What are the rules and regulations?

We have a writ­ten set of rules that all campers must abide by. The rules are giv­en to the campers and par­ents. You may see the list on page 3 of this document.

Is Texas Arts Project affil­i­at­ed with a cer­tain religion?

No. Texas Arts Project is not affil­i­at­ed with any reli­gion. Our campers come from all dif­fer­ent back­grounds and there are no reli­gious activ­i­ties at camp.

What hap­pens if my child gets sick?

It’s kind of like being at home. For minor injuries, we have First Aid Certified staff mem­bers along with a sports train­er on cam­pus dur­ing the day. For more severe med­ical issues, we have a rela­tion­ship with a walk-in clin­ic just up the road from St. Stephen’s. For emer­gen­cies, we take campers to a near­by emer­gency cen­ter. Campers must have com­plete med­ical his­to­ry and health forms on file pri­or to the start of camp.

Is there stor­age for valuables?

St. Stephen’s Episcopal School is not respon­si­ble for lost or stolen items. We sug­gest that campers leave valu­ables at home.

How many staff do you have and what are their qualifications?

Staff mem­bers are a com­bi­na­tion of local, region­al and nation­al edu­ca- tors, col­lege stu­dents, and pro­fes­sion­al artists. All staff mem­bers undergo
a thor­ough back­ground check and must take a sem­i­nar man­dat­ed through the Episcopal Diocese titled, “Safeguarding God’s Children,” which is an edu­ca­tion­al pro­gram for pre­vent­ing child sex­u­al abuse. Many staff mem­bers are cer­ti­fied in CPR and First Aid.

What are the facil­i­ties like?

St. Stephen’s 300-acre cam­pus near Austin in the beau­ti­ful Texas Hill Coun- try, offers breath-tak­ing views and state-of-the-art facilities.

What kind of food is served?

Meals are pro­vid­ed 3 times dai­ly. There is stan­dard fare for each meal
and a fea­tured dai­ly dish. Standard break­fast includes scram­bled eggs, a waf­fle sta­tion, toast, bagels, a cere­al bar, oat­meal, cof­fee, milk and juice. Standard lunch and din­ner includes a deli sand­wich sta­tion, a sal­ad bar, peanut but­ter and jel­ly and fruit. Featured dish­es range from lasagna to chick­en stir-fry to burg­ers to faji­tas. Dishes are always accom­pa­nied by a veg­etable and a starch side dish. There are veg­e­tar­i­an options avail­able. At some meals and on the week­ends, we have dorm cook-outs, order-in, piz­za and a movie, pan­cake break­fast, etc.

Where do I send mail and packages?

SEND ANY PACKAGES OR MAIL VIA FEDEX/​UPS/​USPS

[CAMPER’S NAME]
C/​O ST. STEPHEN’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL ATTN: TEXAS ARTS PROJECT
6500 ST. STEPHEN’S DRIVE
AUSTIN, TX 78746

Do the campers have access to laundry?

There are laun­dry facil­i­ties either in the dorm or in a near­by dorm. Laundry does not require pay­ment. Please send high effi­cien­cy deter­gent to camp and take a moment to teach your child how to do laun­dry. Our staff will assist.

When can I talk to my child?

We pre­fer that you e‑mail your campers. Many camps do not allow phone calls at all. However, if you wish to talk to your camper, feel free to leave a mes­sage on his or her phone and he or she will return the call at a des­ig­nat­ed phone time.

Does my child need spend­ing money?

If you would like to send spend­ing mon­ey with your camper, we suggest
no more than $100. The only times campers might have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to make pur­chas­es are at off-cam­pus out­ings, the cam­pus con­ces­sion stand, and soda and snack machines.

What are the dorms like?

St. Stephen’s is a board­ing high school dur­ing the school year. The sum­mer camps are for­tu­nate to use those dorms. The dorms are equipped with full kitchens, com­mon areas with tele­vi­sion and com­fort­able loung­ing and com­mu­ni­ty bath­rooms with sep­a­rate show­er stalls. The dorm rooms typ­i­cal­ly have two sets of bunk beds, accom­mo­dat­ing four campers. Each camper has access to clos­et space, dressers and shelves. Some dorm rooms have a sink and a mir­ror. Showers are locat­ed in the bath­rooms at the end of each hall.

