Amplify Sleep Away Camp
Besant Hill School (Amplify Sleep Away Camp), 8585 N Ojai Santa Paula Rd., Ojai, CA 93023
About
Amplify Sleep Away Camp offers hands-on creative activities including Rock Band 101, Songwriting & Performance, Musical Theater, Film Making, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Skateboarding, and both intermediate- and advanced-level Rock Band Intensives. Campers can also take part in Band Photography & Album Design, Water Adventures, Nature Adventures, a CampChella Music Festival, Off-Site Trips, Private Instruction, and designing and screen printing their own swag. For campers who stay 4 or more weeks, off-campus trips can include kayaking at Catalina Island or whitewater rafting the Kern River.
• Ages: 8–17 years old
Amplify Sleep Away Camp is part of the Amplify Arts Project, a registered non-profit organization that is ACA-accredited and was honored by the California State Senate in 2022 for creating measurable, positive change in youth development and the broader community. The program is for girls in grades 3–12 and is described as a summer camp where girls can truly be themselves, with a deeply inclusive and firmly anti-bullying community, a screen-free focus, and an environment that is safe, inclusive, and built for confidence, not competition. Campers move through Amplify with their own age groups for dorms, electives, and creative immersives, with Electric Youth having their own dorm section and dedicated staff, and older campers receiving additional privileges such as more off-campus trips and challenges.
Camp days are split between immersive majors and electives, and every session closes with a final showcase. The Musical Theater immersive welcomes all levels, provides all needed equipment, and each musical theater session ends with a fully staged performance in the Zalk Theater, a black box performance space. Older campers can choose a Pro Pathway option to develop audition pieces, musical theatre reels, or creative portfolios.
The leadership team includes Marley, Camp Director at Amplify, and founder Jen Baron, a musician, youth mentor, and nonprofit leader with over 25 years of experience in youth development. Staff include instructors from Berklee, UCLA, and leading arts programs, trained medical staff on-site, and trained mentors who lead all trips. One example is Zoey, a Musical Theater Instructor who was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs and graduated from the University of Missouri with a double major in English and psychology and minors in theater and sociology.
Amplify began in 2012 as a summer day camp and after-school program in Santa Barbara, launched its first full-season sleep away camp in 2014, and in 2022 was honored by the California State Senate. The camp’s mission states that Amplify is a community that empowers participants through music education, the creative arts, and positive mentorship, and encourages youth to find their power, be their most authentic selves, and lift each other up.
Amplify Sleep Away Camp is funded by national foundations such as the Country Music Association Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and California Arts Council, as well as local supporters including the Santa Barbara Foundation, Hutton Parker Foundation, and the Ventura Community Foundation. It has partnered with major brands including Sonos, Guitar Center, and Zadig & Voltaire, and has collaborated with artists like Billie Eilish and Zella Day. The camp welcomes international families and regularly hosts campers from around the world, and offers dedicated camper shuttles to and from Beverly Hills High School and LAX, gate-to-gate support at LAX, and the option for families to drop off and pick up campers directly at camp.
According to parent and camper reviews, Amplify Sleep Away Camp has a 4.9 rating based on 117 reviews. Parent testimonials describe campers returning year after year, becoming staff, forming strong friendships and bonds with both campers and staff, and talking about camp daily after returning home. Parents report that their daughters feel confident, safe, respected, accepted, and cared for, and describe the campus as beautiful with wonderful facilities and a community that is inclusive with girls from all over the country. Multiple parents state that their children did not want to leave at pickup, stayed in touch with friends after camp, and that they plan to sign up again for future summers.
Last updated March 15, 2026.
• Ages: 8–17 years old
Amplify Sleep Away Camp is part of the Amplify Arts Project, a registered non-profit organization that is ACA-accredited and was honored by the California State Senate in 2022 for creating measurable, positive change in youth development and the broader community. The program is for girls in grades 3–12 and is described as a summer camp where girls can truly be themselves, with a deeply inclusive and firmly anti-bullying community, a screen-free focus, and an environment that is safe, inclusive, and built for confidence, not competition. Campers move through Amplify with their own age groups for dorms, electives, and creative immersives, with Electric Youth having their own dorm section and dedicated staff, and older campers receiving additional privileges such as more off-campus trips and challenges.
Camp days are split between immersive majors and electives, and every session closes with a final showcase. The Musical Theater immersive welcomes all levels, provides all needed equipment, and each musical theater session ends with a fully staged performance in the Zalk Theater, a black box performance space. Older campers can choose a Pro Pathway option to develop audition pieces, musical theatre reels, or creative portfolios.
The leadership team includes Marley, Camp Director at Amplify, and founder Jen Baron, a musician, youth mentor, and nonprofit leader with over 25 years of experience in youth development. Staff include instructors from Berklee, UCLA, and leading arts programs, trained medical staff on-site, and trained mentors who lead all trips. One example is Zoey, a Musical Theater Instructor who was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs and graduated from the University of Missouri with a double major in English and psychology and minors in theater and sociology.
Amplify began in 2012 as a summer day camp and after-school program in Santa Barbara, launched its first full-season sleep away camp in 2014, and in 2022 was honored by the California State Senate. The camp’s mission states that Amplify is a community that empowers participants through music education, the creative arts, and positive mentorship, and encourages youth to find their power, be their most authentic selves, and lift each other up.
Amplify Sleep Away Camp is funded by national foundations such as the Country Music Association Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and California Arts Council, as well as local supporters including the Santa Barbara Foundation, Hutton Parker Foundation, and the Ventura Community Foundation. It has partnered with major brands including Sonos, Guitar Center, and Zadig & Voltaire, and has collaborated with artists like Billie Eilish and Zella Day. The camp welcomes international families and regularly hosts campers from around the world, and offers dedicated camper shuttles to and from Beverly Hills High School and LAX, gate-to-gate support at LAX, and the option for families to drop off and pick up campers directly at camp.
According to parent and camper reviews, Amplify Sleep Away Camp has a 4.9 rating based on 117 reviews. Parent testimonials describe campers returning year after year, becoming staff, forming strong friendships and bonds with both campers and staff, and talking about camp daily after returning home. Parents report that their daughters feel confident, safe, respected, accepted, and cared for, and describe the campus as beautiful with wonderful facilities and a community that is inclusive with girls from all over the country. Multiple parents state that their children did not want to leave at pickup, stayed in touch with friends after camp, and that they plan to sign up again for future summers.
Last updated March 15, 2026.
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