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Arrival and Departure

Check-in:

Great Books sessions begin on Sunday and end on Saturday. Participants should plan to arrive between 3 pm and 5 pm on Sunday.

Our registration is run in such a way that you do not need to stay the full two-hours in order to get your child settled into the program. We invite you to come and meet your child’s Program Assistant and see the dorm where they will be living. It is always helpful if you want to assist your child in unpacking and making up their bed. Once you have accomplished that, it is a great time to allow your child to connect with the Program Assistant and let them work as a welcoming committee for other students who are arriving.

We will be holding an optional parent orientation session at 5 pm on check-in day. This orientation allows us to provide you with contact with key staff, an overview of the scheduled activities for the session and most importantly a chance to sample the learning environment that your child will experience. If you are driving your child to camp, please make an effort to take part in this opportunity.

As parents head to the parent orientation, please take a moment to say your goodbye’s to your child as the campers will be heading off to ice breakers and then to dinner. This sequence creates an easier transition for first-time campers as they are engaged in interesting activities from the start.

Departure:

Families should plan to depart the campus at 11 am on Saturday. We will have a closign ceremony for students on their last day of camp. Parents who are able are invited to attend. Typically the closing ceremony begins at 9 am. Location and details will be emailed to all families during the week prior to departure.

Please note that we do not have the facilities or personnel to accommodate early arrivals or late departures. We can provide you with a list of places to stay locally should you wish to spend extra time in the area.

"I am deeply impressed by many aspects of this program, including the warmth and professionalism of the staff, the rigor and creativity of the curriculum, and the physical beauty of its setting. But what impresses me most, are the students themselves."

Dr. Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

"Every summer, all I have to do is mosey on down from my hilltop home overlooking Amherst College, and walk into an ongoing conversation about the Big Stuff. It always feels like an intellectual transfusion."

Dr. Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

"I will mark Amherst as my most memorable event of the year, simply because of the smartest and most generous kids I was surrounded with. I wish they could be my students forever..." "

Da Chen, award-winning, best-selling author

"What a terrific curriculum and an enthusiastic group of young people. Made me want to drop everything and sign up."

Barry Eisler, best-selling author

"The students were such an engaged and smart and interesting group. I really enjoyed talking to them but mostly just appreciated being asked such a varied array of questions. It was a lot of fun."

Jacob Lewis, former managing editor of The New Yorker magazine and co-founder of Figment.com

"The Great Books program is a midsummer night's dream- I adored the kids and it all felt so alive and was so much fun! The faculty was warm and embracing. So important to keep literature alive and connect with kids who want to read books! "

Laura Shaine Cunningham Memoirist, novelist, playwright and journalist

"I enjoyed talking to and listening to the your kids. They are an impressive bunch. "

Dr. Richard Reeves Award-winning author, journalist and documentary filmmaker

"I loved my experience with the Great Books Summer Program. The students were brilliant and involved even beyond my expectations, really the ideal young audience for a writer. "

Peter Straub, Award-winning author

"I give a lot of talks to a lot of groups all over the country and world, but I've never had a more engaged, interested and interesting audience than the students at the Great Books Summer Program. They were clearly primed to learn and think. I hope I gave them some useful ideas about writing and the writing life; I know they inspired me. "

Kurt Andersen, Award-winning author, editor and co-creator of Studio 360 radio show

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