Camp Rejected Our Girls For This Summer. Now What?

By Yitzchok

We just received a rejection letter for our daughters from the overnight camp they attended last summer. It’s the camp they loved, and to which we paid full tuition.

And now, a flat rejection. No explanation. No phone call. No conversation. Just a letter that says: not this year.

I don’t know the reason.

Is it truly a space issue? Is it a waiting list? Is it something else entirely? If there was a concern, why wasn’t it discussed? Why no clarity?

Because the hardest part isn’t only the rejection. It’s what comes next: confusion, scrambling, and the feeling of being stuck with nowhere to turn.

Here are the facts.

We have two daughters. My older daughter had a strong summer. She thrived. She was happy, involved, and successful. There were no issues.

My younger daughter needed some extra support. Nothing extreme. Nothing that should disqualify a child from returning to camp. Children needing support are normal.

We addressed it responsibly. We paid for additional help in camp, including extra staff support. That support wasn’t just for our daughter. It became a resource that the camp itself used.

Which is why I’m struggling to understand how we go from a summer that worked, with collaboration and full payment, to a rejection letter with no explanation.

I’m asking a very basic parental question: What are we supposed to do now?

At this point in the process, applying elsewhere means landing at the bottom of every list. There are no obvious alternatives. Everywhere, the answer seems to be, “We’re full.”

So what is the expectation in our community?

Are parents supposed to apply to multiple camps “just in case”?
Are families expected to spend thousands of dollars on application fees to protect themselves from being left without options?

Most families can’t do that. And no one tells you this is how the system works.

Which leads to a more troubling question.

Do children now need to be “perfect” to deserve camp?
Is needing extra support enough to quietly close the door, without conversation or guidance?

Camp is not meant to be a prize for perfection. It’s meant to be a place where children grow.

I keep thinking about a story shared by Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, who spoke about Gan Yisroel years ago. When told there was a waiting list, the Rebbe responded, “Build another bunk.”

Not “turn them away.” Not “sorry, we’re full.” Build another bunk.

Rabbi Cunin described how they literally built extra bunks in the final week of camp preparation so there would be room for more children. The Rebbe even visited camp himself, underscoring how central overnight camp was to Jewish chinuch.

So I ask camp directors, respectfully and honestly.

When rejection letters go out, is there clarity behind them? Is there conversation? Is there guidance?

Because when a child is rejected without explanation, it’s not just an application being declined. It’s a child losing her summer, and parents having to break that news without answers.

What is the actual system right now? Which camps still have space? Who is helping families who are rejected find alternatives? What is the process when a child needs support, before the door is closed?

Parents aren’t asking for favors. They’re asking for somewhere to send their children.

And we shouldn’t be a community where a parent has to look at their child and say, “I’m sorry. There’s just no place for you.”