Covid-19 - Safety Protocols & Updates
June 2021
Tinkering School summer camps are open and closely following the San Francisco Department of Public Health directives. Please refer to our COVID Health Plan for detailed information. We take safety seriously so we are:
Social distancing when possible - 3 feet when outdoors; 6 feet when indoors
Encouraging our staff to be vaccinated
Wearing masks when indoors regardless of vacination status
Ensuring our indoor space is well ventilated
Using hand sanitizer each time we enter or exit the space
Requiring evidence of a negative COVID test prior to returning to camp when COVID symptoms are present
November 20, 2020
COVID-19 Preparedness: Safety is always our #1 priority at Tinkering School. To reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission at our in-person after school Tinkering programs, we continue to follow all San Francisco Department of Public Health directives and guidance regarding Out of School Time activities including requirements for all staff and Tinkerers to maintain:
6 feet social distancing
Constant mask usage outside of snack time
Regular hand washing/sanitation, daily sanitation of the work shop and tools
Programs no bigger than 12 campers, lasting for a minimum of 3 weeks
Staff will only work with one program cohort at a time
Please refer to our Covid Health and Safety Plan for more information.
September 22, 2020
Fall is here!
We are excited to announce that in-person Tinkering is back! After-school sessions start October 12th and are offered every month.
Note that space is limited, so sign up soon! We are following strict Health Department guidelines for keeping everyone safe, so numbers are limited. (See the SFDPH Health Directives page for an updated version of the Outside of School Time (OST) directive from the department of health.
We are also enrolling our awesome new online tinkering camps.
Catalyst 2.0 - Building Big at Home (Ages 8-13)
Digital Tinkering - Code to Cardboard (Ages 10-15)
We hope to see you soon!
Sincerely,
The Tinkering School Staff
May 29, 2020
Dear Tinkering Families,
Thank you for your patience while we gathered information on new Covid-19 regulations and weighed every possible contingency regarding camp operations this summer. There is nothing we love more than helping campers learn new skills and build wild, epic projects together, so it’s with deep sadness that we have some disappointing news to share with you:
We have canceled all summer 2020 sessions of our San Rafael Day Camp, San Francisco Day Camp, and Overnight Camp at Elkus Ranch.
Operating our standard camps has sadly become impossible due to a combination of restrictions ranging from Overnight camps being disallowed in San Mateo county, to day camp size and session length limits in San Francisco and Marin counties.
If you were previously registered for one of our in-person summer camps, you should have received an email with instructions for transferring or canceling your reservation. If you didn't receive it, please reach out to us at info@tinkeringschool.com.
Fortunately, we have good news too!
Online summer camp registration is open! Check out these exciting programs and sign up today:
Catalyst 2.0 - Building Big at Home (Ages 8-13)
Digital Tinkering - Code to Cardboard (Ages 10-15)
New 2020 San Francisco Day Camp (in development)
We are actively working to restructure our day camp experience to hopefully provide one or two sessions that are 3 to 4 weeks long and that can accommodate small groups of 12 campers and meet SF County health regulations. We are hoping to run these camps between the weeks of July 6 - Aug 17. Reservations for these new sessions will be made via a lottery and we will announce more details about this as soon as possible.
In closing, we imagine you and your campers are as disappointed as we are that we won't be able to run our traditional Tinkering camps in 2020. We really wanted to share part of our summer with you all in person. We hope we can get back to building with drills and chop saws soon, and in the meantime we wish you and your family the best of health.
Sincerely,
The Tinkering School Staff
May 12, 2020
Tinkering School's General Summer Plan (more details coming soon)
In-person Camps
We are actively planning to run all currently scheduled in-person Overnight and Day Camps
We will run these in-person camps ONLY if we are able to meet or exceed health regulations and guidelines from the following four main sources:
County health departments (San Mateo for overnight camp, San Francisco for SF day camp, and Marin for Mark Day's day camp)
Health & Safety Camp Policies: like many other summer camps across the country, Tinkering School is waiting to review the soon-to be released camp operation guidelines from the CDC and American Camp Association. Their recommendations will play a central role in our efforts to update and finalize our health procedures and policies. Families will be able to review these plans for themselves to ensure they satisfy all requirements
Given how quickly new Covid-19 government responses and regulations are evolving, we unfortunately cannot guarantee that in-person camp will run any given week
In the event that an in-person camp session is canceled,
Prior to the first day:
We will make every effort to notify families 2-4 weeks in advance on a rolling basis. (Please note that it’s possible that an in-person session might need to cancel suddenly within 2 weeks prior to camp should health authorities dictate)
We will quickly pivot to running an online camp instead for the same week. If you reserve a backup spot in one of our online camps, you will simply attend that camp
If you did not previously reserve an online backup option, and there are no available online spaces that week, you will have the option to apply your tuition toward a credit for next season, make a donation to our scholarship fund, or receive a full refund
During the camp session:
We will do everything in our power to transition to an online camp the following day and finish out the week together. In that scenario, your child would receive a tinkering materials kit upon pickup
If we’re unable to transition online for the remainder of the session, you will receive a prorated refund based on the session’s daily tuition average
Child pick-up: all parents with children attending our Overnight and/or Day Camps will be required to provide assurance that they can pick up their children within 3-4 hours notice at any time of day or night. We will have the appropriate isolation facilities and procedures in place if a Covid-19 exposure is suspected mid-week, but we will not have the resources to quarantine campers overnight. Sadly we understand this will likely make it impossible for children who fly independently to attend our in-person camps
Online Camps
We are proud and excited to report that the online programs we have developed continue to represent our Tinkering School values that encourage children to dream and build big, embrace the value of iteration and making mistakes, and discover the joy of collaboration and teamwork.
