Health and Safety - Hidden Villa

Hidden Villa is committed to creating a safe environment for our campers to remain healthy and happy during their time at camp. We follow the current recommendations from the Santa Clara County Board of Health and the Department of Environmental Health. We institute industry common practices outlined by the American Camp Association to mitigate sicknesses such as COVID-19 affecting our camp operations. We reference the local community spread of communicable diseases through the CDC regularly.

On the first day of camp, all campers are required to participate in a health screening during the check-in process. This includes taking a temperature, asking about any current symptoms of illness, and recent travel history. Additionally, all campers enrolled in an overnight program will be checked for lice upon arrival.

We ask that you do your part to ensure the health of our Summer Camp community as well. We ask that if your camper is sick, please do not bring them to camp until they are fully recovered from the illness. Please be sure that your child is up-to-date on all the required immunizations and vaccinations. Please complete an accurate and up-to-date health history form in your Ultracamp Account. We encourage program participants to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when possible.

If a camper becomes ill while at camp, they may be sent home at the discretion of the Summer Camp Director and Health Staff to prevent the spread of illness.

Medications

Many campers come to Hidden Villa with medications that they will take throughout their stay here. Please be sure to fill out your camper’s Health Form (available after registration) completely and accurately.

All medications will be checked in on the first day of camp during our check-in process so they can be administered by a trained staff member. This includes over-the-counter medications and supplements. We can only accept medication in its original container and if it has not expired.

Hidden Villa has a well-stocked health room and can provide most over-the-counter medications as needed. If you have questions or concerns about Hidden Villa’s ability to manage your camper’s health or medication needs, please contact the Summer Camp Office.

Allergies

If your youth has a life-threatening allergy, please be sure to note it on the Health History Form in your Ultracamp Account and discuss it with your program head or the camp nurse during camp check-in. Some rescue medications can be carried with a camper or counselor during all times of a program. If your camper has a food allergy or more specific food needs, please contact the camp office to see if we can accommodate your youth’s needs. In some cases, we may ask families to support specific dietary needs with supplemental food.

Mandated Reporting

As an organization that works with youth, Hidden Villa Camp staff are Mandated Reporters. This means that Hidden Villa Camp Staff are required, by law, to report any suspicion of child abuse (physical, emotional, or neglect). Every summer, camp staff participate in a two-hour workshop taught by an official trainer for Santa Clara County, on their legal responsibility as Mandated Reporters, what the various forms of child abuse can look like, and how to respond in the event they have a suspicion of abuse. This is a responsibility we take very seriously and we always act with the best interest of the child in mind.

Bullying

Our goal at Hidden Villa is for every child to have a safe and empowering camp experience. We define safe in physical, emotional, and social terms. Behavior that affects another camper’s experience in a negative way is not acceptable.

Counselors are trained to help campers communicate their needs with one another and build a culture of consent and non-violent communication with their peers and our staff. While staff will intervene if they see behavior that is unsafe, we also want to encourage youth to be active participants in problem-solving and identifying bullying behaviors.

In the event that harmful behaviors cannot be resolved or redirected by our counselors, they will involve a camp supervisor for support, who may then contact guardians to work with families in order to support all our campers. In some cases, a camp supervisor or director may make the decision to send a camper home if intervention does not result in changed behaviors.

You can help your camper be successful at camp by encouraging them to reach out to a staff member if they experience or witness bullying. You can assure them that camp staff is trained to handle such situations in a confidential manner.