Escuela Bilingüe Internacional (EBI) Summer Camp

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Parent Q&A

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  • Can anyone share their recent experience with EBI’s summer camp? We don’t attend EBI, but my son is bilingual and I’m considering this camp for the summer. He is in kindergarten. 

    My son attended EBI summer camp last year for 2 weeks (pre-K and not bilingual).  The staff was very helpful and I was impressed by the variety of crafts that he brought home each day.  The hours were good, drop off and pick up are secure and easy and they get plenty of outdoor play in the on-site playground.  My only real complaint was that they would not apply sunscreen in the afternoon.

    My son has gone to EBI camp for a couple weeks for the past two summers. He is in a Spanish immersion school and we wanted to keep it up over the summer. It was just OK. It felt like school. They spend a lot of time in the classroom and then run around on the playground. The projects were uninspired. I saw teachers finishing art projects for the kids, which is silly.

    Our young kids did it last summer and we heard no complaints, nor saw anything that I felt was inappropriate. They attend EBI so i was worried they would feel 'bored' there but at that age, the seem to love consistency. It's a very "warm" (huggy?) environment where the staff give lots of hugs so I think the kids feel comfortable overall. Good luck!... it's so fun to have a bilingual kid!

    Our kids (4 and 6, Pre-K and K ages) have attended summer camps at EBI over the past three summers and we’re eagerly looking forward to participating again this summer. We’ve found the schedules to be very flexible for us as parents. There are plenty of options for coverage during the day and week to help manage work schedules and the weekly cadence makes it easy to plan family travel or even side camps/events to vary up the summer.

    Most importantly, our kids really enjoy the camps. The teachers and staff are warm and friendly and really strive to create a fun atmosphere. The days include a variety of educational activities, art projects and games, and even various field trips, all in Spanish and managed in an inclusive way to account for different levels of Spanish.

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Escuela billingue internacional has some summer camps fully in spanish. Both my kids go there and have been going since prek. They are now 6th and 8gradera and fluent with no help from us since we dont speak spanish at home. Some teachers tutor on the side as well. Lmk if you have any other questions.

I would highly recommend EBI. I have a son at EBI and the school has been incredibly vigilant and responsible during the entire pandemic. My son has attended summer camp each summer since he enrolled and has really enjoyed it. Most of the activities are outdoors, the teachers are incredibly loving and there is a great mixture of kids with and without spanish. A great camp option! 

Hi,

I would highly recommend the Spanish Immersion Camp at Escuela Bilingue Internacional (EBI). It's all Spanish, play-based, experiential, outdoors with very strict COVID policies. Plus, if you are considering immersion for Kindergarten, it's a great way to check out the school. Each week is a different theme. My kids go to school there and have done camps, which are fabulous. Happy to answers any questions you might have - just DM me! Here is the link to the camp info: https://www.ebinternacional.org/about-ebi/summer-camps

https://www.ebinternacional.org/about-ebi/summer-camps

Escuela Bilingüe Internacional (EBI) offers Spanish immersion summer camps. Each week has a different theme and all counselors are native speakers. EBI also offers a monthly Spanish story time the second Saturday of the month. It is returning in person at the Alcatraz Campus on May 14th from 10-10:30am and is free and open to the public. I recommend you check out their programs!

Habitot is expanding their summer program (for ages 2.9-5) to be full-time this summer, which we are super excited about! EBI also offers full-time camp for preschoolers. Our kids have done both programs and enjoyed both. There unfortunately aren't too many options for three-year-olds, particularly if you need full-time care, but we were happy with these two. Monkey Business Camp is also great and full-time, but their preschool program only runs for three weeks (although it includes some of the weeks you need!)

Archived Q&A and Reviews


Jan 2015

I am thinking of enrolling my daughter in a few weeks of summer camp at EBI. She will be 6 this summer, and I would love for her to get more exposure to Spanish. She is not an EBI student. (She gets some Spanish instruction already at her school, but she is nowhere close to bilingual.) The EBI website, however, doesn't actually tell much about the summer camp and what kinds of activities the kids do during the day. Has your child been to EBI's summer camp? What was their experience like? Any information you can share would be appreciated, as would your opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of the program. I'd also welcome recommendations for any other summer camps in Oakland/Berkeley that are geared toward Spanish language instruction. Thank you! Hoping to keep Spanish alive for my kid!