Timeline: registration will open by the end of May. Online camps will possibly start as early as June 15
Tuition: online camp tuition will be a little less than our in-person Day Camp rates. If transitioning from in-person camps, families will be given the option to assign the remainder as a credit for future programs, a donation to our scholarship fund, or a full refund. Online Tinkering kits are provided free of charge for campers transitioning from in-person camp. For other campers, kits are included in tuition
Ratios: like our in-person camps, all our online camps operate with staff-to-camper ratios no higher than 1:6, allowing us to create a supportive, individualized camp experience for each Tinkerer
Zoom: screen fatigue is real. Our online camps will operate similar to a day at summer camp, with lots of breaks, and a variety of activities to keep things fresh and provide enough movement for energetic campers
No Prior Experience: our online camps provide multiple entry points for both beginners and experienced tinkerers to investigate their own interesting questions and designs
Programs: families will have the choice of selecting one of two (possibly three) online programs (below) as a backup option to in-person camp this summer. If there’s space after our initial selection period, families may be able to sign up for additional online camps later
Catalyst 2.0 (Ages 8 - 15)
Building on our popular online Catalyst kit after school programs, we are adding some exciting electrical components including LEDs, switches, and motors that will allow us to build even more complex and amazing creations. And just because we’re building at home doesn’t mean we can’t build big! We’ll also be providing large sheets of cardboard, duct-tape and other supplies to incorporate into our designs and scale up our projects big time!
Playful Prototyping Online (Ages 10-15)
Much like our in-person Playful Prototyping day camp sessions, these online weeks will be dedicated to pushing the boundaries between science, art, technology and engineering. Campers will have an opportunity to combine large-scale cardboard projects with electronics, robotics, household materials, playful computer programming and a whimsical spirit. We’ll be providing micro:bit, LED’s, large cardboard sheets, and other materials in tTinkering kits
Mars Mission (Program launch dates TBD)
We are super excited about this collaborative, narrative based online program! Working together, campers from around the world will tackle tough Mars exploration challenges where they operate robots from their computers to create roads, habitats, and bridges in our 60 foot diameter mock-crater in California. According to our Consulting Planetary Scientist, this is the next best thing to actually being on Mars!
This program is still in the early development phase, and we don't quite yet know when it will be launched, but if you would like to join the list of potential campers we might contact if there are opportunities for program testing, please note your preference in the survey
April 26, 2020
An update about summer camp:
Dear Tinkering Families,
Ensuring the safety of our campers and staff in all of our programs continues to be our top priority. We are actively monitoring safety recommendations from health agencies and the American Camp Association as we evaluate whether we can continue to safely offer in-person summer camps this year.
Thankfully, adaptation and thinking "outside the box" are embedded in Tinkering School's DNA, so you also may not be surprised to learn that we have been cooking up some super exciting programming options in preparation for if we need to shift some or all of our camps online.
We are nearing a decision point and will share with you all our updated summer plans by May 11th at the latest.
In the meantime, we fully understand if you need to cancel your summer reservations (we are providing full refunds for Covid-19 related cancelations), but we also ask for your patience, and to ideally wait till May 11th so that you can consider the full options of what we will be offering.
As always, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. You can reach us at info@tinkeringschool.com
Stay safe and Tinker on!
~The Tinkering School Staff
March 24, 2020 Update:
New online Spring Break Camp will be held from March 31 - April 2
New online After School Tinkering Sessions will be held in April and run for 4 weeks.
In person, Spring After School Tinkering is still being offered (contingent on Covid-19 precautions), and will run for 4 weeks in May.
March 18, 2020 Update:
Our staff (like our Bay Area neighbors), are working and sheltering from home until April 7th unless otherwise notified by state and local agencies.
Our traditional Spring Break Camp has been canceled. A virtual Spring Break Camp is being considered. More details to come soon.
Spring After School Tinkering has been postponed and shortened to 5 weeks starting May 5th and 7th.
March 18, 2020
A message from our Tinkering School family:
Our hearts go out to all those impacted by Covid-19, both here in the Bay Area, and around the world. We wish you and your family the best of health as we all navigate these challenging times.
Tinkering School continues to closely monitor and follow CDC and local Public Health Department requirements as we develop our evolving Covid-19 response. We are also staying updated on the latest policy recommendations from the American Camp Association as we re-examine our health response procedures to ensure we meet or exceed required Department of Health standards.
In the midst of these uncertain times, we continue to find strength and inspiration from our resilient community as well as our guiding Tinkering School values. Just as we teach our campers, we are reminded that when we collaborate together to design and implement innovative solutions, we are capable of affecting positive change in our world, regardless of the circumstances.
In this spirit, we have been rapidly prototyping these past weeks and we are pleased to offer some exciting new Online Tinkering Programs and Tinkering at Home resources tailored for these unique times. We hope you join us in exploring this new online Tinkering sandbox!
Be sure to signup for our newsletter to get the latest updates.
What about summer camp?
Many families may understandably be wondering if Tinkering School’s Summer Camp will be impacted by Covid-19. While this is a dynamic, changing situation, at this time we are still planning to host our summer programs which begin at the end of June. We will notify families immediately if there are any updates to these plans.
Please note that in addition to our standard cancellation policy, we will provide a variety of options including a full tuition refund if Covid-19 causes reservation cancellations. You can refer to our full cancellation policy for more information.
We hope this provides some peace of mind and encouragement for families to still Sign up for Summer Camp – there's a couple spots left in most sessions!
Together we will Tinker on!
~ The Tinkering School Staff