Can my child request a roommate?

We do our best to hon­or all rea­son­able room­mate requests. It is very impor­tant that ALL of the campers involved make the same requests. Requests should be made upon registration.

How do we make arrange­ments for trav­el to and from camp?

Parents have the option to bring campers to camp or send them on an air­plane. At no addi­tion­al cost, a staff mem­ber will pick up and drop off campers at the air­port. When mak­ing flight arrange­ments, we ask that you do your best to fly in before camp check in and fly out after the con­clu­sion of the camp ses­sion. All trav­el arrange­ments must be entered online.

What if my child becomes homesick?

Homesickness is a nor­mal expe­ri­ence in the process of grow­ing up, and every coun­selor is trained to help a home­sick camper through encour­age- ment, lots of activ­i­ty and build­ing new friend­ships. Parents can help by writ­ing fre­quent let­ters. Refrain from mak­ing a fuss over your depar­ture or sug­gest­ing that your child might get home­sick. So long as you encour­age your child to stay at camp, he or she will be in good hands and will have a won­der­ful experience.

How many campers attend Texas Arts Project?

Senior Camp is expect­ed to have approx­i­mate­ly 40 campers. Junior Camps are each expect­ed to have approx­i­mate­ly 20 campers.

Can my camper check and send email?

You may email campers at tapcamp@​yahoo.​com. Please put the camper’s first and last name in the sub­ject line. Camper emails will be deliv­ered at lunch or din­ner, along with the snail mail. Senior campers may have access to per­son­al email begin­ning the 2nd week of camp.

When can we vis­it dur­ing camp?

Senior and Junior 2 campers may have vis­i­tors only on the spec­i­fied “visi­ta- tion” morn­ings. Campers may leave cam­pus for the des­ig­nat­ed three hours so long as the appro­pri­ate paper­work has been com­plet­ed by the accom- pany­ing parent/​guardian. Please set up vis­its in advance by fill­ing out the vis­i­ta­tion infor­ma­tion online dur­ing reg­is­tra­tion. To ensure safe­ty, we will not release a camper unless the prop­er forms have been com­plet­ed. There is no vis­i­ta­tion day for week-long camps. If you need to drop off items or you need to see your child, please make arrange­ments through the TAP Camp staff. We will noti­fy the secu­ri­ty office and give you an exact loca­tion for meet­ing. We do not allow par­ents in the dorms between reg­is­tra­tion day and check out day, unless accom­pa­nied by a staff member.

Can campers use cell phones?

We real­ize that many of our campers are used to hav­ing cell phones. In order to main­tain pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and a healthy lifestyle dur­ing the camp weeks, we lim­it the use of cell phones at camp. We will allow campers to bring cell phones, but they will be col­lect­ed and kept safe. Once a

day, campers may check their phones for mes­sages. Our goal is to avoid obvi­ous intru­sion that can be caused by cell phones — talk­ing late at night and keep­ing room­mates awake, ring tones dur­ing class­es and rehearsals, tex­ting, focus­ing on old friends instead of new ones, etc.

What is the camper-to-staff ratio?

The camper to staff ratio is approx­i­mate­ly 4:1. Our coun­selors are col­lege stu­dents or adults who are expe­ri­enced artists and lead­ers. Counselors are also around dur­ing class­es and rehearsals as teach­ing assis­tants, dance cap­tains, and stage man­agers. With the Residential Director, they lead activ­i­ties and mon­i­tor campers dur­ing non-class times. The camper to coun­selor ratio is 8:1.

Do you go on trips?

Campers typ­i­cal­ly have 1 off-cam­pus trip to see a the­atri­cal event. Senior Campers may also go to Barton Springs pool, a movie, or a tour of a the­atre or stu­dio. When campers leave cam­pus for the­atre out­ings or oth­er trips, they are either trans­port­ed by St. Stephen’s dri­ving per­son­nel in a school bus or by a staff mem­ber in the school van. If it is a very small trip, a staff mem­ber might use his or her per­son­al vehicle.

Can I get a video of the final showcase/​films?

