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.
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.
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.
DEAN runs as an all-inclusive summer camp, so the weekly rate covers the full day and everything in it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
DEAN groups campers by developmental stage, so programming fits where a child is right now.
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.
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.