Category Archives: Parent News

November Parents News

Hey ILC Parents! We hope you and your children had a fun-filled, safe Halloween. We’d love to post photos on our blog of our campers in their Halloween costumes. Please send pictures of your children all dressed up for their special day of trick-or-treating to wendy@islandlake.com and we’ll happily post them.

All of us in the ILC winter offices are very excited for our CAMP REUNION on November 19th at Sportime USA in Elmsford, NY. The reunion will be held from 10am until 1pm and details are provided in our monthly newsletters. We look forward to seeing many of our summer 2016 campers and staff there on that date, no RSVP necessary.

By now all of our summer 2016 ILC parents should have received our email with the link to our Island Lake Video Yearbook online. We hope you shared it with your children and you all took the opportunity to watch this amazing video filled with many exciting summer activities and memories. For an hour, you can forget about all that’s going on around you and truly feel a part of the ILC experience.

Are your kids still sharing their wonderful ILC memories with you? We sure hope so! Our summer 2017 countdown is in full swing, as camp will sneak up on us before we know it. In the meantime, you and your children can continue to view our daily summer photos, weekly videos, blogs, Facebook videos for several months to come.  We continue to post throughout the whole year on our blog and our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts so be sure to check us out and like us.

Don’t forget, we have a wonderful Island Lake App for your iPhones and iPads. We hope all of our campers, parents, and staff have already downloaded our app and have taken advantage of all of the amazing features it entails. You can check out this past summer’s photos, videos, read our monthly newsletters, and even log onto your CampMinder account, which will come in handy next summer while your children are with us at camp. The home screen of our app even has a countdown of the number of days until summer 2017 begins. Definitely take advantage of our app if you haven’t already checked it out. We’re really proud of it!

Registration for summer 2017 is going very well thus far. If you have not yet registered your child(ren) for next summer, please don’t put it off any longer! We truly do not want to turn away our loyal campers. You can enroll your child(ren) with the registration forms we mailed home with your monthly newsletters or you can download the form here on our website under “Island Lake Families” and then “Forms & Mailings”.

We look forward to seeing many of our Island Lakers at our camp reunion on November 19th. Until then, ILC U THERE!

October Parent News

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Hey Island Lake Parents! With fall upon us, we hope your children are still sharing tons of wonderful ILC memories with you. Our summer 2017 countdown has already kicked into gear- 266 days as of October 1st! Next summer will sneak up on us before we know it. In the meantime, you and your children can continue to view our daily summer photos, weekly videos, Facebook videos, & daily summer blogs for several months to come.

Shortly, all our 2016 camp families will receive info regarding viewing our Island Lake Video Yearbook online. We hope you and your children will enjoy watching this amazing video filled with so many fond memories of this summer past. For an hour you can forget about all that’s going on around you, sit back, relax, and enjoy being taken back to summer so you can truly feel a part of the ILC experience.

Don’t forget to check out our Island Lake App for your iPhones and iPads. The app has been developed for Apple products only, not for other smartphones and tablets. We hope all of our campers, parents, and staff has already downloaded our app to take advantage of all of the amazing features it entails. You can check out this past summer’s photos, videos, read our monthly newsletters, and even log onto your CampMinder account, which will come in handy next summer while your children are with us at camp. The home screen of our app even has a countdown of the number of days until summer 2017 begins. Definitely take advantage of our app if you haven’t already checked it out. We’re really proud of it!

We are all getting pumped up for our CAMP REUNION on Saturday, November 19th at Sportime USA in Elmsford, NY. The reunion will be held from 10am until 1pm and details are located in our monthly newsletters. We look forward to seeing many of our summer 2016 campers and staff there, no RSVP necessary.

We are happy to announce that camp is filling up very nicely for next summer. Be sure to register your children right away if you have not already done so. Certain bunks are already full in specific sessions! You can sign your child up with the registration form we mailed home with your newsletter or you can download our form here on our website under “Island Lake Families” and then “Forms & Mailings” to your left.

Well, that’s about it for now. We’d like to once again thank all of our Island Lake families for making summer 2016 so special. We look forward to our camp reunion on November 19th. Until then, ILC U THERE!

