Food, Health & Safety

Safety and Security

At Camp Laurelwood, ensuring the safety and well-being of our campers is our foremost concern. We pride ourselves on adhering to rigorous standards and maintaining a secure environment for all participants. Our camp is licensed and meticulously regulated by the State of Connecticut and the American Camping Association. Each of our camp activities is staffed by appropriately trained and licensed professionals to guarantee safety in every camp area.

We maintain a robust partnership with the local police department, which conducts regular patrols around our campsite throughout the week. Furthermore, Camp Laurelwood actively engages with the Connecticut State Police, the FBI, and Homeland Security. These agencies provide our staff with specialized training to adeptly handle both minor and major situations, as well as manage security issues effectively.

To ensure a high level of supervision, all campers from Day Camp through seventh grade are constantly accompanied by our staff. Campers in older age groups have the independence to move to activities without direct staff escort but are checked in and monitored at each activity location to ensure their safety.

Our commitment to close supervision is a distinguishing feature of Camp Laurelwood. Campers are never left unattended in their bunks. After evening activities, a counselor remains in each bunk to supervise the campers, and all staff return to sleep in the cabins at curfew.

Every member of our staff is trained to maintain a high level of vigilance throughout the day. This includes reporting any suspicious activities or individuals to the camp office immediately. All visitors and delivery personnel must check in at the camp office to obtain authorization to enter the premises.

Enhancing our security measures, we follow the recommendations provided by the Secure Community Network along with our security consultant, Michael Shambron. This season, we have enhanced our security with the addition of a security guard, one available 24 hours a day and a second armed guard during the day when our camp is most accessible to the public.

Further improvements include upgrading the functionality of both the front and back gates for easier staff access, distributing additional walkie-talkies as needed, installing more lights along the main pathway, and placing speakers throughout the campus to facilitate timely alerts to staff and campers when necessary. We have also added additional cameras on campus this year to help ensure the safety of all of our community, we are always looking for new ways to add to our security infrastructure.

Ensuring the safety of our camp community is our highest priority, and we continually strive to maintain and enhance the secure, nurturing environment that Camp Laurelwood is known for.

Food Service

Delicious, camper-friendly meals that are nutritious and satisfying are an important ingredient at Camp Laurelwood. Our wonderful chefs are professionally trained and certified with extensive cooking and food preparation experience.

Each day begins in Camp Laurelwood’s spacious dining hall with a piping hot breakfast including pancakes, French toast, eggs, omelets, waffles, home fries, toast, English muffins or bagels. Campers love our daily fresh fruit bar, hot cereal selection, and cold cereal option, with orange juice, milk and hot chocolate available.

Hearty lunches for growing, busy campers include grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, grinders, pizza, deli, macaroni and cheese and sloppy Joes. The fresh daily self-service salad bar includes tuna salad and egg salad. Desserts of home-made cookies, cakes, fresh fruit, ice cream and Italian ices top off the mid-day meal.

Dinner menus are camper favorites and include tacos, turkey, chicken, stir fry, pasta, cookouts, and traditional Shabbat Friday night dinners with homemade challah. Each meal includes a side dish, cooked vegetable and salad bar. Home-made cookies, cakes, cupcakes, fresh fruit, ice cream and Italian ice are yummy desserts.

Daytime snacks of fresh fruit and granola bars are available. Before bed-time campers can visit the mess hall for an evening snack.

Canteen

Included in each camper’s tuition is a visit to our Canteen, featuring snacks and cold drinks. The Canteen is open daily except for Saturday’s observance of Shabbat. On opening day parents can establish a canteen account with extra funds for miscellaneous items such as stamps, shampoo, soap and other necessities.

Health and Medical

Camp Laurelwood prides itself on an outstanding Health Center which is well-equipped for daily needs as well as emergencies. Before opening day, the Health Center staff review all camper medical information to help make the first days of camp run as smoothly as possible. We are also staffed with two registered nurses on-site each day who live at camp and are available on-call around the clock. Six days a week, a physician from Shoreline Pediatrics visits camp to see patients, allowing nurses and doctors to provide the best possible medical care for each camper. Parents of campers requiring prescription medications or overnight stays in the Health Center will be notified by phone.

Camp Laurelwood’s Health Center operates and is certified according to the guidelines of the State of Connecticut and the American Camping Association.

Parents will receive a manual which explains Camp Laurelwood’s over the counter and daily medications policies. This manual will also be available online.