SigmaCamp 2021: overview
SigmaCamp is a residential science summer program for students aged 12-16. SigmaCamp 2021 will take place on Aug 11-21, 2021 at Camp Eagle Hill, Elizaville, NY. Eagle Hill is a located in beautiful rural upstate NY, a 2 hour drive from NYC and 3 hour drive from Boston.
Location
Originally planned to take place in Silver Lake Camp and Conference Center as in past years, SigmaCamp will take place at Camp Eagle Hill this year due to the delay by the state of CT to issue updated guidelines for vaccinated summer programs. We will miss Silver Lake this summer, but are confident that Eagle Hill will be a great place for our program. Camp Eagle Hill is just 40 minutes away from Silver Lake by car and so should minimally affect transportation plans of our campers.
Eagle Hill is a beautiful, modern camp facility located in scenic upstate NY, with a spring-fed lake at the heart of the campgrounds. Eagle Hill features many sports facilities including lifeguard-supervised swimming, baseball fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, volleyball courts, etc.
Accomodations
Students are be housed in comfortable, spacious cabins, each complete with multiple restrooms and showers.
Lectures, semilabs, workshops, and other activities will be held at various buildings and halls, and the outdoors, also located on the camp grounds. The extensive outdoor area of the camp means there will be no shortage of room for experiments, workshops, and fun activities you cannot do inside (like glass blowing). The camp grounds are complete with sports fields, campfire pits, and a lifeguard-supervised swimming area.
COVID Policies
Following the latest CDC Guidelines for Youth Camps, SigmaCamp will be requiring vaccination for all participants, as well as additional precautions to further reduce risks. The requirements include:
- Proof of vaccination is required for all staff and campers.
- All campers coming to camp must have negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival.
- All campers' transportation to camp must be in personal vehicles.
After the first day at camp, social distancing and mask wearing will not be required. However, we will accomodate campers who wish to follow additional precautions, including wearing a mask.
Our Faculty and Counselors
Our Faculty consists of math and science professionals, most of whom hold professor or other academic positions at Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Lab, and a number of other universities and research centers in the North East.
Our counselors come from a range of younger scientific and teaching experts-to-be that spans high school, college, as well as graduate-level students who come to volunteer at Sigma Camp from as close as New York and as far as Cambridge, UK.
Meet our faculty! | Meet our counselors!
Our Students
SigmaCamp students come from many US states (last year - 15), Canada, Mexico and Europe.
Upon arrival to SigmaCamp, every camper is assigned to a team of about 10 campers and two or three counselors. Campers and counselors spend lots of time together as a team, and by the end of the season become like a family. Each team competes in the SigmaTournament together and participates in team activities. By the end of the season, anyone will tell you that their team is, clearly, the best in SigmaCamp.
In Sigma Camp, the campers will be divided into ten teams that will sleep together, have their own pairs of counselors, lead morning exercises and dining hall clean-ups on assigned days, and spend time together before going to sleep. The teams in SigmaCamp always represented by a Greek letter. Though the team life is important, the individual camper itineraries will be independent from their team activities, and each camper will be able to choose their own lectures, semi-labs, workshops, clubs, and how to spend their free time.
Academic program
The Academic program in SigmaCamp is its most involved feature and backbone! Each part of the program spans several disciplines and includes Math and all sciences like Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Computer Science.
Starting with the semilab in the morning followed by a lecture, problem-solving tournament and a variety of workshops during the day, your day will be filled with a lot of new knowledge and discovery. If you feel that you might also have something to share, you are welcome to apply to our Junior Instructor Challenge or Experiment of the Day programs. Read more about academics at Sigma here.
Other activities
Does Sigma have something other then math and science classes? Of course it does! What summer camp could be complete without some outdoor fun? We have a variety of sports you can play like soccer, volleyball, ping pong and chess. Yoga classes and swimming in the lake are also an option. You can experience the art of tree climbing, which will be carefully supervised by certified rope instructors. If you don’t like sports – you can paint, play music or practice your acting skills. In the evenings, you have a choice of several evening clubs that range from geography trivia games to poetry readings.
Healthcare and safety
SigmaCamp staff-to-camper ratio is 1:2, and students are supervised 24 hours a day by either our academic staff or counselors. Certified lifeguards will supervise all swimming sessions. A registered nurse is available on site during our entire stay. For more information regarding changes to camp policies due to the "new normal", please check our COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions
Tuition
Program cost is $2,195 for 11 days/10 nights. There are sibling discounts ( 20% for second child and 35% for the third child ). We offer need-based financial aid (please visit this page for more information), and encourage financial aid applications. If you have a question about tuition, please email us at info@sigmacamp.org. Special reimbursement policies related to COVID-19 will be announced shortly.
Contact us:
E-mail: info@sigmacamp.org