 

September Parent News

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It was with great sadness that we bid farewell to our ILC family on August 15th. We truly enjoyed spending an AMAZING summer with all of our campers and staff. Was summer 2016 the best because of our incredibly awesome counselors? Was it because we had the greatest group leaders, department heads, and head counselor ever? Was it our fantastic teen trip to Montreal and Quebec City, Canada? Could it be because of the fun theme days and evening activities such as Counselor Switch Day, the Hoedown, and Revival Night? Or was it because we had the coolest, happiest, most amazing campers ever? We are sure it was a combination of all of these things that made this summer so special. One thing we can tell you with all sincerity is that this was one of our BEST ILC SUMMERS YET!!!

We’d like to thank you for your wonderful emails, phone calls, and letters regarding this past summer. These gracious gestures mean so incredibly much to us as camp directors. Now go get a pen and paper to save the date for our annual camp reunion, which will be held on Saturday, November 19th at SportimeUSA in Elmsford, NY. Details are in our September newsletter and we hope our campers and many of our staff can join us for this special day of fun!

Registration for Summer 2017 has exceeded last year’s enrollment at this point in time. We are thrilled to know that we had so many happy campers with us this past summer. We are super excited for our change in dates and sessions for next summer. Instead of offering 3 sessions, we are changing it and offering 2 sessions. Session 1 will be 4 weeks long and session 2 will be 3 weeks in length. Camp will begin on a Saturday, June 24th, our changeover day will be on a Saturday, July 22nd, and closing day will be on a Saturday, August 12th. Our Open House will be on Saturday, June 10th, our Rookie Day will be offered on a Saturday in July, and our annual Visiting Day will take place on Saturday, July 15th. It will be simple and convenient to have all of our important dates take place on a Saturday, huh?

Remember, camp fills early! If you have not yet registered your children, please do so immediately! All you have to do is fill out your 2017 enrollment form and send it to us with a $1500 deposit by either check or credit card. A copy of your child’s registration form was already mailed to all returning families so you don’t even have to fill much out on the form. Our office is moving back down to Pleasantville, NY in the first week of September so please send all mail to that address from now on. We extended our early rates through September 15th so take advantage of these prices and avoid getting closed out later on. Cancellations can be made through December 1st and we will refund all of your money less the $250 enrollment fee. Remember, there is a rate increase on September 15th.

Well, those three torturous words, “Back To School,” have already become a reality for many of our campers who are stuck behind a school desk, daydreaming about their Island Lake experience. We wish you all a wonderful and healthy school year. Our campers can now start their countdown until next summer when we can all be reunited in Starrucca, PA once again! As of September 1st, we have only 296 days until ILC U THERE!

June Parents News

Hey ILC parents,…This is it! Summer is just about here and we are happy to report that we are back at camp once again! Words cannot even begin to explain how wonderful it feels to return to our home away from home. We are sooooo EXCITED for your children’s arrival on June 25th. We have amazing plans for this summer including exciting evening activities, an awesome Color War theme, a day trip to Dorney Park, a teen trip to Montreal and Quebec, Canada in session 3, and much more. Let us just say, we have some awesome plans to make summer 2016 the GREATEST, and we cannot wait to share it all with your children!

Summer 2016 parents, have you sent us all of your forms yet? Please make sure we have received your children’s profile, medical, and transportation forms, as well as your travel itinerary if you plan to be away while your kids are here at camp. You can fill out the profile and transportation forms directly online by logging into your CampMinder account. The medical form is not on our website so please be sure to fill out the hard copy we mailed to you. If you misplaced it, just click “Forms & Mailings” in the “Families” section of our website to download a new one.

Don’t forget that by registering with CampMinder you can view our daily summer photos and weekly videos, as well as send emails to your children. We ask that only immediate family members email our campers because too much information from home can create unnecessary homesickness.

We will be posting blogs right here on our website daily once the children arrive. Additionally, we will continue to tweet daily and post short video clips on our Facebook page as often as possible. So much info for our parents that they will feel as if they, too, are experiencing an Island Lake summer filled with fun!

Now that we are back up at camp, please be sure to mail any outstanding payments and forms directly to our SUMMER ADDRESS in Starrucca, PA. Do not use the New York return envelopes any longer, as that mail takes awhile to be forwarded to us at camp.

Well, that’s about it for now! We look forward to meeting many of our new families at our OPEN HOUSE here at camp on Saturday, June 11th, at 11am sharp.   We cannot wait to see the rest of our Island Lakers shortly afterwards!  Below are some Island Lake sites for you to enjoy.  ILC U HERE!!!

May Parents News

Hey Island Lake Families! Wow, how did May sneak up on us so quickly? With spring in the air, excitement is building and summer 2016 is right around the corner! Yay! As of May 30th, all correspondence should go directly to our summer address at camp.

