You are currently browsing the archives for the Summer Camps category.

Summer Camps

It’s On! iD Tech Camps Announces It’s 2010 Summer Camp Lineup

November 2nd, 2009 by Pete

Dear iD Nation,

I want to personally welcome you to the iD Family.  To our returning families, I know you’ve been looking forward to our 2010 launch.  Yesterday we started taking registrations at 8 AM, and the phones were ringing busily all day.  That’s a good sign!  We had  a banner year in 2009, so we think 2010 will be even better.

An obvious question many families are asking is “What’s New?”.  I am going to cut and paste some content from our “What’s New” page on our website:

• Digital Catalog – Our summer camp catalog is now available.
• Registration is now live! – Register with our latest promotion and save $100 by 12-15-09.  And when you refer-a-friend, you now save $50 and your friend does too!
• New Locations – New prestigious university locations including the campuses of Harvard, Princeton, Adelphi, Bentley, the expansion of our Teen Academies nationally, and our expansion into Canada.
• New Courses at iD Tech Camps – Awesome new courses include iPhone® App Development, Digital Photography & Photoshop®, RPG Game Design & Graphic Arts Hybrid, Game Modding with titles including Warcraft® III, Starcraft®, Half-Life® 2 and more.  Go to courses and programs.
• Expansion of our Teen Academies – The  iD Programming Academy has expanded to MIT.  The intensive game development program, the iD Gaming Academy has expanded to Chicago and Seattle.  We’ve also launched the new iD Visual Arts Academy. The Teen Academies are for ages 13-18.
• iD 365 – Endless Summer – Upon registration at iD, you now get access to our monthly FREE online workshops, taught year round by live instructors.  More.
• Receive Continuing Education Units from Villanova University or Stanford Continuing Studies.  Details.
• The iD Guarantee – We average 6 students per instructor at iD Tech Camps.  If we exceed an  8:1 ratio, you get to return for a free week of camp at equal value.  It’s that simple!  It’s iD quality.  And it’s only at iD!  Note:  Not valid for Teen Academies. Get details.
• New Games – Hot new commercial gaming titles used in our gaming courses, gaming tournaments and Ultimate Gaming Weekends.
• Learn Valuable “Life Skills” – We’re building new life skills content for this year.  The curriculum will round out the summer experience. See the benefits of iD. We’ve also got fun new camp activities for students.
• Technology Isn’t Just for Boys – We’ve created more courses and modules that are be appealing to girls including Web Design & Flash® Animation, Graphic Design, Video Editing & Special Effects, Digital Photography & Photoshop and the new teen-only  iD Visual Arts Academy.
• Go Green – We continue our iD Greening initiative by promoting carpooling, reducing travel and energy consumption and establishing new outreach partnerships in the communities we serve.
• The Basement.  For Students Only! – Find out what the buzz is about.   Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.  Blogs.  Student Project Uploads.  Camp Photos.  iD 365.  And more.  Head down to the The Basement!

OK, I’m back.  As you can see, we’ve been a bit busy preparing for this launch.  You might expect that we kick back and take a few months off in the Fall, but nothing could be further from the truth.  We’ve got the hardest working crew in the summer camp industry.  We’ve had teams working around the clock to pull all the pieces together…working with new locations (including the expansion of our Teen Academies and a push into Canada), developing curriculum, developing back-end applications, signing contracts, overhauling our website, developing content, designing our camp brochure, working with new corporate partners, creating new courses, and so much more.

The launch is a big, big team effort, and it is a sign of our company’s organization and dedication to providing the very best.

On behalf of all our employees, we want to welcome you to the new camp season.  We hope you’ll take a few minutes to look around our website.  And, as always, we’re just a phone call away.

Best,

Pete Ingram-Cauchi

CEO, iD Tech Camps

 

 

What Makes a Summer Camp Thrive? It’s People!

April 23rd, 2009 by Pete

iD Nation,

We’re rounding the corner to Summer 2009.  Our camps are thriving right now, and interest is at an all-time high for our summer computer camps.  But what makes a camp unique?  What makes iD Tech Camps unique?  SImply put:  It’s people.  Check out a few of the cool photos from a few of the very cool and creative people that are responsible for bringing iD Tech Camps to you.

A company that celebrates its employees is a company that thrives.

From our team of Regional Managers, Client Services Representatives, Admin folks, Field Services, IT and Marketing…the best team in the camp business is counting down the days until summer.  We are ready for an amazing summer.  Climb aboard!

-Pete

 

 

Using X-Code for iPhone & iApps?

April 17th, 2009 by Pete

Developing apps and widgets for the iPhone, Facebook, etc. is hot right now.  There is keen interest in developing the skill set to enable the development of these apps.

Our client services department recently received an email from a client looking to register for the iD Programming Academy.  The client wanted to know if the skills learned at our summer camp will be transferable to a MAC working with X-code for the iPhone (specifically developing iApps).

Here is the answer, unedited, from our curriculum developer

Skills learned at iDPA are definitely transferable to X-Code.
The iD Programming Academy curriculum starts off with a brush up of programming basics and
then we jump right into programming of graphical user interfaces using
the Swing framework for Java and/or .NET for C#. Both frameworks are
extremely similar to Apple’s iPhone SDK (software development kit) used
to write iPhone applications on the Mac platform using X-Code. Students
will also learn how to create 3D graphics and animations using OpenGL, a
technology that is also integrated into Apple’s iPhone SDK. In summary,
the iD Programming Academy is the best fit for this student.

