Frequently Asked Questions

The registration for summer camp will open at 12am, midnight, on March 4th (after 11:59pm March 3rd). Registration usually fills up very quickly, so please be sure to make sure that you have access to your RecDesk account before the program opens. If you are having trouble accessing your account please contact, Erin McDonough. Registration for the summer camp program is only for residents of Goffstown. Duplicate accounts will not be approved. Please note: if you have an outstanding balance on your account, the account will be suspended, and you will be unable to register for summer camp until the balance is paid. 

Registration for our summer camp program is done online through our RecDesk website.

If you do not have an account with us, you will need to create one before you can register. A parent or guardian should create an account for themselves, as the head of household. They will then add any children that they want to register in the program to the account. Any time a new account is created, or a new member is added, there is an approval process that occurs. This approval process can take between 24 and 48 hours to occur. If you create an account outside of working hours, we will not see it to approve it until the next business day. Once again, that is why we encourage creating an account before the registration opens, as the program can fill up very quickly. 

Registration for the summer camp program is only for residents of Goffstown.

As part of the registration there will be 2 forms that are to be filled out electronically, an Emergency Release Form and a Health History Form. Below you can view examples of the forms to see the kind of information that you will be asked.

2024 Emergency Release Form Example (PDF)

2024 Summer Playground Health History Form Example (PDF)

No. For this program, participants can sign up for individual weeks that fit their schedule. If they wish to sign up for all 8-weeks, they can. Weeks are labeled on the registration by the dates that the week will occur. 

Our main and most frequently used method of communication is email. We use the emails that are listed on your RecDesk account. If you are not receiving the emails or wish to receive it on a different email address, please go into your RecDesk account and edit the email address. If you wish to add another email, there is an alternate email slot as well so all communication will go to both accounts. 

General Camp Day Breakdown

• 8:30am to 9:00 AM—Drop off and Free Activity Time
• 9:00AM to 10:30 AM—Group Organized Activity or Sport 
• 10:30AM to 10:45 – Snack Time
• 10:45AM to 12:00 PM – Small Group Sports and Craft Activities 
• 12:00 to 12:30 PM – Lunch Time 
• 12:30 to 1:00 PM – Cont. Lunch and Pool Prep Time 
• 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM – Swim Time 
• 4:00 PM – Pickup Time

Fridays at Summer Camp are “special event” days. These days can include events such as, tie-dye day, a full camp dodgeball tournament, water slide, magician performance, etc. 

Yes, all camp counselors are fully certified in first aid and CPR/AED for children and adults. All parks and recreation staff members are fully certified as well. Lifeguards are fully lifeguard certified which includes CPR/AED and First Aid training. 

It is required that our youngest campers are at least 7 years old OR have completed first grade before summer camp begins. The oldest a camper can be is 13 years old. They cannot turn 14 during the 8 weeks of summer camp.  

Please contact Erin Trnka and inform her. It is asked that there is at least a week notice before not attending a week of camp, so that the spot can be filled by someone on the waitlist. If you have already paid but your child can’t or will not be attending that week, we will issue a refund. However, if you have already paid and wished to remove a week but do not give proper notice, the refund is not guaranteed. All dropped weeks of camp will be zeroed out of the total invoice. The $25 non-refundable deposit will not be refunded. 

Drop-off will begin at 8:30am. Parents may begin dropping off at 8:15am but no earlier than that. The counselors will arrive at 8am and need time to get set up before participants begin arriving. All kids need to be picked up from camp by 4pm each day. While we do understand that sometimes circumstances out of one’s control can happen, please be sure to pick your kids up on time. Parents will be warned about the pickup time the first time that they arrive late. The second time will result in a conversation with the program supervisor and the third late pickup could result in the removal from camp. 

The parents or guardians listed on the emergency release forms, that were filled out as part of the registration, are the ones who are allowed to pick up their kids from camp. We do allow for alternate pick-ups, that is having someone other than a parent or guardian pick up the kids from camp. On the registration there was a spot to list five names of alternate pick-up personnel. These individuals can pick up your kids from camp without prior knowledge to the program supervisor. If you plan to have someone other than a parent/guardian or those listed on the alternate pick-up list pick up your kid from camp, Erin Trnka must be contacted before this person can leave camp with your child. Kids are allowed to go home with each other, given that once again Erin is contact before they attempt to leave camp. 

Kids will be dropped off at 8:30am each morning (no earlier than 8:15am). At one of the picnic tables there will be a sign-in sheet for the kids. Here you will place the time that they are arriving, and you will sign on the line. They may put their belongings anywhere around the outside of the pavilion or under the tent. When a parent comes to pick up their child, they will once again need to sign the sheet with the time that they are picking them up. The latest that a child can be picked up is 4pm. 

Yes, campers can be dropped off any time after 8:30am. They do still need to be signed in at this point, so a parent will need to escort them to the pavilion to sign them in. Kids should never be just dropped off in the parking lot to walk over by themselves. If you plan to pick your child up from camp early, be sure to let the counselors know at drop off. This way the counselors can make sure that the child is ready to go at that specific time with all their belongings packed up. 

