Our Big Summer Adventure
Ten weeks. Ten worlds. One genuinely unforgettable summer for our littlest humans — and you're the ones who get to build it.
Hi team —
We've got news, and it's the fun kind. This summer, AGTO is running a 10-week themed summer camp: Our Big Summer Adventure. This short note is just to let you in on the why, give you a taste of what's coming, and send you off on your first (very low-stakes, slightly ridiculous) mission. Read time: about three minutes. We timed it.
This summer, a three-year-old is going to come home breathless and tell their parent that they rescued a sea turtle.
Another one is going to climb into a real fire truck. A whole bunch of them are going to feed an actual goat. They're going to follow a map, dig for treasure, and find it.
This is a memory-making summer.
These are the summers kids remember for the rest of their lives. The ones that become the story they tell when they're all grown up. And we — this team, this little building — get to be the people who make those memories happen for our bunch of Bigs, Littles, and Littlers.
That's the why. Everything else is details.
Expect a little extra buzz.
Before we dive into the fun — this summer comes with a little extra buzz. You'll see new families touring the building, a camera out more than usual (we'll be posting the fun on social media), and a big Open House on June 12. You'll also hear our two newest phrases around here: Aldea, the next chapter we're growing into, and executive function, a fresh way of thinking about how kids learn. More on both soon. For now — don't be surprised if you end up a little famous in Bakersfield childcare circles. We'll get your good side. 😉
Here's the part that actually matters, though. All that buzz gets new families curious enough to walk through the door — but it's never what makes them stay. Nobody falls in love with a Facebook post. They fall in love watching their kid get welcomed by name, comforted on a hard morning, and delighted-in all day long. That's not marketing — that's you. The buzz makes the introduction. You are the reason families stay.
The full summer menu.
Ten themed weeks, each built around one big memorable moment. Here's everything on the menu:
Curious how we're showing all this to families?
None of this magic plans itself.
Over the next few weeks, we'll ask you to help bring these weeks to life. Before anyone panics: we've built you something for that. A planning guide, plus two full weeks already mapped out for you, block by block, with teacher notes and everything. You will not be staring at a blank page. You'll be remixing a recipe — and adding your own flavor, which is the fun part.
And if you'd rather start from a standard plan than build your own from scratch? Completely fine. Just ask Amy — she can have one put together for you. Nobody on this team is getting left without a map.
Heads Up: These plans are not perfect, and we hope you'll catch holes in our initial thinking. We're very aware that we planned these in an office, and we're counting on you to help remix them to work in real life.
But for now, we hope you start dreaming! Which brings us to your first mission of summer...
Pitch Your Wildest Idea
Head to the When I Work chat and drop ONE gloriously over-the-top idea for any theme week. The more ridiculous, the better. A sandcastle the size of a car? A teacher fully committed to a pirate accent for five straight days? A goat in a tiny graduation cap for Kinder Confidence week? We want to hear it.
Rule 1: It has to make at least one person laugh.
Rule 2: There are no other rules.
Some of these will be jokes. But fair warning — some of the best ideas in the history of summer camp started as a joke someone was brave enough to say out loud. We might genuinely steal one. (We will give you credit. Probably.)
→ Go post in the When I Work chatThis is going to be a special summer for our littlest people — and a pretty great one for us, too. Thanks for being the kind of team that makes a place like this worth coming to. Let's go build something they'll never forget.
What's next?
Step One: Jump to the Planning Guide using the menu at the top of the page before you starting looking over the actual weekly plans,
One last note: Nav menu links for Weeks 3-10 aren't active - we'll work on that later.
With a great deal of excitement,