Anisfield Day Camp is for campers entering Grades 1 through 6. During the last two weeks of camp we invite campers entering Kindergarten to attend Anisfield A La Carte. This is a great introduction for our youngest campers to all that Anisfield has to offer.

Anisfield Day Camp is The Mandel Jewish Community Center of Cleveland's traditional day camp that begain the the 1960's. All campers start and end their day at The Mandel JCC's camp site (located next to the outdoor pool.) Our youngest campers, entering Grades 1 and 2 (Shoresh Village) remain at The Mandel JCC while our campers entering Grades 3 - 6 (Geza and Anaf Villages) travel together daily to our country camp site in Burton.

Shoresh Village is for campers entering grades 1 and 2. Shoresh is the hebrew word for ROOT. Geza Village is for campers entering grades 3 and 4. Geza is the hebrew word for TRUNK. Anaf Village is for campers entering grades 5 and 6. Anaf is the hebrew word for BRANCHES. The Maccabi Sports Village is for campers entering grades 2 through 6. The Maccabi Sports Village is named after the Maccabi warriors made so famous in the story of Chanukkah. The Maccabis' were known for the strength, honor and integrity.

No other day camp can match our combination of caring, experience, dedication and expertise. Our Camp Director, Jill Davidson is an experienced and enthusiastic full-time, year round, camp professional who will be happy and able to meet all of your family's needs. Jill has worked at The Mandel JCC for over 14 years in the children and day camp departments and has attended or been involved in camp every summer since she attended Playland Day Camp herself! She has been the Director of the Day Camps for over seven years and the Anisfield Day Camp Director for the last four summers. Jill has a master's degree in social work from Case Western Reserve University and an undergradaute degree from Indiana University. She has a certificate of Jewish Studies from Indiana University and a certificate of Jewish Communal Service from Siegel College of Jewish Studies. Jill's priority is creating a safe and incredibly special camp environment for your camper that values strong relationships with parents and campers through frequent communication and an open door policy.

Learning to swim is one of the most important aspects of camp. Campers have instructional swim every day for 45 minutes in the morning. At The Mandel JCC the classes take place in the outdoor pool (which is only open for camp swimming lessons during this time.) At the Burton campsite the lessons take place in our outdoor pool. The classes are all taught according to American Red Cross swimming guidelines and are taught by certified lifeguards, water safety assistants and water safety instructors. Campers are tested for their swimming abilities during their first days at camp and are then placed in their ability levels. Swim groups range in size from 6 - 12 campers with 1 instructor and 2 - 3 counselors assisting at all times. The Head Instructor and a lifeguard are on deck at all times. If at any time in the summer you have any questions about your child level, the skills they are working on or any concerns please call the camp office immediately so that we may address your question or concern.

We recommend coming to Anisfield for 8, 6 or 4-weeks. We work hard to create a strong sense of community throughout the summer and believe that young people benefit most from the consistency of a full summer camp program. However, we realize that often other family plans can interfere with sending your child for a complete session, in these situations we will work with families to accomodate their schedules. Please contact Laurie, Day Camp Registrar at (216) 593-6251 to discuss the accomodations we can make for your family.

The ride is about 20 minutes long, but flys by for our campers; as counselors lead daily bus games, songs, cheers and other fun activities that the campers look forward to! The Mandel JCC has been using Precious Cargo as our bus provider for over 10 years and has an excellent relationship with the company and is extremely pleased with their record for safety, timeliness and professionalism.

There is 1 Anisfield staff member for ever 3.5 campers. Camper groups have a maximum of 15 campers and 1 Senior Counselor (college age or older) and 1 Junior Counselor (entering 11th and 12th grade.) Many groups also have a C.I.T. (Counselor in training, entering 10th grade) or an Inclusion Companion Counselor included. Each camper group is part of a village. There are 4 - 5 camper groups per village. Each village is overseen by a Village Supervisor (College graduate.) In addition, during specialty periods 1 or 2 specialists are with each camper group in addition to their group counselors.

The Anisfield Newsletter, which contains all important information is sent home every Friday with campers. We also send the newsletter via email for those families which have provided us with e-mail addresses. Special notes about specific events are also sent home regularly with campers. We recommend that you ask your chld daily if they have received any Anisfield letters from their counselors. In addition to these mass communications, it is important that communication lines between a camper's parents, the directors and the village supervisors are strong. The confidential camper profile is provided to parents to begin this individual conversation. Any information about the personal or general nature of your child assists our staff in helping plan a camper's smooth adjustment to camp. If a parent has any concerns or questions about their camper's experience at camp, please call our camp office to arrange for either a telephone conference or a meeting with the village supervisor and/or camp director. It is our priority to partner with parents to create the best camp environment for every camper.