Camps

Camp Umoja

Camp Umoja is a summer day camp for children from Baltimore City Public Housing.  Since its beginning in 1985, children between the ages of 6 and 11 have attended.  Located at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson, Maryland, the camp offers daily Red Cross certified swimming lessons, arts and crafts and a tutoring program.  Volunteer counselors from Notre Dame Prep and local boy's schools provide the campers with close supervision in a caring atmosphere.  Our key to success is the one-on-one attention that our counselors give to the children.  Umoja, which means “unity” in Swahili, has special meaning for the camp.  At Camp Umoja, high school students and young children from two very different worlds come together.  In that setting the counselors come to recognize the value of direct service, and that inner city kids have hopes and dreams just like they do.  The young campers gain many important skills through tutoring, arts and crafts, and swimming.  They also grow from the recognition that their counselors care deeply about them.  Seeking to continue their relationships with their campers throughout the year, NDP students formed Club Umoja.

Sisters Academy Summer Camp

Started in 2005, the Sisters Academy Summer Camp, is a day camp offering sports and fitness opportunities for the students of Sisters Academy of Baltimore, a Catholic, community-centered middle school, that educates girls from families of limited economic means, in southwest Baltimore. Notre Dame Prep students volunteer as counselors at the camp, offering support, encouragement, and friendship with these middle-schoolers and maintain their relationship with the students throughout the following school year.  Currently, in its third year of existence, Sisters Academy only has a 5th, 6th, and 7th grade (the 7th grade will be their first graduating class a year from now).  Activities include swimming, basketball, volleyball, dance, yoga, tennis, drama, art, and computers.