If your child is enrolled for summer 2016 at Island Lake, please be sure to fill out their Profile and Transportation Forms right here on our website. All forms were due on May 1st. If you haven’t yet taken care of these forms (whoopsie!), please do so right now. Just click the “CampMinder Login” on our homepage and enter your email address and password. If you have not yet created a CampMinder account, click “First Time Users- Create Account” and follow the directions.

It is imperative that we have a Medical Form on file for every child attending Island Lake this summer. The Medical Form cannot be filled out online so please be sure to fill out the form mailed to your home and return it to us as soon as possible. If misplaced, click the following link for a copy: http://www.islandlake.com/pdf/2016/2016_Medical_Form.pdf.  The form is located on our website under “Island Lake Families” then “Forms & Mailings.” As a reminder, you can mail it to our NY winter office until the end of May. After May 25th please mail your Medical Form to our summer address at camp.

Attention all new Island Lake families! By now you should have received your “Spring Mailing” in the postal mail. Enclosed in this mailing are your Parent Handbook, Camper Handbook, Activities Handbook, Medication Policy letter, travel itinerary form, as well as a flyer about our online photos, videos, & emails. For all returning ILC families, these handbooks and flyers are available for you on our website under “Island Lake Families” and “Forms & Mailings.” Whether you are returning or are new to the Island Lake family, please make sure you and your children take a few minutes to sit down and read this spring mailing thoroughly, as we always add new information.

Are you a returning parent who has not yet signed up your child for this upcoming summer at ILC? If so, please, please, please do not put it off any longer. Some of our bunks are now completely full. We truly do not want to turn away any of our devoted campers! It’s very difficult for us when forced to do so each and every year. Please don’t let that happen to your child. If you don’t have a registration form handy, click “Island Lake Families” at the top of the page, then click “Forms & Mailings” and print the “2016 Enrollment Form.” You can mail or fax it directly to our NY office until the end of May, after which it can be sent to our summer address at camp. For faster enrollment, you can simply scan/email the registration form to us at info@islandlake.com.

To all current Island Lake families, we look forward to an amazing summer 2016 with your children!!! To all prospective families, feel free to contact us if you have any questions after browsing our website: 800-869-6083 or 914-769-6060 (after May 30th contact us at 570-798-2550). And last but not least, to one and all…. ILC U THERE! (very very soon!)

April Parent News

Hey ILC families!  Wow, how did April sneak up on us so quickly? With spring in the air, excitement is building and summer 2016 is right around the corner. As of April 1st, we have only 86 days until camp begins! Woohoo!!! We will be moving our offices up to camp over Memorial Weekend so as of May 30th, all correspondence should go directly to our summer address in Starrucca, PA.

If your child is already enrolled for summer 2016, please be sure to fill out your Profile and Transportation Forms here on our website. Just click the “CampMinder Login” link on our homepage and you will be prompted to enter your email address and password. First time users can click “First Time Users – Create Account” below the login link. If your child is a returning camper, we suggest you use the same password that you use to access our summer photos and send emails to your child. You will then have access to the Profile and Transportation Forms. The Medical Form is not in CampMinder so please be sure to fill out and complete the form that was enclosed with your March newsletter last month. You can also download our Medical Form here by clicking “Island Lake Families” at the top of this website and then “Forms & Mailings” on the left side of the page. We have many important forms there for you to print out and use as a guide for packing and what not.

Have you registered your child for this upcoming summer? If not and you plan to do so, please, please, please do not put it off any longer. We truly do not want to turn away any of our devoted campers and it’s very difficult for us when forced to do so each and every year. Please don’t let that happen to your child. It only takes a few minutes to fill out the registration form and send it in to our NY office. If you don’t have one handy, click “Island Lake Families” and then “Forms & Mailings” to the left of the page and print the “2016 Enrollment Form”.

As a reminder to all of our summer 2016 families, please be sure to read our monthly newsletters. The newsletters provide lots of information important to your child’s upcoming summer.  Our newsletter link is located right here on our website (“Island Lake Families” and then “ILC News”), and you will also receive your very own hard copy of our newsletter at the start of each month in the mail.

In early May we will be sending you our big spring mailing. This will include a camper handbook, parent handbook, activities handbook, our medication policy, information about emailing your child, viewing photos and videos on the web, and lots of other important camp information. Please be sure to read through this packet, as there will be tons of important info enclosed for you, the parents, as well as your child.

