Long Beach parents who’ve been excited for the potential return of the Long Beach Unified School District’s Camp Hi Hill are getting the news they’ve been hoping for. At the LBUSD Board of Education’s most recent meeting, the board unanimously approved a five-year contract with the YMCA to revive the overnight outdoor camp at the YMCA’s Camp Oakes, beginning in the 2023-24 school year.

After the unanimous vote was counted and recorded, LBUSD board president Diana Craighead said, “And maybe add, ‘enthusiastically.’”

The district first publicly revealed that they’ve been working on the return of an outdoor education camp for fifth graders at the Dec. 14 board meeting. There are more details to come, but LBUSD’s superintendent over elementary schools, Brian Moskovitz, said he and the district’s cross-departmental team are excited to jump into the planning.

“This is really building on the rich tradition of outdoor education at Camp Hi Hill,” he said. “We feel confident we are ready to bring forward to you a five-year contract with the YMCA to run a camp up at Camp Oakes. … The vote will allow us to continue to work with our labor partners and continue to talk to our parents.”

Craighead said the vote was “a dream come true. I didn’t even think it was possible for us to entertain that dream, to have another camp.”

The next LBUSD board meeting will be Wednesday, March 1.