The camp structure has changed tremendously from last year thanks to Wendy and the new team. I love that they’re using an app to communicate with us and not group me. I love that they have activities and themed weeks. I love that I can communicate with the staff about the concerns of my children, and they are very responsive they get back to me with less than an hour. I love how they work with us with processing payments and it’s just been a really great positive experience this year unlike last year.

Fun and nurturing environment for kids

The children are not supervised properly and they barely engage with the children.

First of all, I’m so glad that this program is offered in our township. It’s extremely important to have programs like this for working parents. My son always has a good time with his friend and the activities that the staff engage him in. It offers him a productive way to spend his time. Ms Zalliah is great and always helpful.

My son has had a great experience with all of the Y employees. This is his second year participating in the program, and we are very happy. All of the employees genuinely care about the kids and it shows. I cannot recommend this program enough!!

I’m just really happy the Care and other program are available in the township. I like the kids day out program and that swimming is offered. My has fun in the Care program and Ms. Zaleeah is great!

I wish they had Kids Day out for all the days off. Not random ones.

Ms Janet and Ms Stephanie are amazing. I could not recommend this program enough. My child always has a good time and I am able to feel confident knowing he is in great hands.

I participate in the program out of necessity but the program doesn't live up to most of the parents standards. The children are not supervised properly and they barely engage with the children. Some of the older staff act is if they don't even like children. You never receive positive feedback from staff only criticism when they have a rough day.

More structured activities at aftercare.

Excellent care. Thanks for all you do.

It would be great to have a way to contact the team like a phone number or Brightwheel App. Thanks! Otherwise great staff, my son is happy

The staff changes hands constantly which causes unorganization with everything from the finance department to the quality of care you're providing. Most parents use your organization because there are no other resources for them.

Friendly, convenient, caring

My son always seems to have a good time at camp. I like that there is swimming daily which increased my son's confidence in the water. The staff is friendly, and I also like that there is a weekly BBQs with ice cream and occasional field trips.

Lack of proper supervision and they do not actually do activities with the children. The staff do not seem engaged or even content with being there.

Staff are friendly and they know your kid, keep you updated.

The kids had a great experience with the camp. The staff did well with the kids and overall the program ran smoothly. Thank you for a great exprience!

Didn't like the fact that the kids were not able to be inside a location and were outside all the time. They did not participate in the bikeathon with the bicycles.

The Camp Soar experience was not the experience as last year. Communication lacked for the first half of camp. There seemed to be little effort given to the day to day of camp.

The staff at Camp Soar has been incredible. It's the perfect summer experience for kids. My son made friends, gained confidence in the water, and had a blast while I was at work. I highly recommend Camp Soar.

Camp SOAR of Somerset County, run by the YMCA, is truly an outstanding outdoor camp experience! My family and I couldn't be happier with the incredible staff, engaging activities, and beautiful location at Colonial Park. From the moment we signed up, it was clear that the Director, Counselors and staff genuinely care about the campers—they are energetic, supportive, and create a fun, welcoming environment for every child. The site itself is exceptionally well-maintained. Colonial Park provides the perfect setting, with plenty of open space, fresh air, and sunshine—just what kids need during the summer. The exposure to nature and vitamin D has been fantastic for the children energy, mood, and overall well-being. Another highlight is how organized everything is. The use of the GroupMe app makes a huge difference—it's such an effective way to stay updated on daily activities, reminders, and even photos throughout the day. It keeps parents connected and informed without any hassle. We're incredibly grateful for this camp and all the memories it's helping to create. Camp SOAR lives up to its name—helping kids spread their wings and soar! Highly recommend for any family looking for a safe, active, and enriching summer experience.

The counselors are attentive and friendly.

There's no facility at all for Camp Soar! As a result, the children for the most part are outside in the hot sun at a park and subject to whatever can take place when one is over exposed to the sun and heat. Also, the bathrooms are absolutely disgusting at camp soar because usually bathrooms at parks are gross anyway! The bathrooms are extremely unsanitary and unsafe for anyone to use…let alone children!!! The camp does have some positive attributes, like free lunch, before and aftercare options, and bussing to and from camp, but for the most part, the camp needs a lot of improvement. It's just unfortunate that camp soar is lacking in so many ways, more than likely because it serves overall a lower income/economic demographic. Those children deserve safe and clean camp facilities as well as any other child in my opinion!

