Camp Catalyst Aims to Increase Access to Our School

St. Anne’s-Belfield School’s new summer camp combines curiosity, creativity, and community for area students, combating the “summer slide”

Even with the chill of winter in the air and snow on the ground, families in Charlottesville started looking ahead to the summer, planning how to keep their children active, engaged, and cared for while balancing work and other responsibilities.

Few, if any, local camps focus on combating the summer learning slide — a challenge especially prevalent among students in Grades 3 through 5. So when the interest form opened on Dec. 3 for Camp Catalyst, a new summer academic enrichment camp designed specifically for students in rising Grades 3 to 5, eight families had expressed interest before winter break was even over.

Hosted by St. Anne’s-Belfield School, Camp Catalyst is available to all students not currently enrolled at the School. The camp will provide an engaging experience that encourages curiosity, critical thinking, and opportunities for students to showcase their skills to their families and the broader community.

Says Kayla Coverston, director of Camp Catalyst, “The goal of Camp Catalyst is to widen access to our School and provide students beyond our current Saints community the opportunity to work with members of our incredible teaching staff. We want our school to become an even more welcoming place, reflective of the greater area we live in.”

Thoughtfully designed with the Charlottesville/Albemarle community in mind, weekly themes around “Storytellers,” “Innovators,” and “Neighborhood Builders” will engage students around folklore, performing arts, engineering, real-world problem solving, and 3D modeling. Led by experienced St. Anne’s-Belfield teachers Kelsey Bechtle; Brian Gulotta, P. ’29, ’31, & ’33; and Rudi Rudd, each morning, campers will explore, discover, and develop skills to be leaders in their local community, with each afternoon featuring a variety of physical activities.

“The ‘summer slide’ affects even the brightest students in our community,” says Mrs. Bechtle, the School’s K – 4 academic support and learning specialist and chair of the Student Support Department. “We see this across all ages, but Grades 3 through 5 is a particularly pivotal time to be able to nurture and explore students’ unique interests.”

Members of the St. Anne’s-Belfield community are encouraged to help spread the word about the camp to local families looking for academic enrichment this summer. More information may be found at https://stab.org/catalyst