St Matthew's Day Camp
Palisades Fire Update - February 26, 2025
Dear Day Camp Families-
I want to provide you all with a brief update regarding our plans for Day Camp this summer. It looks like the St. Matthew’s property will not be ready for us to welcome our campers and staff by June. It is estimated that all St. Matthew’s programs will need to take place elsewhere until early 2026.
We have been busy searching for our new temporary home for the summer. We are exploring all options to find a location that best meets the needs of our camp program — large grassy fields, some undeveloped natural areas, space for crafts, and a swimming pool. While we may not find an available location with everything we want, I am optimistic that we will find a place where we can effectively continue the Day Camp traditions that have been 70 years in the making.
The majority of returning families have already submitted applications, thank you! Since we opened our applications a week late this year, we have decided to extend the deadline to March 8th. You can find the information about applying to camp at www.ilovedaycamp.com.
I know that there is still some uncertainty about what exactly the summer will look like. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out via email. I will continue to provide updates as soon as more information is available.
Sincerely,
Erik Warren, Director
Palisades Fire Update - February 8, 2025
Dear SMDC Applicants -
Thank you for your interest in St. Matthew’s Day Camp. This will be an unprecedented year for our program due to the widespread impact of the Palisades Fire. Nevertheless, we remain committed to providing a place for the children of St. Matthew’s and the surrounding community to come together this summer.
So what about Day Camp 2025? We are incredibly blessed that the buildings and outdoor facilities Day Camp uses survived the fire. Remediation will certainly be necessary and that process is underway. Our first priority must always be the safety of our campers and staff. We will not hold camp on the St. Matthew’s property unless we can be absolutely certain that it will be safe to do so. In the event that we are not able to hold Day Camp on our property, we will be looking for alternate locations. It is also possible that we will need to offer a shortened program this summer, less than our usual six weeks. With all that said, I remain optimistic that the St. Matthew’s campus will be a safe place for Day Camp to take place by mid-June. I think that gathering the children of the Palisades and surrounding community on our Chapel hill next summer would be a very good thing to be able to do. We will provide you with updates over the next several months as we learn more.
Camper applications are now open. This year’s application includes a lot of information gathering about the status of our camp families. I suspect that some families may not yet know what their living situation will be in June so we will maintain maximum flexibility. Day Camp does not charge an application fee. Camp fees of $1900 will be collected at registration time, but can be refunded if a family’s unexpected circumstances should prevent them from attending.
We know that many families have been displaced by the fire and have relocated outside of the Palisades. This may make the commute difficult or impossible for some families. We are looking into providing bus service to and from Camp for all interested families. This will involve identifying appropriate locations for pick-up and drop-off, based on where families will be living this summer. The additional cost of this service would be charged to participating families.
We have posted lots of information and will share updates on this website. If you have any additional questions about the application process, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Stay safe, stay strong!
Erik Warren
Camp Director
To apply for Day Camp 2025, please review the Admissions information and click on the link below.
Admission Policy
St. Matthew’s Parish Summer Day Camp gives an admission priority to active Parish members and returning campers. The following criteria for Parish Membership are established by the Clergy and are consistent with all other Parish programs.
St. Matthew’s and the canon law of the Episcopal Church maintains four requirements for active membership:
Recording one's name on the parish's register of baptized members
Participating in regular Sunday worship
Involvement in a parish activity or ministry
Making an annual financial pledge in support of St. Matthew's.
You don’t need to have been baptized or confirmed as an Episcopalian in order to become a member of St. Matthew's. If you have any questions about Parish membership, please contact the Parish office at (310) 454-1358 or by visting www.stmatthews.com
Our youngest campers are entering First Grade and our oldest campers are entering Sixth Grade.
While we would like to have all applicants attend camp, maintaining proper age and gender balance and limitations on the facilities available for camp often mean that not every child can attend. For the youngest class of children (just having completed Kindergarten and entering First Grade), since the criteria for returning campers are not applicable, those Parish members who apply will in almost all instances be admitted.
For returning campers, St. Matthew’s Day Camp considers other factors such as siblings of continuing and previous campers, pastoral concerns, and repeat applicants. A waiting list is kept of those we could not accept. Our youngest campers have finished Kindergarten and are entering 1st grade next fall. Our oldest campers have finished 5th and are entering 6th grade next fall.
Campers who successfully complete this year’s program with no less than eighteen full days’ attendance at Camp (no more than six days absent) will be considered “returning campers” next year. Those with more than six unexcused absences will generally lose their priority – vacations are not normally considered excused absences. The Vestry and Day Camp Board believe that enforcement of this attendance policy is appropriate stewardship of the wonderful resource that the Day Camp offers the Parish community.
TO BEST SECURE A SPOT FOR YOUR CHILDREN, YOU ARE URGED TO HAVE THEM BEGIN ATTENDING THE SUMMER BEFORE FIRST GRADE.
2025 Applications Now Open - Due March 8th
St. Matthew's Day Camp uses CampSite for our online application process.
If you do not already have a CampSite account, please click here.
If you already created a CampSite account in a previous year, click here.
Important Application Information and Day Camp 2025 Calendar