Bringing Core to the Great Outdoors

Our cornerstone course that bookends everyday of summer programming at Quad, "Core" is getting a new look in 2026. With local parks and the riverscape out our windows in the financial district, Quad kids can't wait to breath fresh air, walk in the grass, and play in the sunshine this summer.

Psychosocial emotional and executive functioning skill building takes learning and full-emersion practice. At Quad, campers start each day with 45-60 minutes of psychosocial, or "Core" learning via high interest mixed-media projects, stations, book clubs, and traditional camp activities like tie dye, friendship bracelets, games, and more.

Over the years, Core at Quad has adapted traditional classroom-based lessons to active outdoor activities. Most summer days offer warm and breezy weather near our location at the Financial District's famous South Street Seaport and neighboring Battery Park and Governor's Island. Best practice in social cognition training and child development tells us that when campers are free to practice the social-emotional learning strategies across an array of environments with professional support, their skills bloom.

This summer, the program will integrate not only social emotional learning with talent development, but also strategically plan to bring campers outside whenever possible during Core lessons. Since Core happens first thing in the morning, the downtown riverscape provides a cool scenic backdrop and environment for opportunities to practice game play with peers, reinforcing how to read other players on the outdoor fields and courts, observational skills of the changing weather, cognitive flexibility when needing to rely on directional senses, adaptability related to naturally occurring habitats of local wildlife, interactions with the general public, and more.

Quad summer program directors Sarah Cehelyk and Maddy Toledano say that there is never enough time to explore the neighborhood and with increased outdoor Core lessons, campers can do two things at once!

"We are excited that Core will have a deeper outside emphasis for learning," Cehelyk said. "Some of the best ideas from our campers are inspired by nature," she added.

In 2025, Quad campers visited the Battery Park Urban Farm (photo above) where they wrapped their sensory studies by digging in the dirt with their hands and sampled locally grown produce like tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and bean flower, choy sum, mint, lemon balm, anise hyssop, and carrots.