I’ll start by saying that our family loves the programming at the Park District of Oak Park. While we’ve participated in school-year enrichment activities, our kids have especially benefitted from the variety of summer camps that have come to define their summers. The park district really does a fantastic job creating experiences kids look forward to year after year and forging relationships across school boundaries.
For almost a decade, I’ve been lucky enough to sit on the sidelines as my wife enters the annual gauntlet known as summer camp registration. She approaches it with the precision of a military operation. Preparation starts with research, which is both a privilege, because of the many options across nearby towns, and a necessity because we need daytime child care during summer break. That research leads to a spreadsheet with multiple scenarios broken down by week and tiered by kid preference and cost.
Year after year, offerings from Oak Park’s park district and providers like Base Camp sit at the top of the wish list.
My role has traditionally been supportive: provide hydration, nod thoughtfully, and pretend I fully understand the logistics unfolding in front of me.
This year, however, I was called off the bench and tasked with registering our kids myself.
To put it mildly, I was not ready. I now have a much deeper appreciation for my wife and the hundreds of other families who go through this every year.
For the uninitiated, Oak Park’s park district summer camp registration opens at 8:30 a.m. on the first Saturday in February. What follows is pure cyber chaos, with camp slots disappearing in seconds.
The Eminem song “Lose Yourself” perfectly captured my mindset that morning as I sat down at my laptop at 8:25, convinced I was prepared. My wife had pre-loaded a curated Amilia wish list, and I had previously purchased tickets to high-demand sporting events. I figured I could handle this.
I could not.
Now that I’ve run the gauntlet myself, I humbly offer two relatively simple ways to improve the experience.
First: create a lottery-based registration window. Families could sign up in advance and receive a randomly assigned 10-minute slot. This would dramatically reduce the frenzy on registration morning and allow parents to enjoy their coffee without feeling like they’re competing in an Olympic qualifying event.
Second: use registration interest as market research. Families could list preferred camps ahead of time, and the district could use that information to allocate spots. Maybe we discover we need five more sections of SPARK camp and two fewer sections of nature camp.
To be clear, I know many smart and committed people have spent countless hours trying to improve the system. Oak Park is also not unique. Summer camp registration is a challenge faced by providers everywhere.
But if the park district ever cracked the code, it would go a long way toward softening a few hearts around the pool referendum.
After all, nothing builds goodwill quite like helping parents survive February.
Vince Gay has over 20 years of experience in education, ranging from classroom teacher to building administrator. The proud parent of two school-aged children, he has been an active member of the Oak Park community for more than a decade.