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Kabeyun is delighted to welcome campers back for our 98th summer beginning June 26, 2022. Below you’ll find questions and answers about our COVID-19 policies and protocols for the coming summer.
While we recognize that COVID now feels like less of a threat to many people and that many communities are doing away with COVID precautions, we regard Kabeyun as a place where we must be especially vigilant. The consequences are too great, as a COVID outbreak at camp likely would end the season for all of us.
In addition, we want to do everything we can to move closer to giving campers a “pre-COVID” Kabeyun experience without masks, cohorts, or restrictions on boys sharing meals, tents, and indoor spaces. That means requiring vaccinations, testing, and taking precautions in the days leading up to camp. We’ll be in touch later this spring with details of what we expect regarding testing, travel, and precautionary behavior in the 7–10 before your son arrives at Kabeyun.
Kabeyun’s leadership continues to monitor the state of COVID and stands ready to refine our protocols based on the latest guidance from New Hampshire, the CDC, the American Camp Association, and other resources. This spring, we expect an update on the "Field Guide for Camps on Implementation of CDC Guidance", developed by the ACA, Y-USA and Environmental Health & Engineering, Inc. This document will continue to evolve, as will Kabeyun’s plan.
Thank you sincerely for your understanding and flexibility during this incredibly challenging past two years. Thank you, as well, for your care and diligence in doing everything you can to keep our community healthy and safe. While there are still protocols to follow, there is so much promise in the coming summer! Let’s continue to support each other as we work towards creating a more ‘normal’ Kabeyun summer for our boys.
Yes. All campers and staff members are required to be fully vaccinated and if eligible, fully boosted against COVID-19 (read the full policy here). Families who have enrolled for the upcoming summer and are unwilling or unable to meet all of Kabeyun’s immunization requirements may withdraw their enrollment(s) at no penalty and receive a full refund of all monies paid, including deposits, until March 31, 2022.
We are using May 15, 2022, as our cut-off date. Families will not be required to meet CDC guidance that changes after May 15. However, if the guidance changes after May 15, we strongly encourage families to meet the new guidance whenever possible. In addition, if your camper becomes eligible for a booster after May 15, we recommend he gets that shot, but will not require it.
Kabeyun will require all campers and staff to be fully vaccinated and, if eligible, fully boosted against COVID, and to provide proof of a negative COVID test taken within 24 hours before their arrival at camp. As an added precaution, we will ask campers and staff members to do everything they reasonably can to arrive at camp COVID-free. Consider wearing a mask indoors 7–10 days before camp to minimize the potential for COVID exposure and take precautions while traveling to camp. Later this spring, we will send an email with detailed instructions for travel, testing, and precautionary behavior.
For now, we plan to repeat the 2021 drop-off procedure to reduce the risk of COVID entering camp. That means parents will not visit their son’s cabin at dropoff, although you will have a chance to meet at least one of your camper’s cabin counselors. We plan to stagger arrival times and we suggest families limit the number of people who travel with their camper to Kabeyun. As we get closer to summer, we will re-evaluate and update the “Arriving at Camp” page on the website.
We hope so! We would love for families to see their son’s cabins and meet their cabin mates, but, as always, we put the health and safety of our community first. Accordingly, we will make a final determination about pickup during the session. We anticipate asking families to wear masks if we allow them into camp on pickup day.
Kabeyun cannot promise to provide transportation to and from airports or train and bus stations. For campers coming from afar, we recommend that an adult accompany your camper and handle transportation directly to camp, or that you explore private limousine services. Everyone coming to camp is required to follow CDC guidelines for safe travel and to create a travel plan that minimizes exposures to others.
At this point, we expect a similar series of tests to 2021 – the first will be taken at home before departing for camp. The second will be taken immediately upon arrival and before entering Kabeyun's campus to confirm the first test. A third test will be administered a few days later to further confirm the first two.
Kabeyun will follow the latest CDC guidance to determine which type of test – PCR, molecular, or antigen – will be most effective for screening and diagnosis. Our healthcare staff will be able to administer rapid antigen tests on-site at Kabeyun’s health center.
Kabeyun will cover the costs of all COVID tests except the first, which will be administered before leaving for camp. Please contact the office if you need help scheduling or paying for this test.
We are designing our protocols to do everything possible to prevent COVID from coming into camp. However, if a camper or staff member is diagnosed with COVID during the session, they will immediately be isolated and likely have to go home. This presents a number of challenges, most notably for campers coming from considerable distance. Kabeyun will have the means to keep campers safely at camp for as long as it takes for a parent or legal guardian to arrive.
We will follow New Hampshire and CDC guidelines. The person diagnosed with COVID would be isolated immediately and leave camp as soon as possible. In the meantime, their cabin group (including counselors) would be monitored for symptoms and tested periodically.
While we expect that vaccination, testing, and precautions will maximize the likelihood of keeping COVID out of camp this summer, we suggest campers pack 5 re-usable cloth masks, labeled with their full names, for use in the event a case of COVID is identified. Otherwise, we do not expect to require masking while at camp.
We hope to return to our normal system of sitting in mixed-age and mixed-cabin groups in our dining hall this summer, provided there are no active cases of COVID. We will wait for CDC guidance and the updated ACA/Y-USA Field Guide to make a final decision.
We love having two-session campers, and those boys who enroll in the Full Summer or Extended Stay sessions will be able to stay with us through the one-day break between sessions. While we will not have visitors at camp this summer, we anticipate two-session boys can see their families off-campus if they are careful to stay isolated. Please contact Ken to discuss your family's plans.
We do not plan to allow visitors in 2022.
Our hope is that by requiring all campers and staff to be fully vaccinated and, if eligible, fully boosted, we can avoid the pods and cohorts that limited certain activities in 2021. We will wait for CDC guidance and the updated ACA/Y-USA Field Guide to make a final decision.