The application for the 2012 sessions is now available.
Download the 2012 camper application (pdf)
IMPORTANT:
Before filling out an application, please read the Application Information below.
Click here for Scholarship Information.
Return application to:
835 Sugar Creek Rd.
Lexington, VA 24450
For inquiries or more information please e-mail director Philip Coulling (director ["at" symbol] naturecamp.net) or call 540-460-7897.
Summer address (after June 15): 316 Nature Camp Trail, Vesuvius, VA 24483 ph: 540-377-2491
Click here for information about Nature Camp’s annual Adult Session.
APPLICATION INFORMATION
Camper applications must be postmarked no earlier than 17 January 2012. Submissions before this date will not be accepted. There is no application deadline; applications will be accepted on a “first-come, first-serve” basis after January 17.
Please note that current ninth graders are eligible to attend either First or Second Session and eighth graders may attend either Second or Third Session. Note as well that current twelfth graders are still eligible to attend First Session the summer after they have graduated from high school. Returning sixth graders may attend either Third or Fourth Session, but new campers who are currently in sixth grade should enroll in Fourth Session.
Notification of acceptance will be mailed within two weeks of the receipt of each application as long as space allows. Detailed information for enrolled campers and a medical form for each individual will follow in the spring. Deposit checks will be held until notification of acceptance is provided. We have capacity for about 40 boys and 48 girls in each session. Applications will continue to be accepted throughout the spring as space allows, but availability cannot be guaranteed. Should a particular session fill, we will place additional applicants on a waiting list and notify them of their status. Every year some accepted campers withdraw their applications, and we endeavor to admit as many campers as we can. If you are placed on the waiting list, we will hold your check until we can offer you a place or until you request its return.
Nature Camp is unique in its academic focus. Since its inception Nature Camp has emphasized hands-on, place-based, experiential education in natural history and environmental studies. All applicants should be advised of the requirements to attend twice-daily classes, to maintain a notebook, to complete all (usually written) assignments, to take part in outdoor activities, and to participate cooperatively in shared duties and responsibilities typical of a summer camp environment. Campers are expected to accept the academic challenges with enthusiasm, commitment and hard work. Our long history has shown that campers typically discover the joy in learning and many have enthusiastically returned for more of what Nature Camp has to offer. Those seeking a purely recreational experience, however, will be unhappy.