Well, that’s about it for now. Enjoy your navigation through our site checking out all of our fun-filled activities and smiling faces. Island Lake Camp offers a program that furthers your child’s growth, independence, and sense of decision-making while simultaneously giving them the responsibility to create their own exciting summer. To all current Island Lake families, we look forward to an amazing summer 2016 with your children. To all prospective families, feel free to contact us if you have any questions after browsing our website: 800-869-6083 or 914-769-6060. And last but not least, to all,…ILC U THERE!

March Parents News

Happy March! Our summer 2016 countdown has kicked into gear and lucky for us, summer, and for that matter camp, will approach before we know it. 116 more days as of March 1st! Wow, we’re almost at the double digit mark!

Any day now all summer 2016 families should receive a letter regarding camp forms, a Medical Form, as well as your monthly newsletter. The enclosed Medical Form must be completed by both a parent and a physician as required by Pennsylvania law. On our website we have TONS of information to prepare you and your children for this summer. There are forms online that we request you fill out promptly via your CampMinder account. The Profile Form helps us guide your children when they choose their activities and put together their schedules. The Transportation Form lets us know which bus your children will be taking to camp. If we do not receive the Transportation Form in our office by May 1st, we will have to assign a bus to your children. In June, we will send you detailed information on the bus locations, along with luggage tags that you will use to mark your children’s bags. You can access all of our other forms on our website at islandlake.com and then clicking “Island Lake Families,” and “Forms & Mailings.”

A reminder to our summer ‘15 and ’16 families, don’t forget to read our monthly newsletters. You can access them here on our website or at the start of every month in your mailbox in hard copy form. The newsletters provide important information for parents as well as campers, including enrollment and availability updates.

Speaking of enrollment, if you haven’t yet registered your child for summer 2016 but plan to do so, please, please, please do not put it off any longer. We truly do not want to turn away any of our devoted campers and it’s very difficult for us when forced to do so every year. Don’t let that happen to your child. Some bunks are already full! It only takes a few minutes to fill out the registration form, we promise! If you don’t have one handy, click “Island Lake Families”, “Forms & Mailings” and then print the “2016 Enrollment Form”.

To all current Island Lake families, we look forward to an amazing summer 2016 with your children. To all prospective families, feel free to contact us if you have any questions after browsing our website: 800-869-6083 or 914-769-6060. And last but not least, to one and all…. ILC U THERE!

February Parent News

Happy February! As we sit here in our winter office looking at the snow outside of our windows, it feels as though summer 2015 was all a distant dream. However, our summer 2016 countdown has already kicked into gear and lucky for us, camp will sneak up on us before we know it. Less than 150 days to go! Our camp reunion on November 21st was a huge success. Check out our reunion photos posted right here on our website homepage!

We are busy preparing for 2 big trips we are now offering to all of our oldest campers and CITs this upcoming summer. First, we’re excited for our 2nd annual TEEN TOUR to all of our CIT-age kids entering 11th grade in the fall of 2016. This teen tour will include traveling around the west coast of the US of A, visiting cities in the states of California (San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles), Nevada, Arizona, and more! We guarantee that this is going to be a once in a lifetime experience for all of our CITs who take advantage of this amazing trip. For more information give us a call at our winter office and we’d be happy to answer your questions.

Our 2nd trip is our annual 4 day/3 night TEEN TRIP in our 3rd session. This summer’s trip is to Montreal and Quebec, Canada! This amazing trip will be offered to all campers entering 9th grade and higher. Check out more details about this fun-filled experience in the mailing we recently sent out to all who qualify to go. There is an enrollment form for you to fill out and return to us at our winter office. Not only will we be visiting Montreal, but we will also take a day trip to Quebec! So,…much,…FUN!!!

A reminder to our summer ‘15 and ’16 families; don’t forget to read our monthly newsletters. You can access them here on our website as well as in your postal mailbox at the start of every month. Our newsletters provide important information for parents as well as campers, including enrollment and availability updates.

Speaking of enrollment, if you have not yet registered your child for summer 2016 but plan to do so, please, please, please do not put it off any longer. Some bunks are now completely full. We truly do not want to turn away loyal campers so let’s avoid that from happening. You can register your child with the registration form mailed to you with your newsletter or you can download the form here on our website under “Island Lake Families” and then “Forms & Mailings”. It only takes a few minutes to fill out the registration form, we promise!

