes, but is not limited to laptops, tablets, game consoles, iPod Touches, and smart watches that connect to the internet (i.e. Apple Watch).

Suffield’s Director of Food Service, Sean Hennessey, takes special pride in his approach and presentation. And it shows! We believe a key to healthy eating is taking advantage of the variety of choices that are available in our dining hall.

We are fastidious in our ability to offer good carbs, low-fat proteins, limited saturated fats, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and plenty of choices for calcium. Local dairy farm Trinity Farms provides nutritious Greek-style yogurt and delicious pesto sauces. Specialty pastas are made locally at Carla’s Pasta of South Windsor. In addition, we offer in-house, hand-crafted specialty pizza baked in our own commercial pizza ovens.

Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free alternatives are also provided. Allergens are accommodated.

Afternoon and evening snacks are also available at the AC Snack Shack & Smoothie Bar.

We understand the commonality and incredible danger that food allergies pose to many members of our community, both in and out of camp. Our dining facility can handle all common food allergies and provides dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan food options at every meal.

Dress is athletic and casual. We will provide a comprehensive packing list come spring and our clothing outfitter offers both logo and non-logo apparel and supplies. The Academy Camps uniform will be waiting for each camper upon arrival.

Outside of minor medical matters (cuts/scrapes/tummy aches, etc.), a Nurse or Administrator will always contact you if your child has to spend the night in the health center, go to the ER, require an x-ray or be treated for any other serious medical matter. We will keep you informed every step of the way.

Academy Camps will refer, as needed, to local medical clinics & area hospitals. All are within 2-29 minutes from our campus:

• Suffield Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 230 Mountain Rd, Suffield, CT (2 minutes)

• Physician One Urgent Care, 55 Hazard Ave, Enfield, CT (13 minutes)

• Connecticut Children’s Hospital, 242 Washington Ave, Hartford, CT (29 minutes)

• Shriner’s Children’s New England, 516 Carew St, Springfield, MA (21 minutes)

Any combination of our 1 and 2-week sessions can be accommodated to create a longer experience. In addition to spending quality time on the Suffield Campus with our staff and other AC campers, there will be an exciting day-trip offered during on those “Bridge” days. The cost of the “Bridge” is $525.

There is a good deal of information we need from you prior to your child’s arrival at camp. Once registered, you will receive a login to your myAcademyCamps account. Here you will find all required forms and be able to update your contact information should anything change.

During the summer, families of two-week campers will have one ten-minute phone call at the halfway point of the session - Friday or Saturday Night. Phone calls will be scheduled through our Phone Reservation System.

Additionally, family and friends can send emails through our camp platform that we print out each day and give to our campers to read. They, in turn, can write back via traditional mail.