DA Summer Seeks To Ignite Even More Sparks In 2026
By Dylan Howlett
Nigel Cabral, the director of Durham Academy Summer, and Bruce Springsteen, the great American songwriter, both remain well-versed in a universal truth about combustion and about life: You can’t start a fire without a spark.
So it goes for DA students along their journeys toward Moral, Happy and Productive fulfillment. And so it goes for the campers and counselors of DA Summer: Its overall theme for 2026 is “Ignite Your Spark,” a charge that the program has taken up since its first year of operations in 1982. Now in his third year at the helm of DA Summer, including his second as full-time director, Cabral feels more animated than ever by three essential tenets for each camper’s ignition: familiar, fresh, fun.
Those same tenets animate DA Summer’s new logo: a campfire fueled by the flame of the DA Torch, kindled by the school’s trademark crossed swords and buoyed by retro lettering that evokes summer camps of yesteryear. Its moniker is “Gather Around The Campfire.”
“The best memories are made around the campfire,” Cabral said. “If we go out camping, we don’t talk in our tents. We talk around a campfire. We share the best memories.”
That is, indeed, the goal for yet another year of DA Summer, the 2026 edition of which promises to be the program’s most exciting yet:
- This year marks the inception of Tuesday and Thursday field trips for Camp Evergreen, DA Summer’s core all-day camp for ages 4–13. The idea — spearheaded by Mak Pendergrass, the assistant director of DA Summer — will bring campers to a variety of premier Triangle destinations, including the Marbles Kids Museum, Duke Gardens, Downtown Cary Park and UNC’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.
- DA Summer’s weekly themes — ranging from “Soaring Superheroes” and “Under the Sea” to “Where the Wild Things Are” and “Out of this World” — will also borrow inspiration from one of the sporting world’s most cherished quadrennial events. Week 5 of the camp will, naturally, serve as “World Cup Week” to coincide with the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup that will be contested across North America in June and July.
- DA faculty and staff will comprise nearly 40% of DA Summer’s entire staff — the highest participation rate among school employees in many years, Cabral said. He wouldn’t have it any other way. “We are DA Summer,” he said, “and we want to be a component of DA.”
It all starts with helping campers find their spark. Even if they’re just dancing in the dark.
Looking to ignite your child’s spark? It’s not too late to sign up for Session II of DA Summer! Register by June 24 at 8 p.m. to secure your spot for weekly camps offered July 6–Aug. 7.