My daughter attended EBI summer camp for 3 years K-2 and really enjoyed it. She is not an EBI student and easily made friends and was comfortable.There are lots of activiites including arts and crafts, dance and movement, field trips etc. The teachers are warm and friendly. They talk primarily in Spanish but woth younger kids who have little Spanish they do use some English also kids on the playground tend to speak in English so it is not total immersion. As she became older and understood more she went to the later weeks which are for kids with more Spanish and that was even better! I really liked the atmosphere and would highly recommend it! Love EBI Camps


Our five year old has been at EBI for three years of summer camp. She started the year before she entered the pre-school there, then has joined several sessions each summer in the two years since then. She LOVES EBI Camp! The teachers are warm and encouraging; the two week sessions are theme-based and filled with fun educational activities; and my daughter's Spanish improves every day. Each morning, EBI counselors ensure there's lively music (and dancing) in the entryway and the day continues with fun until the very end. She's been in camp sessions with around the world themes (dancing, music, food, language), science themes, sports themes (learn about new sports played around the world) and earth themes (recycling, growing your own food, eating healthy, etc.). And she comes home and teaches our family about all the things she learns--not to mention showing us all the things she makes! Terrific summer camp program. For little kids, the camps are half day, but the after camp care programs are similarly fun, educational and participatory. EBI also runs ''camps'' for the weeks when many private schools in the area are off of school, which has been a lifesaver for our family. Enjoy! EBI Summer Camp and School Mom


Well... I'm sure that I'll probably be the dissenting voice on this, but my child's experiences at EBI camp weren't great. We're an EBI family and love the school, but there's a marked difference between the regular school (great) and the camps (not so much). I feel like there's kind of a culture at EBI to not say anything critical about the school ever, which I don't think is fair to folks who are actually trying to objectively evaluate it. We attended the camps full-time for two summers during preschool.

The camps aren't bad, but they are only ok, not great, in my experience. They do a good job with the Spanish. Some of my child's teachers were very warm and attentive, others weren't. The camps are focused on things like craft-making and outdoor play. We haven't attended camp at the newer (Emeryville) facility, but the Alcatraz facility has virtually no shade, and the campers are outside a lot. Last summer, another child got a bad sunburn at camp (I saw it when I talked to the upset parent at pick up) because the kids had been left out for free play for three hours from 1-4pm in the sun. I also found communication with the camp coordinator to be difficult, as she wasn't very accessible. The other thing I didn't like as much was that the camps didn't encourage critical thinking or creativity very much-- activities were pretty rote and, at least in our experience, the teachers wound up making a lot of things for the kids instead of the kids making them. My child asked not to go back after the last session last summer.

I think the camps are ok for childcare until about 1st grade and that after that you'd really want to find something better. --former EBI camper's mom


March 2009

I have heard a lot of good things about Escuela Bilingue Internacional but not much about their summer camp. I am planning to send my 4 year old to a Spanish camp so any thoughts? -anon.


Hi, Our experience with EBI summer camp is that they do a really good job both at the Spanish language (whether your child comes in knowing any Spanish or none at all) as well as the cultural experiences. The teachers are well-educated native Spanish speakers who grew up in other countries, and they are great at bringing elements of culture from around the world to life. During the summer they are able to do this in their program to even a greater degree than during the school year because of the two week themed camps.

The kids have lots of fun, learn a lot, and leave their experience with a better understanding of the big exciting international community we live in. Hope this helps. Alison


Feb 2009

Re: Spanish/English camp for 6-year-old
Hi, Escuela Bilingue Internacional has just posted their summer camp sessions. They run full and half day immersion programs. My son goes to school there and is also 6 years old. The camp should be really great this summer. I don't have the information with me as they just gave it to us on Friday, but you should be able to find it on their website which is: http://www.ebinternacional.org/en/index.html Feel free to contact me if you have any questions! suzanne