New Rochelle Day Camp for Girls Caters to All Interests

By Milana Vernikova April 14, 2015

Next Level Day Camp, a day camp for girls, will host its inaugural summer this year. The New Rochelle day camp offers a variety of activities, including STEM, cooking, drama, sports, yoga, and cross fit.

There’s something for every girl at Next Level Day Camp, a new camp for girls going into third through ninth grades. The weekly camp offerings cater to a population of campers fascinated by everything from athletics and cooking to robotics and cheerleading.

Held at the Ursuline School in New Rochelle, the camp’s mission is to inspire girls of all abilities and interests to explore new possibilities, develop confidence, and participate in fun-filled learning in a structured environment, says camp owner Ed Metzendorf, who has spent the past 17 years working in the camp industry. The staff of local teachers, coaches, parents, and college athletes encourage the girls to experience new challenges, explore their passions, and try something new.

The customizable camp experience aims to provide a balance between structure and choice. The goal of the camp is to expose girls to as many different aspects of sports, arts, and leadership as possible, says Metzendorf, but campers always have some choice in what their day looks like. Younger campers can pick one of their activities for the day, while older campers have an elective-based schedule, allowing them to choose the programs in which they participate.

The camp utilizes the school’s state-of-the-art turf field, air-conditioned gymnasium, and three outdoor tennis courts for its athletics programs, which feature popular sports such as lacrosse, basketball, soccer, field hockey, and volleyball.

In addition to offering campers art, cooking, yoga, drama, or dance as part of their daily schedules, Metzendorf says the camp provides girls the chance to build, tinker, and code as part of the camp's STEM program, which is run partnership with the Stem Alliance of Larchmont-Mamaroneck. Campers can choose STEM as part of their regular camp schedule or as a half day intensive program. Most of the camp's offerings take place in air-conditioned classrooms and studios.

Next Level Day Camp has also partnered with My Remarkable Self, a program that gives children the skills needed to empower themselves within their community and to make their lives socially, academically, and personally successful. Several times a week, My Remarkable Self and Next Level staff will facilitate hands-on classes using role-play, games, projects, and small group discussions that focus on self-esteem, friendship, teasing, bullying, and communication.

Registration is open for the summer camp, which runs from June 29-Aug. 7, Monday-Friday from 9am-4pm. Campers can be enrolled for full- or limited half-days on a weekly basis.

Above photo: Next Level Day Camp aims to boost girls’ self-esteem, making them healthy and productive leaders in their communities.