FAQ

Camp slots are first come first serve with priority given to current after school participants, summer 2023 returners and Camden City residents.

Locations:

• South Camden (Camp Peace) – 1722 Broadway (Fellowship House)- 4th-8th
• Fairview (Camp Freedom) – 1063 N. Common Road- 1st -6th
• East Camden (Camp Spirit) – 27 N. 36th Street- 5th -8th
• East Camden (Camp Faith)- Rudderow St- 1st -4th

Summer camp runs from July 1-August 8, 2024 (no camp on July 4th)
Monday-Thursdays, 8:30 am- 1:00 pm

Camp slots are first come first serve with priority given to current after school participants, summer 2023 returners and Camden City residents.

Our summer camps are free except for a one time fee of $40 and additional $20 per child (same household). This is to be paid in cash or money order on the first day of camp.

Camp slots are first come first serve with priority given to current after school participants, summer 2023 returners and Camden City residents.

Breakfast and lunch will be served daily (if you send your child’s food it must be in a labeled lunch box and can’t require refrigeration or heating).

Transportation is not offered for campers during the summer.

Camp slots are first come first serve with priority given to current after school participants, summer 2023 returners and Camden City residents.

Please see the Enrollment page to learn more about how to enroll your child.

UrbanPromise will offer a scholarship to all students. The scholarship is need-based and covers between 33% and 100% of the tuition cost. As part of your enrollment process, the principal or enrollment officer will review your income information and let you know the scholarship amount for which you qualify. Other potential costs include uniforms, transportation, and the school breakfast and lunch program—although most families qualify for free or reduced price breakfast and lunch.

Children who qualify for additional services–either because of their standardized test scores or because of an evaluation by the Child Study team–have access to extra individualized or small group help from instructional aides or supplemental teachers and can have modifications made to their assignments or extra time to complete assignments or tests. Volunteer tutors, screenings by a school nurse, and extra help from teachers during or after school are available for all students. UrbanPromise schools do not have any self-contained classrooms, so any students who need that level of support in order to do their best may wish to consider another educational alternative.

The local public high school the student would attend, if they did not attend our school, is required by law to allow that student to try-out or participate in sports at the public high school like any student at that school.

CamdenForward School and UrbanPromise Academy require students to wear a uniform. Uniform City on Broadway in Camden supplies uniforms for UrbanPromise students. Parents will receive a list of acceptable uniform options as a part of their application packet.

UrbanPromise’s experiential learning programs expose youth to the diversity of people, places, and natural landscapes outside the environment of their everyday lives. Our programming follows the philosophy that education is a lifelong journey that, when nurtured, leads to an endless childlike curiosity and a continual quest to know “why.” Each component is designed to complement the academic rigors in place within the UrbanPromise classroom.  UrbanTrekkers aids in the leadership and character development of countless middle and high school youth, encouraging them to become motivated, disciplined, goal-oriented, and successful members of society.

Yes, both CFS and UPA offer art and gym All students participate in gym class each week. All CamdenForward School students have weekly art classes. UrbanPromise Academy students can choose to take art as one of their electives.

Discipline policies at the schools are designed to promote a safe and positive learning environment for everyone in the school community. Discipline is not about punishing bad behavior but about helping students develop self-control and self-regulation. Policies in the school seek to keep students in the classroom as much as possible while still providing a safe environment for everyone involved.

Unfortunately, at the moment UrbanPromise is unable to provide transportation to and from school for our students. However, transportation supports are available. The Camden Board of Education provides bus passes for students living within Camden but more than a few miles from the school. Parents living outside Camden who drive their children to and from school can often apply for reimbursement from their local school district.

There is an after care program for students at the CamdenForward School (K-8) called Elevate. Elevate is operated by the school and is only for students that attend our school. UrbanPromise offers additional neighborhood-based after school and summer camp programs for children in grades 1-8 that are open to our students and the community.

If you child attends the CamdenForward School and would like to attend the school’s after care program, please contact school staff.

The following information is for our neighborhood-based programs in East Camden (our main campus), South Camden, and Fairview.

The registration form must be completed by the parent or legal guardian of the child(ren). You may include multiple children on this application, as long as you are the parent/legal guardian of all children.

