With three campuses totaling 303 acres, complete with a ropes course, a swimming pool, 16 outdoor athletic fields and five full-size gymnasiums as well as more than 30 dedicated spaces for performing and visual arts, three kitchens for cooking and 15 labs for scientific exploration, there is truly something for everyone at Pingry Summer. The camp’s phenomenal summer staff is dedicated to helping campers quickly connect and develop new skills, have fun and experience their best summer ever.
CUSTOM BUILD A PERFECT CAMP EXPERIENCE
Pingry Summer is a co-educational environment with programming for children ages three through eighteen. The summer programs are designed to give students and campers a “taste of Pingry in the summer,” says Camp Director Cindy McArthur.
There are more than 100 programs campers can sign up for on three campuses across Somerset and Essex Counties, including overnight offerings and full- and half-day options.
“Campers can try something new, dive more deeply into something they love, or—best of all—they can do both,” McArthur says. The camp’s summer offerings include: academics, theater, dance, music, swim instruction, sports, cooking and STEAM, just to name a few. With hands-on instruction and small staff/child ratios, Pingry Summer offers individualized attention from registration to selection.
In addition to Pingry’s varied selections, the camp also offers a concierge service. “Pingry can build out personalized plans for each child that navigate the parents through the decision process by creating a customized summer plan including all items on their camp wish list,” McArthur says. “We’re very confident that we can provide a meaningful summer experience for each camper.”
BEST-IN-CLASS CAMPUSES AND FACILITIES
The Short Hills 28-acre campus offers a turf field, STEAM classrooms and studio space, as well as a playground and two full-length grass athletic fields. The camps held on this campus include Pingry Academics, Pingry Sports, Mega-V, International Ivy, Red Bulls Soccer and Swax Lax.
The 192-acre Basking Ridge campus is a veritable athletic wonderland with three full-length turf athletic fields, 12 tennis courts, three baseball diamonds, an indoor pool, three theaters and the Bugliari Athletics Center, which includes four basketball courts, eight squash courts and an athletic training room. Outdoor features include a campsite and a 3.1-mile trail course that winds through woodlands, meadows, farm and a pond. The Basking Ridge campus is home to Big Blue Day Camp, Minis Camp, Pingry Academics, Pingry Sports, Elefante Summer Music Theater Program, Pulse Sports Camp, Diplomat Chess, Sticky Fingers Cooking Camp, Grit Basketball and Yankees Baseball.
Lastly, the 83-acre Pottersville campus is an overnight home that sleeps more than 150 campers across three dormitories. It includes a 40-foot-high climbing wall, a ropes course, indoor artificial turf athletic center, theater and 22 buildings that house everything from community and collaborative spaces to classrooms and laboratories.
The Pottersville camps include Big Blue Day Camp, Pingry Academics, Pingry Sports, Maestro Soccer and Pulse Sports Camp. “The breadth of physical space is just another part of the diverse experience of a Pingry summer,” McArthur says. “We have a strong academic program, a strong arts program and a strong sports program.”
AFFORDABLE ACCESS FOR ALL
Along with the diversity of its camp offerings, Pingry Summer also takes pride in being accessible and affordable to the surrounding community. In fact, as many as 60 percent of campers are not Pingry students during the school year.
“Our price point is very competitive, if not better than a lot of the surrounding schools,” McArthur says. “Our goal is to make it as accessible and as open to the community that we serve, regardless of whether those community members are students at our school, or just happen to live in the area. And that’s why we believe that having a variety of menu options is so important—because we want to be able to reach as many people in the community as possible.”
131 Martinsville Rd., Basking Ridge
51 Pottersville Rd., Pottersville
50 Country Day Dr., Short Hills
973-379-4550, ext. 1217
pingrysummer.org