Camp Cheerful

★★★★★Rich Otley

OMG they are the best caregivers ever! Always in sync with the parents, guardians, and school district (if ESY)

★★★★★Jose Alvarez

THIS YEAR 2025: Simply amazing turn around and great experience for our son. The camp director, Ms. Maggie Clautti, is simply amazing. As some of his staff that was assigned to him. The level of skill, patience and compassion shown with our kid was one of the best things ever for him. Thank you so much! LAST YEAR 2024: (NO STARS/HORRIBLE) Under Jessica Pots.... Lack proper staff to handle kids with special needs. Discriminate against children with complex needs. Our son has a rare gene mutation and 30 minutes after the program started (we waited for a year) they were calling to kick him out of the summer program.

★★★★★craftybtonte

Just 3 weeks ago at over night camp we went fishing and kept catching a turtle in the pond .This is the best camp ever and river rock is the best day program ever one of my favorite things to do at camp is go on nature walks and swimming and Learning about the horses.my favorite activities at river rock is playing bingo and learning new things from the learning lab and doing some outdoor activities . The camp staff are wonderful and amazing at their job .river rock staff are best and amazing at their job.this is the best place ever I really recommend camp cheerful and the river rock adult day program

★Jessica S

We signed our 7 year old up for 3 weeks at camp cheerful. He is level 3 autistic with speech limitations, who attends year round school at an autism center (where he does very well). We signed up in march for the weeks he would be out during the summer '23. Everyone was raving about them and telling us that CC was a better option for our son's abilities. We had very little communication from Jessica Potts, even to collect payment before camp. Finally, we were able to reach her again before the start date. She had some questions about our son's behavior, which is standard to get a sense of what kind of support a child needs. The payment was processed and we were ready to start on Monday, June 26th. A couple weeks later, June 23rd (The Friday before the start date) around 4 pm, we received a phone call from someone at Camp Cheerful stating they could not take our son this year because of staffing. As parents of special needs kids, this was devastating. He needed somewhere safe where people would understand him and give him the routine, structure, and activity he was used to from school every day. We had to take time off of work unexpectedly. We had to find, conduct interviews, and hire a nanny for the rest of the weeks he was to be off. While working full time jobs and juggling 3 children with autism. We obviously made it work, but it was absolutely one of the most challenging summers. Thanks Camp Cheerful.

★Cynthia Hilston

We used to love Camp Cheerful. My autistic son attended their summer day camps and weekend respite camps for several years. In the past year, however, he has been turned down after attending only one weekend camp and one day camp because they said they can't handle him. I am told he keeps running off, yet this was never a problem in previous years. When it didn't work out for the weekend camp in the winter, I was assured he was welcome at day camp in the summer. He went one day (today). When I picked him up, everything seemed fine. No one told me then and there that he couldn't return the next day. Instead, I got a call at 7:30 tonight and was told, "They can't handle him." This camp is supposed to be able to handle people of all ages with all disabilities. Excuses about not having the staff are not okay. Parents depend on places like this to have a place to send their special needs kids when school is out. Routine is so very important for these kids! When they say that they can't "handle him," let me be clear. When I picked up my son in January from the weekend camp, it was dark out. As I got out of my van to cross the lot into the building, someone exited the building and walked toward me. It was a special needs adult who was left alone to wander off! I said hello to him and told him to come with me. When we entered, people were just standing around. No one noticed this guy left! So, when they say MY son is wandering off, I have to wonder just how much they are paying attention. Based on other reviews I read on here, it seems there's more an issue with staff being lazy than a shortage of staff. They don't care that the parents work and must totally rearrange their schedules after being told, "Sorry, your son is too much for us to handle." They tell you they're sorry, but if they were really sorry, they'd be willing to work harder with the parents. The parents never get a break, except for programs like these. These programs are supposed to provide the parents and the kids the respite they need. They don't care about your kid enough to try harder. They certainly don't care about the parents' mental health or their jobs or their time with their other kids. Very, very disappointed. We will never send our son here again.