Parents searching for a Princeton summer camp usually weigh the same short list of concerns. They want a day long enough to fit a workday, a program that keeps a child engaged into August, and counselors they can trust. DEAN Camps at The Lawrenceville School was built around all three, minutes from Princeton on a National Historic Landmark campus.
Families from Princeton, Pennington, Hopewell, West Windsor, and nearby Bucks County towns make the short drive for a camp day that handles the logistics and gives kids something meaningful to build.
Princeton Summer Camp on a 700-Acre Lawrenceville Campus
DEAN's New Jersey home is The Lawrenceville School, a 700-acre campus with easy access from Route 1, Route 206, and I-295. Campers use the school's facilities throughout the day.
- An indoor pool with 10 lanes, a movable floor, and certified lifeguards, where campers entering 1st grade and up get a 30-minute free swim each day
- Outdoor water play for Pre-K and kindergarten campers, including slip-and-slides and water games
- The 24-acre Big Red Farm, wooded trails, athletic fields, and courts
- The historic Circle, home base for afternoon DEAN Zone activities
- The school's dining hall, where campers eat breakfast and lunch every day
Full-Day Coverage at a Summer Day Camp Near Princeton
DEAN's camp day runs from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM, and every hour is part of the weekly rate. Drop-off is flexible from 7:30 to 9:00 AM and pickup is flexible from 3:30 to 5:30 PM, so families can arrive any time within those windows without an extra fee.
The DEAN Zone fills those early and late hours. Mornings start with a full breakfast in the dining hall, and then campers pick from chess, card games, crafts, or gaga ball before morning assembly. Afternoons offer stations for field sports, building, strategy games, and a calm reading corner, so kids follow their own energy until a parent arrives. DEAN calls this setup easy for parents and purposeful for kids.
Our guide to choosing a full-day summer camp as a working parent covers the scheduling questions to settle before registration opens.
All-Inclusive Summer Camp Pricing in New Jersey
DEAN runs as an all-inclusive summer camp, so the weekly rate covers the full day and everything in it.
- A full breakfast with hot options like eggs, pancakes, and French toast
- A lunch buffet with rotating hot entrées, a salad bar, and a sandwich bar
- Morning, afternoon, and late-afternoon snacks
- Every material, tool, and piece of safety gear, from sewing machines to helmets
- Before and after care from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM
- A DEAN Welcome Pack on the first day, with a drawstring backpack, t-shirt, BPA-free water bottle, car magnet, and sticker
Lawrenceville's dining team serves gluten-free options daily, offers vegetarian and vegan meals, and labels common allergens. For a family with two campers attending six weeks, included meals mean 60 fewer lunches to pack. In 2026, families who registered early locked in lower weekly rates, and multi-week, sibling, and referral savings stacked on top.
Hands-On Specialty Camps at Lawrenceville
DEAN's specialty studios give campers a full week in one subject, with expert instruction and the proper tools for the craft. At Lawrenceville, studios include Woodworking, Machine Sewing, Culinary Arts, Innovation Lab, and Design & Style, and projects scale with age.
- Woodworking Navigators (grades 5 through 8) read scale drawings and work with supervised power drills.
- Innovation Lab Achievers (grades 3 and 4) build moving structures with gears and motors and experiment with circuits and LED lights.
- Fashion & Machine Sewing campers learn to thread, stitch, and control a machine's speed, then make design choices for pieces of their own.
- Cooking Across Cultures campers practice measuring, safe knife handling, and food prep while cooking recipes from around the world.
By Friday, campers have finished work to take home, whether it's a wooden birdhouse, a sewn tote bag, or a necklace they designed. Returning campers get new projects and harder challenges each summer. Finishing a project they planned themselves builds confidence through doing, and camp research supports the approach. Former campers in the American Camp Association's Impact Study identified independence and responsibility among camp's lasting outcomes, and they pointed to camp, more than school or sports, as a key place they learned them.
For kids who haven't found a favorite yet, Trailblazers rotates through Innovation Lab, Culinary Arts, Outdoor Adventure, and Art each day. If your child tends to lose interest by midsummer, these nine ways specialty day camps keep kids engaged explain why focused studios hold attention longer.
Counselor Ratios and Safety at a Princeton-Area Day Camp
The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages parents to ask about camp staff and how a camp delivers health care and handles minor illnesses and injuries before enrolling. DEAN answers those questions in detail.
- Each program runs at a 1:7 counselor-to-camper ratio, with a Lead Counselor and assistant counselors.
- All Lead Counselors are First Aid and CPR certified.
- Lawrenceville School's on-site nurse responds to medical needs, and DEAN has direct access to the school's Campus Safety Department.
- New Jersey's mandated background checks cover every counselor, including state and national registry searches.
- Certified lifeguards supervise the pool alongside DEAN staff, and each camper completes a swim assessment before swimming.
Beyond credentials, DEAN builds its staffing around attention. It's the camp that notices, where every counselor knows your child's name. Programs are written by educators, principals, and behavioral specialists, and DEAN partners with the psychology departments at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges.
Parents stay informed throughout the week. Daily photos and news updates post to the Camp Connect portal, and a mid-week survey gives families a chance to flag anything early. DEAN is also a phone-free camp, so kids stay focused on the people and projects in front of them.
Growing With DEAN From Pre-K Through High School
DEAN groups campers by developmental stage, so programming fits where a child is right now.
- Discoverers (Pre-K and K) explore through art, movement, water play, nature, and simple STEAM activities.
- Explorers (grades 1 and 2) try new skills and start finding what excites them.
- Achievers (grades 3 and 4) take on multi-step projects that build persistence.
- Navigators (grades 5 through 8) set goals and take ownership of complex builds.
Teens can continue into the Fellowship for grades 9 and 10 and Junior Counselor roles in grades 11 and 12. Many families start with Trailblazers and move into specialty studios once their camper finds a favorite. The Grow with DEAN pathway lets a four-year-old Discoverer return each summer to new challenges until they're teaching younger campers themselves.
Planning Your 2027 Princeton Summer Camp With DEAN
DEAN's 2026 Lawrenceville season ran six weeks, July 6 through August 14, and campers could join for a single week or the full summer. Registration opened in mid-January with the lowest weekly rate of the season.
A happiness guarantee comes with every enrollment. If something isn't working, DEAN will fix it, and if it can't, your tuition is refunded.
To see programs, weeks, and campus details as 2027 plans are announced, explore DEAN at The Lawrenceville School and start planning the summer that builds something lasting.
