As the school year comes to an end, camps funded through the Children’s Trust of Alachua County (CTAC) are gearing up to start in June.
CTAC is offering 23 different camps across Alachua County ranging from one week to 10 weeks in length. Each camp specializes in various arts, sports, scientific and educational exposures geared toward elementary and middle school students, although there are options for high schoolers, too.
Kristy Goldwire, CTAC’s chief operating officer, said the organization started funding summer camps four years ago because they wanted to create safe places for children to thrive and be exposed to new experiences.
She said CTAC recently increased its scholarship-qualifying income range to 300% of the 2025 federal poverty level in order to open their camps to as many children and families as possible. Multiple children in a family can attend the same camp together and also alternate between different camps for more exposure.
Goldwire said CTACT offers CPR training to all camp staff, who are screened through the Department of Children and Families so that families feel safe leaving their children with the organizations.
New this year are three camps created for children with special needs through Dance Alive, Behavior Bricks and Limitless Adventures. While special needs children have always been able to participate in CTAC camps, Goldwire said this year the organization has funded camps designed specifically for them.
“We were very intentional as a trust to expand our reach and be inclusive for families with children with special needs,” she said. “In this year’s [request for proposal], we included a section to include information about specialty camps, and we considered camps offering services to children with special needs as specialty camps.”
According to data from CTAC’s 2024 summer camps, the camps served around 1,200 children and youth. The kids averaged almost 24 days of camp participation, with I AM STEM and St. Barbara Ministries showing some of the highest youth participation.
Goldwire also said some of the most popular CTAC camps are Gainesville Circus Center and Freedom School Summer Camps.
Freedom School camps are high energy camps designed specifically to address summer learning loss and have very successful outcomes, she said.
“Children participating in Freedom School have positive outcomes at the end of the summer where 90% [of campers] have maintained or increased their academic skills of where they were at the end of the school year,” she said.
Staff at Gainesville Circus Center reported last year that one camp participant faced significant social and behavioral challenges due to Autism Spectrum Disorder. But when she got to camp, they said she overcame her frustrations and overstimulation to shine.
“Through instruction in the circus arts, she is able to set goals, overcome difficulties and experience the joy of performing onstage,” staff wrote to CTAC. “Staff have noticed an increase in her focus, emotional regulation, and social engagement during her time in our programming.”
The following is a list of all camps funded by CTAC. To learn more about each one or to sign up, visit CTAC’s website or click on the camp titles below to go directly to their webpages. Any entity interested in hosting a summer camp through CTAC can contact the trust online or at 352-374-1830.
- Just for Us Education