Our daughter did Camp Soar last summer (2024) and loved it! We signed her up again. We told other parents all year about how much we loved it. This year the communication is extremely lacking. The camp director is does not respond to emails or takes an extend amount of time. Campers are expected to remember to take water breaks with not enough reminders from staff. The before care staff is not on time. The light to be trailer bathroom have not been working so our daughter has to use the bathroom in the dark or change in the dark. There seems like a huge lack of effort placed into Camp Soar this summer.

Respond quickly.

Timely pick up. Busy days

The counselors are very enthusiastic, help my child feel comfortable when she's nervous going in. Communication is also really good for any questions. Tons of fun different activities planned throughout the summer to break up the day to day!

The communication this year has been delayed but once we started receiving feedback right around the time camp was about to start - things moved a lot smoother. The earlier the communication goes out to parents who have to make other arrangements the better.

Everyone at Franklin Park school morning and aftercare program. Is top notch. We appreciate them!

The staff isn't actively watching the children and spend a lot of time on their phones or distracted. So when incidents happen with the kids the staff can't explain. Staff doesn't also follow correct protocol on incident reporting. In the winter they spend a lot of time watching movies instead of active play or crafts. The staff are very nice ppl but overall needs better policies, procedure , and an agenda

Caring staff!

It's really helpful to have a before and aftercare program. My son enjoys spending time with his friends and the staff are great at engaging him in activities. My son loves his time in the gym with Mr. Mikai and Ms. Zaleeah and Ms Pre do a great job engaging with the parents and kids!

Staff is great with students! Staff is always on time. I feel completely comfortable with leaving my daughter with them.

More outdoor time. My son is in the Shark group, and he said he would like more time for snack. He's very hungry when school ends and he feels that the Sharks aren't given enough time, and the wait is too long for their snack time. He would also like more structured games or activities, not just open free play. He also said that some of the students came up with suggestions on their own and presented it to the YMCA staff, but it was ignored.

The teachers are all very nice, deal with the kids well, and help resolve any issues directly.

I like the staff in charge of my children's care, I feel confident and safe. But what I don't like is the customer service staff, you call to present a problem and they speak to you in a bad way in loud tones, they shout at you when you just want help and on top of everything they didn't solve it for me after I called them more than 10 times and they only shouted at me, I'm talking about Miss Aleysh Cayton, very bad customer service staff.

The before/after staff is great! The director Alesha Clayton is extremely rude to a lot of parents. She's condesceding. She's made comments to parents about why they can't afford cheap summer camp during summer. Hung up on them. Given them hard time filling up forms and have not responded to calls/emails for a long time. Gets very defensive. Please keep this review anonymous

Caregivers are friendly. Program engages children in arts and crafts.

They learn friendship she miss a lot of young students. She do a lot of games early in the morning with them and is good for the parents that works Befor School and School and is very friendly to the kids.

Good child care service Good organization/staff/ communication.

Its kids friendly, the program staffs are very loving, caring friendly and kind and most of all they care.

To help the children with their homework properly

Me gustó el horario, las actividades y el bus.

Access to daily care program/daily activity program/ swimming pool. We hope to have ymca center in Franklin twp, it great location for working parents.and close to all transportation line of NY/NJ

It provides a place where young children can go and play and learn new things for several hours during the day. They also provide transportation and 2 meals. If I had not enrolled my grandchildren in the summer camp program they would have been home doing nothing but playing with their phones or watching TV. I'm bruh happy they have this program and hope they continue to have it in the future.

My daughter had a wonderful time at the YMCA Summer Camp!!! I would highly recommend it.

My kids had a great time! Staff and program was amazing. We'll definitely be back next year.

It's okay but some of the staff are extremely unprofessional and inappropriate. I think 16 is really too young to be a camp counselor, like you're still a kid yourself! The free lunch is terrible from what I hear and everyone is always outside even during extreme heat…which can be very dangerous for some staff and children. Other than that, the pricing is extremely affordable for families that cannot afford the more expensive camps. So I guess, you get what you pay for…

My daughter loved the camp and honestly didn't have anything bad to say. I would just ask of they could go on more trips. Even if we had to pay for it. Trip to the zoo, aquarium or movies would be good