Hello, Athens! 👋 Welcome to the first issue of The Athens Parent, a twice weekly local dispatch for people raising kids in and around Athens, by the people raising kids in and around Athens. (We’re Cali and Grace…more on us below).
We read the flyers, calendars, sign-up pages, and fine print so you don’t have to. Then we send the parts worth knowing: what changed, what’s worth doing, what to sign up for, and what another parent would text you if they knew.
We’re glad you’re here.
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In today’s edition:
👋 A brief intro to Grace and Cali
⛺️ Summer camps still taking registration
🗓️ Athfest and Star-Spangled Classic this weekend
👗 An amazing, under-the-radar children’s consignment boutique finds a new home
Hi! We're Cali and Grace, two Athens moms who are also entrepreneurs, educators, and incurable information junkies. We spend a lot of our lives chasing down good information, for our families, our work, and just to know what's going on, and we kept landing on the same two thoughts: there is an overwhelming amount of it, and almost none is built for the average Athens family. Local news has drifted away from the hyperlocal, day-to-day stuff parents use. So we are making the thing we wanted: timely, trustworthy, truly local, and kept to the right size, something you can read over a cup of coffee and come away more in the know, not more behind. The only thing you need in common with us is Athens. Live here, work here, play here, raise kids here, and this is for you.
Cali is raising three daughters in Athens (ages 10, 8, and 4), is the Director of Entrepreneurship at UGA, and has built companies of her own alongside her sister, Ashley. She likes making useful things from scratch and cannot help but read the fine print.
Grace is raising two kids here (ages 9 and 5), is on faculty at UGA, and co-owns The Studio Athens, a women-owned local arts business. She also runs the Athens Wellbeing Project, a long-term study of family life in Athens-Clarke County, so asking how local families are doing is basically her day job.
When “Slow Summer” Becomes “Feral Summer”
If “slow summer” is starting to feel more like “feral summer”, we’ve got you. The camps below are still open for registration and have availability at the time of writing.
UGA Summer Academy (UGA Georgia Center) runs 60-plus STEAM and career camps for ages 8 to 17, with some remaining availability. A few with seats still open:
Hazard Hunters: Storm Science and Survival (ages 11 to 14), two sessions, starts July 6 or 13
Animation, 2D and 3D (ages 13 to 17), starts July 6 or 13
College Preview: Campus Quest (ages 11 to 14), starts July 6
City Shapers, Urban Design (ages 13 to 17), starts July 13
Creative Kids Camp at The Studio Athens — ages 4 to 7, weekly sessions through the week of July 27. Dance, art, music, and creative play, with after care available. Nut-free. (Note from Cali - this is a fan favorite for my 4-year old daughter, Rosie)
Wild Earth Camp — ages 4 to 13, outdoor and nature-based: shelter-building, wildlife tracking, crafts, and storytelling. Weeks of June 22-26 and July 6-10 still have availability.
Summer @ Athens Academy - ages 5 to 15, a wide mix of traditional camp, plus special sessions in sports, tech, arts, and more. You do NOT have to be an Athens Academy family to join. Seats remain in some fun themed weeks, including fencing, a writer's workshop, gaming, and an everyday-life-skills camp (automotive basics, first aid, budgeting, kitchen confidence, emergency prep). Extended-day care may be available. (Cali: my 8-year-old, Della, has loved this for two summers.)
Frogstomp Studio - ages 5-8. Frogstomp is a children's open art studio on Tracey Street built around making a mess and following your own idea. Seats may be available for June 22-26 (Stars and Stripes), July 13-17 (Pokémon Party), and July 20-24 (Animal Antipodes). Call 706-286-8449 to register.
Want the full rundown? Macaroni KID Athens keeps a running 2026 Summer Camp Guide.
Know a camp with availability? Need a camp for a certain week? Let us know, we may be able to help.