Children will need to bring the following to camp: 

• Lunch/Snacks: Lunch will occur each day around 12:00pm. There will also be a break in the morning hours for a snack. Campers are not allowed to share snacks with one another due to allergies and dietary restrictions. So please be sure that your camper is set for the day with their own lunch and snacks.
• WATER: We encourage each camper to come with lots of water for camp every day. There are water refill stations at the parks, but its best if campers have a water bottle to fill up. Coolers are allowed and the large water jugs are good options too.  
• Sunscreen: Kids will be reminded multiple times per day to reapply sunscreen, but they must bring their own. They are not able to share and there will not be any available at the parks. We recommend putting a layer on at home before camp begins each day. 
• Bathing Suit and Towel: Daily, the kids will get to go into the pool to enjoy the cool water. Bathing suits and towels are required every day to swim. Bathing suits must be appropriate in design. 
• Sneakers: Activities can take place on multiple different types of terrain throughout the day. Blacktop pavement, running track, grass, woodchips on playset, dirt for the volleyball area. Due to the nature of camp and bouncing from one activity to another, sneakers are the best footwear option. Sandals, slides, flipflops, etc. could result in injury during group activities. 

What NOT to bring to camp: 

• Medication or medicine: The camp staff is not allowed to dispense medications during the day at camp. This includes: Tylenol, allergy medication, ADHD medication, Benadryl, etc. Please do not send these to camp with your child. Epi-pens CAN be administered, as this is part of their first aid training. Individuals with epi-pens should hand the epi-pens to the counselors on the first day of camp. The epi-pens will be placed in a bag, labeled with the camper’s name, and held in a location that all counselors will be aware of, in the event that they need to be used. 
• Toys from Home: While toys from home can be fun, often times they can be misused, misplaced, or broken at camp. Personal items should be left at home during the day. 
• Cell Phones: Electronics are not allowed at camp and are not to be used. The best way to avoid use, is to not bring it. Electronic device use will result in a warning and further use, will result in confiscation until the end of the camp day. The recreation department is not responsible for any damage to electronic devices while the child is at camp. 

Optional to Bring: 

• Hats: For additional sun protection. Must be appropriate in message and design. 
• Pool Shirts: For additional sun protection.  
• Money: Each day an ice cream truck will come to camp for the kids to enjoy. 
• Flip-flops/Crocs/Sandals: For the pool area. Campers are not allowed to leave the pool area without shoes on, flips flops offer the best solution for entering and exiting the pool area. 

We strongly encourage all items that are brought to camp are labeled with the camper’s name. If an item is lost or misplaced at camp, it will be placed in a lost and found bucket. They may return the next day and look through the bucket to find their items. If they won’t be returning to any other weeks of camp but have left an item at camp, please contact Erin Trnka and she can try to locate the item for you. 

We will check the weather each morning before camp begins. If the forecast looks like thunderstorms or heavy and consistent rain for the entirety of the day, then we will move camp inside the parks and recreation building, located at 155 S Mast St. This alternate location is a much smaller and limited environment. If the weather improves throughout the day, we will walk down the rail trail to Barnard Park. This change in location will be communicated via email. 

The first day of camp each week campers who have not yet attend camp will do a “swim test” in front of the lifeguards. This test just consists of them swimming from one end of the shallow 3’ end of the pool to the other. If they can make it across without touching their feet to the bottom, they have passed. If they do not pass or show difficulty in this task, they will be restricted to the shallow end of the pool. 

Payments for summer camp can be made via cash, check, or online with a debit card. Payments made via cash or check can be for the full balance amount or can be split into weekly payments. Payments made via debit card online are done through your RecDesk account. Payments aren’t due until the week of camp, that your child/ren attend.

• Cash – Payments made via cash can be either mailed or directly handed to the camp staff. If the cash if given to the camp staff, we recommend placing it in an envelope so it can be storage properly in the pavilion. Erin Trnka will collect money from the parks daily. 
• Checks – Payments made via check are to be made out to the Town of Goffstown. These types of payments can also be either mailed or directly handed to the camp staff. Erin Trnka will collect the checks from the park daily. Every Thursday the checks will be run through RecDesk, and you will receive an email notification of this. They will then be submitted to our finance office. Checks will be cashed within a week of the Thursday that they were submitted.
• Debit Card – Payments made via debit card are done through your RecDesk account. Payments can only be made for the full amount on the invoice unless you set up a payment plan. This option is available to all families registered for summer camp, please contact Erin Trnka to set this up. 

PLEASE NOTE that there will be a $25 non-refundable deposit required for each week, due at the time of registration.

We do offer multi-child discounts. We offer this discount to families who register 3 kids for camp, the third child will attend at 1/2 of the cost for the week.

We also offer financial aid to families who receive assistance from the SAU. Please contact Erin Trnka for more information.