The iD Programming Academy is offered at Stanford University, and is almost sold out.
iD Tech Camps also offers programming camps in both C++ and Java at locations across the country.  The goal here is to create the next generation of computer science students.  Have fun.  Get interested.  Learn to program!

Check out all iD Tech Summer Camp Courses by clicking here.

 

 

Top Camp at the Nation’s Top Universities

April 10th, 2009 by Donna

When it comes to applying to college, some people turn to the U.S. News & World Report’s Top 25 List that comes out annually for guidance. Below is the Top 25 for 2009 in the “National Universities” category. According to U.S. News, “Schools in the National Universities category, such as Yale and UCLA, offer a full range of undergraduate majors, masters, and doctoral degrees. These colleges also are committed to producing groundbreaking research.”

Keep in mind that these are not necessarily the “most popular” colleges according to number of applicants. Numerous lists are compiled annually, including a list of the best smaller, liberal arts colleges. *Please note that some rankings came out as “tied” and therefore numbers may be repeated.

Why is any of this important? Well believe it or not, a school’s popularity and prestige plays a huge role in both the minds of the prospective students as well as the parents. With this in mind, iD Tech Camps and iD Teen Academies pride itself on offering students the opportunity to experience life on campus at many of the colleges below (and many more prestigious university locations that are not listed). Click below to learn more about the day camps and overnight camps we offer at the location of your choice.

Get a leg up on the competition and plan early!

1. Harvard University
2. Princeton University
3. Yale University
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4. Stanford University
6. California Institute of Technology
6. University of Pennsylvania
8. Columbia University
8. Duke University
8. University of Chicago
11. Dartmouth College
12. Northwestern University
12. Washington University in St. Louis
14. Cornell University
15. Johns Hopkins University
16. Brown University
17. Rice University
18. Emory University
18. University of Notre Dame
18. Vanderbilt University
21. University of California-Berkeley
22. Carnegie Mellon University
23. Georgetown University
23. University of Virginia
25. University of California-Los Angeles

You can find more university and college rankings from U.S. News here. You can also register for our camps or contact us with any questions.

We look forward to seeing you this summer at one of our 60 prestigious locations nationwide!

 

 

iD Summer Camp Staff Retention: 65 Percent!

March 30th, 2009 by Donna

When you choose your child’s summer camp, you want staff and instructors who are knowledgeable, caring, professionally-trained and FUN! As a family company, we place huge importance on hiring, training and retaining only the best staff. Other summer camps may boast these features in their summer staff, but few can say they have a staff return rate of 65 percent. iD Tech Camps can. This is the iD Difference.

iD Tech Camps recruits tech savvy, passionate staff from the nation’s top institutions including UCLA, MIT, Stanford, UT Austin, NYU & more!

Our goal is to ensure that every location is comprised of experienced, returning summer camp staff along with new individuals who bring a fresh perspective and energy to camp. Our staff knows that when they get to camp, they will be working alongside the best in the industry. We interview thousands of candidates each year – but only those applicants who meet our strict criteria are chosen. Next, staff are required to pass strict guidelines and attend in-person trainings. Much of the success of iD Tech Camps we attribute directly to our careful staff selection process and comprehensive training.

“Our hiring process is one of the most strict I’ve seen in the entire summer camp industry,” said Kate DeHart, Human Resources Manager at iD Tech Camps. “We hire adult-only staff and we conduct criminal background checks, multiple reference checks and require valid CPR & First Aid certification and in-person training of our staff members. We work hard with risk management specialists to anticipate problems before they even arise. That’s no small feat!”

A 65 percent summer camp staff return rate means our staff is committed to providing an amazing experience for your kids. Staff retention-like camper retention-means we’re doing something right. How we teach is a big factor.

iD Tech Camps provides some of the best camper-to-instructor ratios, with an average of 6:1. The small class size allows campers the individual attention necessary to thrive in their chosen course(s) and the opportunity to complete an impressive project by the end of the week. Instructors then get the opportunity to bond with their campers and create lasting memories that encourage, inspire and drive campers to do something big with what they learn at camp. We have built our reputation on small ratios. Parents notice. Instructors are inspired. Students are engaged. The quality speaks for itself.

“Everything is really organized and it is obvious iD designs everything around fun and safety,” said Bryan Campbell, an iD Tech Camps Director. “iD is incredibly supportive so it’s reassuring knowing that the staff can reach someone at the iD office anytime 24/7.”

We expect a lot out of our summer staff, therefore we pay them considerably more than other camps. Our staff appreciates the excellent work environment that we provide – high expectations, high pay, periodic evaluations, in-depth curriculum, teaching tools, clear processes and endless summer fun. We train our staff both in person and via the web, and evaluate them consistently. There are even surprise camp visits by the iD staff throughout the summer to ensure that our high standards are being met. By the time camp rolls around, the iD staff is motivated by excellent compensation, thorough training, small class sizes and the knowledge that they are inspiring students to do big things.

Our staff is pleased to work for a professional organization. They want to work for the best. If you choose one summer camp this season, make sure it’s iD. Then sit back, relax and get ready for a summer with stellar instructors who make tech learning fun while enjoying their job. See you this summer!