In order to complete this online application you will need:
– Basic information about you, your child(ren), and emergency contacts
– Health insurance information for your child(ren)

Please note: submission of this application is not verification of enrollment.  After your application is submitted, you will be contacted by a member of our team.

If you have questions, please contact gmcdowell@urbanpromiseusa.org.

Our neighborhood-based after school programs are for children in grades 1-8 and are located in South Camden, Fairview, and East Camden/Pennsauken.

For students at our CamdenForward School, there is a K-8 after care program available at the school.

Transportation varies by site. Please review to determine if our camps can meet your families needs.

South Camden (Camp Peace)
Children attending Sacred Heart or HB Wilson will be picked up from school.  Children from other schools may enroll, but must have daily transportation to the program.  Transportation home is discussed directly with the program director.  Any child for whom transportation cannot be provided must have a ride home.

Fairview (Camp Peace)
Transportation from school to program and from program back home is limited and discussed directly with the program director.

East Camden (Camp Spirit/Faith)
Serves children attending the CamdenForward School. Children from other schools may enroll, but must have daily transportation to the program.  All participants must have a ride home as no transportation is provided.

CamdenForward School (Elevate)
Serves children attending the CamdenForward School. All participants must have a ride home as no transportation is provided.

There is no fee for after school program enrollment. Should your child(ren) wish to participate in summer programming, a modest fee may apply. Information would be provided prior to summer camp enrollment.

Email info@urbanpromiseusa.org to be connected with our Church Relations Manager

Churches support UrbanPromise by inviting staff and youth of UrbanPromise to speak on Sunday mornings, sending workgroups, providing financial support, and collecting in-kind donations. Email info@urbanpromiseusa.org to be connected with our Church Relations Manager.

Typically, Bruce Main or a representative of UrbanPromise’s leadership prepare the message for Sunday morning services, shares during part of the service about our work in Camden, and/or facilitates small groups.  Plans for the visit would be determined in advance with our Church Relations Manager.  Email info@urbanpromiseusa.org for more information.

Yes.  A Partner sponsors a student in our schools. You are paired with a student to encourage engagement throughout the school year. There are additional program sponsorship opportunities in our other programs.

Engagement with students through the Partner Program is optional.

Email info@urbanpromiseusa.org to be connected with our Partner Program Manager.

Yes! You are welcome to schedule a visit during the student’s lunch period or volunteer in the classroom.

A partner signs up for one academic school year with the option to renew at the beginning of each year.  Our hope is for our partners to continue on with their student throughout their school career at UrbanPromise.

Daily, weekly, monthly, virtually, in-person, and one–time opportunities up to 6 days a week & 12 months a year.  Depending on what your interests are, we can create a schedule that makes sense for you.

Over 40+ ways to serve:

• Volunteer in our schools
• Youth programming
• Wellness programming
• Administrative support
• Special event volunteers
• Experiential learning  with our boat shop, Trekker trips,  and environmental  stewardship programs

This is our #1 question, and the stock answer is “there’s always stuff to do here”.

We have nine buildings and a campus to maintain and keep clean.  We also have one person on payroll who is responsible for that. So when groups come, depending on the weather there are outdoor projects:  garden cleanup and maintenance, weeding, lawn cutting, trash pick-up, power washing, trimming, mowing, etc

Some of our indoor projects include:  furniture moving, classroom maintenance and painting, basement clean-up and purging, general cleaning, etc.

For groups with “skilled personnel” like plumbing, carpentry, electrical we like to know that in advance so we can create specific projects for them.

It depends when you come.  We host groups on Saturday and their time typically goes from 9am-1pm.

If a group comes during the week, we can be flexible with your availability.  Morning session, afternoon session, or all-day (9 a.m.—5 p.m.)

We do offer single day WorkGroups and in addition offer multi-day WorkGroups with housing accommodations.  The two most popular multi-day trips include our “Spring Break” and “Summer Camp” trips.

But we operate all year long, so we can certainly accommodate an overnight groups in the winter and fall seasons as well.

There is no cost to our single day WorkGroups, but encourage a financial or “gift-in-kind” donations.

Our week long Mission Trips does have a cost of $400 per person for the week.  This price includes housing,  two dinner meals, a tee shirt and an “awesome experience”.