Meeting you in Charlotte for Camp

Summer Camp Charlotte

Are you ready for summer camp Charlotte girls? Judging from everyone’s enthusiasm at last weekend’s camp party at the Beltz’s home in Charlotte, the answer is “Yes!” With the new Rockbrook Camp movie and slideshow from last summer’s sessions all set to go, Sarah and Mandy met so many of our Charlotte NC campers and a bunch of their friends interested in learning more about RBC.

For returning campers and parents, it’s always fun at these parties to see the new camp movie, spot yourself and your friends in the photos, and just to recharge your Rockbrook spirit.

And for new campers, meeting all the people, talking with the families, having the camp directors answer your questions, these parties really are one of the best ways to see why so many girls love Rockbrook.

It’s wonderful to see that Rockbrook is the girls summer camp Charlotte families are buzzing about.

Camp for Teens

Camp Teens Girls

Often when parents begin researching a camp for teens they have some kind of growth experience in mind, something they hope their teen will gain from his or her time at camp. Sure they want the experience to be fun, but parents also believe it will be formative too. There’s a lot to go through in your teen years, so having a place in the summer that helps is a good thing.

Some camps are explicitly designed to address these kinds of issues and provide specific activities to help teens gain “personal power,” build “self-confidence and self-esteem” and develop “deep friendships.”  Others, and Rockbrook’s teen program fits in here, emphasize creating a friendly and noncompetetive environment where teens can relax, be themselves, and try new activities.  In this kind of setting and with true encouragement and support, teens find they have hidden talents and abilities and they do grow more confident and capable.  The culture of camp, as the foundation for the excitement and fun, is the driving force for the transformation our teenagers experience and parents appreciate.

Letters Home from Camp

overnight summer camp campers

Here’s an interesting article that caught our eye over at the Christian Science Monitor, “Mom to Dad: ‘Think Jimmy’s Doing O.K. at Camp?'”  It’s a short piece written by Dave Horn about his time as an overnight camp counselor in the 60s.  While parents today have online photo galleries and blogs to see how their children are doing at camp, he notes just a few years ago there were only letters.  Parents had to mostly wonder and wait to find out about their camper’s camp experience.

But what if the campers didn’t write home much?  After all, they’re having too much fun to stop and write a letter.  Camps helped by asking the camper’s counselors to write quick notes to parents, reassuring them that all is well at camp (a tradition Rockbrook still follows).  To help his young campers even more, Dave Horn turned this letter writing into a game.  He had each camper take turns playing the “boss” and dictating a letter home.  The camper would sit down and recite what he wanted to tell his parents and Dave would type it out on his portable typewriter.  In this case, 1960s technology helping kids communicate from overnight camp.

I wonder if he mentioned hula hooping in your bathrobe? 🙂

Photos of Summer Camp Friends

Here’s a set of photos taken one Sunday afternoon at camp. We were queuing up for our cabin photos and took these at the same time. They show our traditional uniforms (white shirt and shorts, plus a red tie) that we wear on Sundays and at other special events. Children becoming such good friends at camp!

Will you dance with me??

Dance at Summer Camp

It was lunch time when the girls got the announcement. The dining hall was completely filled with excited screams and a little bit of nervous laughter. Tonight was the dance. All the girls wanted to shower and get freshened up for those Camp Carolina boys, but unfortunately, due to the massive amount of rain and mud that afternoon… cleaning up was a little harder than most would’ve liked.

The boys arrived soon after dinner, and the dance was on its way. The thing I love about the dance is it’s not even about dancing with the boys, it’s about dancing with your campers. I know it was a great bonding experience for me and my girls. I mean, what bonds you better than dancing crazy to some Backstreet Boys and totally being silly!? I was dancing with one of my campers and later that night she told me that dance had been her favorite because I was the one dancing with her!

Summer Camp for Young Girls

How old do you need to be to attend Rockbrook?

The youngest girls are 6 years old, and the oldest are 16.


This question comes our way quite a bit, and some parents are surprised to hear that we have a group of campers we call the “Juniors” who are as young as 6 years old. The youngest girls in camp, these are children who have finished kindergarten through the fourth grade. That might seem pretty young for a sleepaway camp, but the Rockbrook program is well designed for this age group, providing these young campers wonderful opportunities to try new things, explore the outdoors, and become more self-confident while away from home.

junior girl summer camp

We also take extra care to assign counselors to this age group who are ready for the care and guidance that young girls often need. The Junior have their own set of cabins, bathroom and showers.  They have a unique stone meeting lodge that happens to also have the best view in camp— miles and miles of mountains in the distance!

As long as they are ready for summer camp, Yes, even the youngest girls love camp.

Columbia SC Girls Summer Camp Party

Columbia SC summer camp party

This week we took the new Rockbrook slide show down to Columbia, South Carolina, for a visit with a great bunch of campers, both girls who have already attended RBC and friends who are interested in attending next summer. We really enjoyed seeing everyone. And what a treat to make s’mores! It’s always so fun for us to see our Rockbrook girls, and to help new families learn what makes RBC such a special girls summer camp.

Columbia, SC is located only about two hours from Rockbrook, but in the summer, camp’s mountain climate makes it much cooler and pleasant. Girls from Columbia have been coming to Rockbrook for generations! Almost 100 years!

That’s Amanda, Katie, Anna, Virginia, Margo, Lauren, Betsy, Tillman, Lawton, Amelia, Carey, Mary Clyde, Annie. And thanks to Marjorie Ann and Burgess for hosting the party!

Charleston Summer Camp Party

Charleston SC Camp Girls

Here’s a group photo of our recent slide show at the Buxton’s home in Charleston, SC. We had such a great time visiting with the current girls attending camp and their friends interested in becoming Rockbrook girls.

Charleston has been, and continues to be a core town where Rockbrook Girls live.

Are you from Charleston, South Carolina? Let us know!