AthFest (and KidFest) is happening this weekend downtown. Friday through Sunday, June 26 to 28, this is the festival's 28th year, with free outdoor stages, an artist market, and family fun. KidsFest is free, happens during the day before AthFest, and includes kid-friendly bands on its own stage, arts and crafts areas, and demonstrations, plus ticketed bounce houses and rides, with all-day ride wristbands for $20 on site. Saturday's main stage starts at noon. It will be reliably hot, but there will be misting stations and free drinking water at the tents. The whole thing benefits AthFest Educates, which funds arts education for local K-12 kids. Free. Don’t miss the DJ Mahogany kid dance party from 1pm to 3pm at the Georgia Theatre (indoor and air conditioned!) on Saturday (note: yes, that DJ Mahogany. Some unnamed among us may have fuzzy memories of him from our own Athens college nights, and now he is spinning for the under ten crowd, which is its own kind of full circle). Full lineup at athfest.com/kidsfest
Star-Spangled Classic (Southeast Clarke Park, 4440 Lexington Road), Saturday, June 27, marking 250 years of American independence. Free, 6pm to 10:30pm. Free carnival rides, face painting, inflatables, and a photo booth start at 6pm, live music from 7 to 8:30pm, food trucks on site, and fireworks around 9:30pm. Two things to plan for: onsite parking is first come, opens at 5:30pm, and closes once full, so use the free Athens Transit shuttle from the Lexington Road Walmart or Whit Davis Elementary. And pets are not allowed, so leave the dog home. The 9:30pm fireworks make for a late night with little ones, so bring chairs, a blanket, and loose expectations about bedtime. Pro tip: park at the shuttle lot, not the park, and skip the worst of the exit traffic.
Have an upcoming event to share? Let us know! Or send us a photo from these events for a chance to be featured!
Also mark your calendars for:
CATS: Young Actors Edition - Town and Gown Theater (115 Grady Ave) - June 26-28th. $5 tickets. Come see Triple Threat (The Studio Athens Kids Musical Theater Performance Company) on Town and Gown stage. Great show for little ones! 1 hour run time.
Sign your kid up this week for the Athens Community Talent Show - July 17, 7-9pm at Treehouse Community Stage (585 Barber Street). Hosted by Treehouse and The Studio Athens. Come watch or sign your kid up here!
Athens Farmers Market, Bishop Park (705 Sunset Dr), Saturdays 8am to noon, March - December. Local produce, meats, flowers, and prepared foods, with live music and a free children's activity every week, and SNAP doubled. An easy, lovely Saturday morning out!
Athens Restaurant Week — July 13 to 19. Special menus at restaurants, taprooms, coffee shops, and bakeries around town. A low-pressure way to try somewhere new with the kids.
Seesaw Children's Consignment has reopened at a new home, 1089 Baxter Street. Same well-edited racks of gently-used kids' clothes, new address. Check @seesaw.childrens for current hours.
Make sure to stop into Reblossom before their last day (😭), this Friday, 6/26/26 (625 Barber St). Buy 2, get 1 free on EVERYTHING left in the store. Kids will have one last chance to play in the sandbox before it moves to its new home (at work.shop). Fret not - Athens Parent Wellbeing (see more below) is still alive and well.
Want to swap out a puzzle? Come to the information desk on the 2nd floor of the Athens Clarke County Library (2025 Baxter St)anytime the library is open to swap your puzzle for one of theirs.
$2 movies at 10 am on Tuesdays/Thursdays at University 16 Cinemas (1793 Oconee Connector) (plus $2 popcorn, $2 drinks, $2 M&Ms). This week (June 23 and June 25) is Dog Man. Next week is Sing.
Love relevant, quick, local news in your inbox? Make sure to follow our friends at Athens Scoop.
Have news to share or a tip for our newsletter? Let us know…we love hearing from you!
Even under the best of circumstances, parenting is tough. This is a standing list of resources.
Parent and family wellbeing. Athens Parent Wellbeing (APW) is a local nonprofit that supports the mental health of parents through pregnancy and the postpartum period. They match families with perinatal-trained therapists and offer scholarships so cost isn't a barrier, plus a weekly support groups (including New Parents' Support Group and peer support), breastfeeding help, and more.
Food assistance. The Athens Area Emergency Food Bank (640 Barber St, 706-353-8182) provides groceries for Clarke County residents, and Our Daily Bread serves free meals in a judgment free environment Monday through Friday for anyone in need at First Baptist Church (355 Pulaski St). For the full map of area pantries, Macaroni KID Athens keeps an updated directory.
Need help now? Call 211 or text your ZIP Code followed by your need (for example: 30607 help with rent) to 898211 to reach United Way and get connected to food, housing, childcare, and utility help. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988, any time.
Thanks for reading the first-ever issue of The Athens Parent! Next dispatch arriving this Thursday. If it was useful, forward it to another Athens family and tell them to subscribe. See you in a few days.
Below is our interruption count, measured as the number of times Cali and/or Grace were interrupted in the writing of this newsletter by their children and/or husbands.
Interruption count: 27 (highlights including a stolen cell phone to call “991” for a “burning” pillow fort, 4 water bottle refill requests, 1 husband interrupting with skepticism about our latest newsletter venture, and required attendance at an upstairs dance performance).