Accessibility:  A Camp That Works

This page details our camp's philosophy on

• working with a wide variety of kids and their backgrounds

• Financial accessibility and responsibility

Theatrical Accessibility:  Serving Campers' Differing Dramatic Backgrounds / Abilities

At Inspirations Theater programs, we learn from each other. We ask all of our students to come with an interest in theater, an openness to trying new things, and an appetite for learning. While most of our students can hold pitch musically and have acted before, some are trying out theater for the first time or are not confident in their singing voice; This is completely fine! We find this mix of backgrounds enriches the experience for our students while also enhancing our end-of-program performances. While all students sing in our final performances, solo and duet singing parts go to those who can sing holding pitch and melody.

Note:  given our staffing and the nature of our theatrical work, Inspirations Programs are best able to serve the needs of children who can focus, follow directions, and listen patiently when others are performing or learning, as befits their age. These skills are required to help the overall group process work well at camp. We recognize children of all ages need rhythm in their activities and occasional redirection, and at our camp we strive to invite focus levels that are appropriate for the child's age.

-- For children who would require special accommodations due to a medical or behavioral condition (such as one-on-one staffing, or more than a reasonable amount of attention / redirecting during theater classes for that child), please talk to us about your child's needs before applying to see if Inspirations Theater will be able provide a good fit for your child. 
 

Financial Accessibility:  making it work while keeping our focus on the kids' experience

Inspirations Theater programs are about the kids. Our staff works hard to create a wonderful experience for the children and, for better or for worse, that costs money: money for theater rentals, staff salaries, insurance, and a hundred other things to make this camp run well and to support the experience of the kids.

Because of these very real expenses, and our wish to continue to make this camp experience available to the community, we ask each family to pay the full tuition cost, which reflects our cost of running this program.

At the same time, we also embrace the idea of a world where no one gets left behind. If we feel a student will learn and thrive at our programs, we strive to help that happen, and not let financial considerations prevent attendance. 

We trust that parents are sending us their children because they value their child's experience, they value what our programs offer to the community, and will do what they can to help Inspirations Theater thrive, through their tuition payments, volunteering, or both.

If a family is unable to meet full tuition, we do have a small scholarship system and are also willing to employ a sliding scale for tuition to make sure no one is left behind.

Finally, Inspiration Theater invites every family to find a way to help with the production. Not only does that help keep costs down, it creates community – and most folks have a lot of fun doing it! See our volunteer positions to check out ways you can help.

Our tuition and fee structure is listed and explained below, showing the different ways students can attend camp. Payment can be made in one lump sum or, with agreement from the camp, in a payment plan over several months. If you have any questions please contact us at info@rovainenmusicals.com

2020 tuition rates

Portland 1-week Camp     $200 - 250
Portland 3-week Camp, Full $600 - 750
Portland 3-week Camp, no July 20-21 $550 - 700
Portland 3-week High School Program, Full $450 - 500
Portland 3-week High School, no July 20-21 $400 - 450

Wisconsin 2-week camp $350 - 500
Vermont 2-week program               $350 - 500
Vermont 2.5 week (student aged 12-18 cast as lead)  $425 - 575

*At the Portland camps, aftercare is offered for additional fees of
$8/hr.

The high end of these sliding scales are the camp fees / tuition per child that reflect the true cost of the program. Paying at the high end of the rate ensures the camp can run in a financially sustainable way: our rentals are paid, insurance covered, our staff are paid livable wages, and we can offer a quality program again the following year. 

We offer the lower end of the sliding scale of the fees / tuition to parents / guardians who would have challenges paying the full cost.  Paying at the lower end represents a partial scholarship, and does -not- reflect the true cost of running the program. We offer this structure to families who truly feel they are unable to meet the full tuition costs. 

We trust that only those who would need to pay this reduced rate would choose to do so, knowing Inspirations Theater and scholarship system is covering their reduced cost of attending. We do have some parents who choose this level when their child enrolls, but later find that they end up being able to pay the full amount sometime later in the season, or after the program has finished.

• In exceptional cases where we feel a program is a great fit for a child and a parent simply does not have the ability (at this time) to pay one of our tuition structures, at Inspirations Theater we are committed to work creatively with the parent to find a way for the student to attend camp. As you can imagine, in the long run we cannot sustainably offer this camp should many parents / guardians come to this way for their child to attend camp. We ask only those parents who truly would need this option for their child to attend to consider requesting this path.