To all current Island Lake families, we look forward to an amazing summer 2016 with your children. To all prospective families, feel free to contact us if you have any questions after browsing our website: 800-869-6083 or 914-769-6060. And last but not least, to one and all,…ILC U THERE!

January Parents News

Happy New Year! All of us at Island Lake hope you had a wonderful holiday season filled with love, happiness, presents, and lots to reminiscence about your children’s wonderful memories of their 2015 ILC experiences. As we sit here in our winter office with the chill outside, it feels as though summer 2015 is a distant, yet fond, memory. Our countdown for summer 2016 has already kicked into gear and our opening day of camp will be here before we know it. Words cannot even describe our excitement for summer 2016 to get here already! 173 days until camp begins (as of January 4th)!

Our camp reunion on November 21st was a huge success! Screams of excitement filled the air as campers and staff embraced one another. We had a fantastic turnout, including children and counselors who flew in from other parts of the country just to see their camp friends. The reunion never seems to last long enough. Time flies when we’re having fun catching up with many of our Island Lakers. Check out our reunion photos posted right here on our website, on our Facebook page, as well as on our ILC App.

We’re busing planning for our annual 3rd session TEEN TRIP, which this summer will be to Montreal & Quebec, Canada. This Canada trip will be offered to all campers entering 9th grade and higher. Check out more details in your January newsletter and if you have any additional questions again, feel free to give us a call. The enrollment forms and more details for this trip will be mailed out shortly to all who are eligible to take advantage of this fun-filled experience.

A reminder to our summer ‘15 and ’16 families; don’t forget to read our monthly newsletters. You can access them here on our website, as well as in your postal mailbox at the start of every month. Our newsletters provide important information for parents as well as campers, including enrollment and availability updates.

Speaking of enrollment, if you have not yet registered your child for summer 2016 but plan to do so, please, please, please do not put it off any longer. Some of our bunks are now completely full. We truly do not want to turn away loyal campers, so let’s avoid that from happening. You can register your child with the registration form mailed to you with your newsletter or you can download the form here on our website under “Island Lake Families” and then “Forms & Mailings” (on the left-hand side of the page). It only takes a few minutes to fill out the registration form, we promise!

To all current Island Lake families, we look forward to an amazing summer 2016 with your children. To all previous or prospective families, feel free to contact us if you have any questions after browsing our website: 800-869-6083 or 914-769-6060. And last but not least, all of us here at Island Lake wish you, our campers, parents, and staff, a very Happy New Year!!! ILC U THERE (at camp this summer)!

December Parent News

Hey Island Lake families!  We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. With winter just about here, it is our hope that your children still have camp on the brain and continue to share their wonderful ILC summer 2015 memories with you. Our countdown for next summer has already kicked into gear, as the opening day of camp will emerge upon us before we know it.

Our camp reunion on November 21st was a huge success! Screams of excitement filled the air as campers and staff embraced one another. We had a fantastic turnout, including children who flew in from other parts of the country just to see their camp friends. The reunion never seems to last long enough. Time flies when we’re having fun catching up with many of our Island Lakers. Check out our reunion photos posted on our Facebook page. Many more will be posted here on our website and on our Island Lake app shortly.

We are excited to offer our 2nd annual West Coast Teen Tour for all of our CIT’s entering 11th grade in the fall of 2016. Please see our October 12th blog for more details. If you have any additional questions about this trip, simply give us a call in our NY office.

By now all of our summer 2015 camp families should have received our amazing ILC video yearbook. We hope you and your children have taken the opportunity to watch this super fun video filled with many exciting summer activities and memories. For an hour you can forget about all that’s going on around you and truly feel a part of the ILC experience. We hear some children have been watching it on loop, over and over again. Enjoy it!

Reminders to all families, returning and new, don’t forget to read our monthly newsletters. They are located right here online, as well as in your regular postal mailbox at the start of every month. Our newsletters provide important information for you, including enrollment and availability updates.

Speaking of enrollment, if you have not yet registered your child for summer 2016 but plan to do so, please, please, please do not put it off any longer. Some bunks are now completely full. We truly do not want to turn away our loyal campers, so let’s avoid that from happening. You can register your child with the registration form mailed to you with your newsletter or you can download the form here on our website under “Island Lake Families” and then “Forms & Mailings”.

With all of the winter cheer around us, we wish you and your families a spectacular holiday season! Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and a happy and healthy New Year to all! ILC U THERE!