Green Apple Camps

My son took a lego class w/​GreenApple Campus last year and he loved it! We were so impressed with them that we signed him for another class the following work.
Whenever we picked our son up from the program he never wanted to leave! He loved all the «toys» and gadgets GreenApple Campus has.
We found the staff to be friendly!

I couldn’t agree more with all the people who’ve posted here. This «camp» is a joke. I signed my daughter up for the one at the British School, after calling them and being told that they used Minecraft as a platform to teach the kids basic programming (by teaching them how to do modifications). As others have said, there is absolutely no curriculum or teaching involved. The kids sit in an over-​sized closet and play alone on computers the whole time, doing Minecraft or whatever they feel like doing. Anything they learn, they learn from kids sitting next to them. If they’re lucky, they’ll get a working computer. In the camp at British school, as far as I could see, the «teacher» spent all of her time on hold with tech support trying to get internet access. I managed to speak once to someone at Green Apple who tried to blame everything on their host, the British school. I was also told to submit an email request for a refund, only for multiple emails to bounce back to me. When I tried to visit their office on Lincoln avenue, I find out it is a medical supply company. This camp is a huge scam — stay away! It is also listed on their website as a 501c3 educational charity — what a joke!

I should read these reviews before I signed up my son to this camp. We went to Naperville DePaul Campus. Paid $ 745. The course description and the course contents are different. My son finished his 5 days MakerLab camp at Naperville DePaul campus this week from Aug 3 – 7. However, he didn’t have any opportunity to learn Arduino microcontroller program at all during the 5 days which was mentioned in the program description. My son requested the counselor to show him Arduino. However, the counselor said that she doesn’t know how to use Arduino at all. That made him very disappointed since he expected to learn Arduino ion. During the 5 days camp, he mostly spent time on playing Lego Mindstrom and building Lego that are not mentioned in the program description at all. Overall, the program description and actual camp is not what my son and I expected. STAY AWAY
I sent 3 emails and left few phone calls. One time one lady called me back, she was very rough, she said the engineering student should know Arduino or other program! they only hire students as instructor who never used the program! The last sentence the lady said is” I will read your email thank you bye bye.” Never call back or Reply Email!
Even I am asking for Tax ID number more than few weeks! NO one replied!!!
Never Never recommend Green Apple Camp!

I wish I had come across these reviews sooner. Being part of the original Gordon Tech community & resident of Chicago for over 40 years, our family expected, the now «DePaul College Prep» (the building that rents the space to Green Apple Camps) to provide a solid reputable program for our 12 year old. We were horribly mistakened. No introductions, no syllabus, no written instructions to take home to review, no schedule for the week. When approached, the moderator of the class has nothing helpful to offer. Our kid comes home with nothing to show for the $ 700/​week we fronted for the poorly «instructed» (?) «class» (?) he was signed up for. Clearly, inexperienced staff of young adults standing around smiling with a group of kids in the room with their faces glued to a computer terminal constitutes a class for Green Apple Campus.
Viciously horrible & insulting. DePaul College prep should absolutely be EMBARRASSED to house such a PREDATORY enterprise as Green Apple Camps.

Please stay away from this horrible company/​camp. I couldn’t agree more with the other negative experiences posted. Our experience is very similar.
We enrolled our 13 yo son for 3 separate 1 wk camps.
From the first day of the first camp, we realized this was a scam.
The first week was a 3-​D printer class … one of the most expensive camps in the city.
The instructor told me he had never worked/​seen a 3D printer till the weekend before! He was learning by reading the manual on day 1.
By mid-​week, the class was told to play minecraft/​video games to pass time!
The Green apple staff almost never answer the phones … if they do, they say everything has to be done by email. If you email them, they dont respond … or say that a «manager» needs to approve … and dont get back.
After numerous attempts, I got a hold of «Jenn» who refuses to acknowledge any issues, has no training in customer service, blames our son for «choosing» to play video games, and proceeds to hang up.
We have enrolled in many many camps over the years and have never seen anything like this before. They also refuse to refund any money.
Please STAY AWAY from any Green Apple camps!

My 9 year-​old son and his friend did the one-​week Minecraft camp last summer. Neither felt like they learned much. They knew how to play already and were hoping to learn more complicated play. Basically, we paid a lot of money to have them play three hours of Minecraft, which they could have done for free at home. So, more of a daycare option. They did say the last day was a little more informative. After the second day, I called and left a message for someone in the administration voicing my concern and asking for a call back. I NEVER even got a return call! I did talk to the very young instructor who seemed responsive when I mentioned the kids weren’t feeling at all challenged. He promised to give them more interesting things to do but that never happened except for a little bit on the final day.

I had a horrible experience with this program and would never sign my children up for a Green Apple program. My son was 7 years old last summer and attended the 1-​week Legos Camp with his friend. They were super excited to work with Legos, especially the Star Wars themed ones. Star Wars was specifically cited in the syllabus. After picking them up on Day 1, both complained that this was the most boring class ever and they did not want to return. I called the director and was persuaded to send them back because Day 2 would be better. Unfortunately, Day 2 was even more boring. The kids complained that they sat in a very small room with a pile of Legos and there was nothing to do. My friend and I came to observe and agreed that there was barely any curriculum, the room was the size of walk-​in closet, and the instructor was very unenthusiastic. Not exactly the super-​fun camp we promised the kids during their summer vacation. I called the director after Day 2, explained the situation, and asked for a refund for the remaining days. The director became very unprofessional and told me the camp «was fun». I explained that «being fun» is not a fact and based on opinion. My child has attended a multitude of camps across the city including Fred’s Camp, Hi-​Five Sports Camp, Park District Programs, etc and has always had a good time. In retrospect, I could have thrown a bunch of Legos in my playroom and saved myself over $ 200 and lot of hassle. This camp provided no value. It is more of a daycare that only allows you to play with Legos. Not the unique stimulating program I had hoped for when I signed up.