Galileo Summer Quest- Lafayette

This is a review of how they treat their employees, not of the camp itself, which is remarkable. I’ve never met a more inspirational group of educators/​aspiring educators, and agree with the other comments on this page regarding the camp’s value.
That said, Galileo exploits its staff and gets by paying the majority of its camp staff less than minimum wage with a loophole in wage laws which says that camp staff are allowed to be paid 75% of minimum wage (intended for overnight camps where staff are fed/​housed). They force those who make less than minimum wage to work extra hours to make extra pay (which they are desperate to do), and regularly require 9.5 hour days of all staff without overtime.
I hope someone sues them, given that there was a recent CA lawsuit for a camp that didn’t own its own campground that exploited the same loophole. Clearly given the success of the camp they can afford to pay their employees a living wage, and make it so that their employees can afford food (they commonly couldn’t, and were hopeful that some kids who had ordered lunch would be absent so that they could eat).

I can’t recommend this camp more highly. The staff are amazing, the projects creative, and the kids are highly engaged. My son really blossomed over the 4 weeks he attended. In preschool, he never did art projects, but here he was always making elaborate projects and now loves to draw! He still sings songs from camps and talks about it several weeks later. A fantastic camp based on my experience.

We love Camp Galileo! Transition is a big deal for our family. You see, we live in Hong Kong for 10 months a year, returning home to Oakland only for the summers. And so it’s imperative that we help our kids transition back and forth with comfort and ease. That’s why we send our youngest to Camp Galileo day after day (and year after year) all summer long! The first time we returned for the summer, he was completely freaked out about being dropped off at yet another new and unfamiliar destination. I apprised the camp director of our situation and she (along with the help of our son’s sweet counselor) helped put him right at ease, calm him down, engage him in fun, and even make him smile — within 15 minutes of «the big meltdown» that was happening upon arrival. She even called me to let me know all was well, relieving me of my anxieties as well.
Camp Galileo and it’s staff are exciting, colorful, smart, silly, playful and highly professional — mostly educators and college students studying to be educators. They offer just the right mix of fun and educational activities to keep kids happy and engaged all summer long. It’s in a safe and beautiful spot (St. Theresa’s School) that is conveniently located just off Hwy. 13 and with plenty of green space to run around in. The themes are well thought out and interesting enough to repeat, should you decide to enroll for the whole summer (which we do.) There are discounts available from January to April that knock a chunk off the rates — as does signing up for several weeks.)
I can’t recommend Camp Galileo highly enough.