Summit’s Weekender programs serve the Metro NYC and Metro DC areas, providing ongoing social skills immersion and independence growth in our unique group weekends throughout the year. Recognizing a growing need for social group experiences for youth that have learned the basic skills for social interaction, but not had many real-life social inclusions that take place outside the school setting, Summit’s Weekenders have grown over the past five years to include a variety of fun, adolescent-friendly activities that attract both current and new families to get their teens up-and-out for the occasional weekend. Not only do Summit weekenders provide a social opportunity for our adolescents, they focus on the development of independence and self-care at this crucial time in our youngsters’ development.
In 2009, Summit leadership began our Weekender area groups in the hope of helping our summer participants continue their friendships and growth over the school year. While camp and travel programs both provided intensive and long term opportunities for our teens to develop relationships, it was clear that it would be a great benefit to provide families with a safe and supported environment to continue those friendships over the ‘off season’ from camp. Weekender thus began with a few yearly offerings in locally rented winterized camp locations in the Washington DC and Metro NYC areas, where groups of teens from camp could come together, hang out, play games, and do some activities for a weekend with their camp friends under the same helpful support and supervision that Summit always provides- trained counselors and a nurse on staff, structured program offerings, and social support. It also became evident quickly that due to the trusted nature of Summit to provide an appropriate environment for their youngster, the entire family was able to benefit from the program provided by the Weekender activities.
In the past decade, Weekender program has grown to include a number of weekend ‘destination’ trips including theme parks, horseback riding, holiday events, winter sports, and more, all while still keeping our traditional camp weekends throughout the season. Furthermore,
Weekender has grown to include many participants in need of a social and independence enhancing group experience that either cannot or have not attended a summer program at all! Summit’s unique population grouping- adolescents that have all the skills to make friendships and to interact with peers, but yet find it difficult to make lasting friendships or find a group to ‘fit in’ with, offers a very unique social skills program for those who have “outgrown” the afternoon learning lab. Further, the ongoing development of skills needed for the transition to adulthood- self care skills such as setting up their own room upon arrival, implementing their own hygiene routines learned at home, participating in activities such as cooking lessons, and even having to manage their own spending money on the trip has led parents to understand how beneficial weekender programs are the global efforts they are making to help their teen become more independent.
For Summit, a Weekender provides an experience for our teens to really “be social” in an honest, accepting, but wholly natural environment- adults are there for support and guidance, but, the time spent with peers truly is independent and non-directed. Our teens are motivated to interact and want to make friends- and Summit’s Weekenders, like all of our programs, is a wonderfully unique opportunity that brings together a number of youth that are remarkably similar in that challenge.
Summit Weekenders continue from September to May with anywhere from 15-50 participants per occasion. Staffing is done on a 5:1 ratio, plus a nurse and one of our Directors.
There is an online application including phone interview for any new potential weekender participant that has not attended one of our camp or travel sessions; this application is universal for all programs.