Yes, upon reg­is­tra­tion, you may pur­chase a video of the final showcase/​films.

Camper Rules & Consequences

These rules apply to all Campers while on the St. Stephen’s Episcopal School cam­pus or at any Summers @ St. Stephen’s‑sponsored off cam­pus activ­i­ty. The rules and reg­u­la­tions of the­camps pro­vide the struc­ture for the camp com­mu­ni­ty and assuch mer­it the respect of that com­mu­ni­ty. When a major rule

is bro­ken the com­mu­ni­ty is faced with behav­ior that threat­en­s­the order­ly, safe and prin­ci­pled oper­a­tions of the com­mu­ni­ty as a whole. Campers and par­ents alike should be thor­ough­ly­fa­mil­iar with the camp rules. Observance of these rules is offun­da­men­tal impor­tance to camp life with­in the community.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

All camper behav­ior is to be based upon respect and­con­sid­er­a­tion for the rights of oth­ers for a safe, secure expe­ri­ence. Violation of any of the fol­low­ing rules maylead to severe con­se­quences includ­ing expulsion.

Check-In | Campers must check-in at sched­uled check-in times.

Theft | Do not take any­thing that does not belong to you with­out obtain­ing permission.

Fighting or Bullying | Verbal threats and “put downs,”
sex­u­al harass­ment, or phys­i­cal assault of anoth­er per­son isunac­cept­able. There is NO rea­son for campers to fight, either ver­bal­ly or phys­i­cal­ly. This includes foul or demean­ing lan­gua­geor gestures.

Personal Privacy | Do not go into another’s back­pack, purse or dorm room.

Skipping Activities | Campers must attend all sched­uled and manda­to­ry class­es, prac­tices, rehearsals, games, per­for­mances and activities.

Individual Rights | Do not exhib­it any behav­ior that seri­ous­ly vio­lates the rights of individuals.

Drugs | The use, pos­ses­sion, sale and/​or dis­tri­b­u­tion of ille­gal drugs or con­trolled sub­stances is strict­ly forbidden.

Co-Ed Visitation | There is no co-ed vis­i­ta­tion allowed in camper rooms with­out super­vi­sion. Campers may enter the com­monarea of the oth­er dorm.

Weapons | Use and or pos­ses­sion of firearms, explo­sives or oth­er dan­ger­ous weapons are not allowed on campus.

Tobacco | Use, pos­ses­sion or dis­tri­b­u­tion of tobac­co is forbidden.

Gambling | No form of gam­bling is allowed.

Technology | St. Stephen’s com­put­ers are to be used in a legal, eth­i­cal manner.

Curfew Violations | Absence from the dorms after 11pm is prohibited.

Damage to Property | The will­ful dam­ag­ing of St. Stephen’s prop­er­ty or the prop­er­ty of a com­mu­ni­ty mem­ber is not tolerated.

Fire Hazard |  Any act that cre­ates a fire haz­ard is not permitted.This includes smok­ing in school build­ings as well as the burningof can­dles or incense. The mis­use or dis­charge of fire fight­ing equip­ment is not permitted.

CONSEQUENCES

Consequences for mis­be­hav­ior are usu­al­ly pro­gres­sive and reflect the sever­i­ty of the unac­cept­able behav­ior. Campers also range in age from 9 to 18, so con­se­quences will vary depen­den­tupon the age of the camper. Listed below is a pro­gres­sion ofdis­ci­pline. Please note that dis­ci­pline may not be sequen­tial and one severe act could lead to dis­missal from our programs.

• Warning

• Time Out or Loss of Privileges

• Phone call to the parent/​guardian

• Removal of the camper for the day or tem­po­rary sus­pen­sion­from the program

• Dismissal from the program

No refund will be giv­en if a par­tic­i­pan­tis dis­missed from a program.

PROHIBITED DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS

• Physical pun­ish­ment of any type
• Withdrawal of food, rest, or bath­room opportunities
• Abusive or pro­fane language
• Unsupervised iso­la­tion of the camper
• Any oth­er type of pun­ish­ment that is haz­ardous to the phys­i­cal, emo­tion­al, or men­tal health of the camper

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