For Sevda Gundogan, planning summer activities for her two children is an endurance test. With more than 100 programs and activities offered across San Francisco, the breadth of summer camps is overwhelming.
“My kids are out of school for 14 weeks a year,” said Gundogan, who lives in the Sunset neighborhood. “It’s always very difficult to plan for school breaks.”
Even with dozens of options, it was a headache to find camps that fit her family’s specific needs: the right age ranges and extended hours, staying open as late as 5 p.m. to accommodate her full-time job. When she did find options, they were often already full. Even when she managed to enroll her children, they sometimes came home after the first day not wanting to return because they didn’t have friends there.
As the school year winds down, parents are racing to map out their kids’ summer schedules, week by week, in an annual ritual that can be nerve-racking, disruptive, and expensive. There’s a sprawling mix of camps — offered by the city, nonprofits, and private organizations — offering activities related to art, nature, sports, and academics. But camp providers have little coordination on the signup process and opening times, leaving families scrambling to patch together schedules that accommodate caregivers’ jobs.
Some parents have stepped up to help others navigate the chaos. They share tips, coordinate carpools, juggle their children’s interests, and try to stay on budget, turning the competitive sport of summer-camp planning into a cooperative one.
‘Pain in the neck’
Emily Moriarty de Ayora describes the camp registration process as “a pain in the neck.” She has to consider the needs of her three children, each with different interests and age requirements, and, of course, the cost: Some camps cost as much as $1,000 per week, and options for young kids are limited.
But after six years of managing camp logistics, she considers herself an expert.
“I have a spreadsheet with all of the summer weeks down one side, and then three kids across the top,” de Ayora said. “And then I just go week by week, filling it up.”
Some of the most sought-after camps are the relatively affordable options provided by the city.
The Recreation and Parks Department offers nearly 9,500 camp slots featuring activities such as swimming, biking, and science lessons, and 9,212 for this summer have been filled. The most popular camps tend to fill up within minutes after registration opens in March, though waitlists are available, and spots often open up before summer begins.
The cheapest camps start at $40 a week for swimming lessons; some of the most expensive — such as the Randall Museum’s art, science, and technology day camp, which is fully booked for 2025 — cost $880 per week. Other popular options include the Silver Tree camp in Glen Canyon, which has a weekly cost of $300 for ages 6–11 and $400 for ages 12–14.
Several nonprofits funded by the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families — such as the YMCA, Community Youth Center, and Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco — offer more budget-friendly options, with sliding-scale pricing based on family income.
The San Francisco Unified School District also offers a variety of summer programs designed to support students’ academic, social, and emotional development. The district is working to expand access to its popular summer geometry class for high school students.
Then there are the luxury camps. Some specialized dance and theater programs can cost up to $1,400 for 10 days.
“I let each kid pick a camp that’s maybe a little bit more expensive,” de Ayora said. “I try to mix the camp so that there are some inexpensive, low-key ones.”
De Ayora started the summer planning process late last year. But she said the Recreation and Parks Department camps didn’t open for registration until March, which adds to the uncertainty: Registration windows vary for the different camps, meaning the process of booking your kids’ summer can drag out for months.
Some parents have taken matters into their own hands, creating databases to organize the options and share information with other families.
De Ayora consults a database curated by real estate agent Sherri Howe, which lists more than 100 local camps, such as the San Francisco Zoo’s Conservation Camp, with a focus on wildlife and hands-on art and science. Other parents use the site ActivityHero to check program availability.
For Gundogan, a former tech worker, frustration motivated her to launch her own business. In March, she founded a startup called CampScamp, which helps parents find and filter information through a centralized, searchable database.
She described herself — and many other parents — as experiencing “decision fatigue” due to the overwhelming number of options. Her goal is to help families narrow them down.
“I learned the hard way,” she said. “When a parent visits our platform, we ask a few questions so we can present the best choices available.”
This summer, Gundogan’s kids are attending Little Forest Explorers camp, where they’ll spend time in Golden Gate Park. The older child is also signed up for soccer, biking, and tennis camps.
De Ayora said her daughter will attend a Shakespeare-themed camp, led by theater professionals, and will present a final performance for family and friends of an abridged play. The camp typically runs around $900, though there are discounts based on ZIP Code.
She hopes camp providers will create a more streamlined system.
“I wish somehow there was a coordinated week where all the summer camp signups happened at the same time,” she said. “And that definitely does not happen.”