Best Sleepaway Summer Camp in New York

Best Staff In Leadership

Schodack was founded by the Krouner family in 1957, and has been under the same family ownership for 62 years. Representing the third and fourth generations of family ownership, Paul and Matt Krouner are hands-on camp owner/directors with extensive backgrounds in child development. But the continuity at Schodack certainly does not end there. From our head staff down to our bunk counselors, almost al of our staff grew up at Schodack as former counselors, which means they truly see Schodack as their second home, not just a summer job. This type of buy-in to the camp program among staff has a wonderful trickle-down effect throughout camp, where our campers feel the love and positive energy come from all levels of our staff.

The bunk counselors who will live in the cabins with your child are amazingly positive role models in your child’s life and we hand-pick each of these counselors and assign to the group and age that we know will be the best fit for there skills and personality. Our activity specialists are trained coaches, teachers and college students who are hired only because of their proficiency and teaching experience at their area.

When you put together this mixture of homegrown staff and seasoned specialists, you create an environment that fosters fun and a feeling of safety for trying new adventures.

Our beautiful facility in New York

Located on 100 acres in the Hudson Valley region just outside the Berkshires, Camp Schodack offers every activity and opportunity you can imagine. Our immaculate playing fields and sporting areas provide the highest level of competition and skill development in areas such as basketball, soccer, tennis, lacrosse, volleyball, golf and many more. Our water sports are second-to-none with two heated swimming pools, access to a 400-acre lake for boating and waterskiing and a 300-ft waterslide for the ultimate thrill. Our adventure course consists of an extensive high-ropes course, low ropes challenge course, 40-ft climbing tower and 300 yard zip line. These activities are sure to add excitement and challenge to any camper’s summer.

We also offer unique activities such as on-site horseback through our beautiful private woods, a full go-kart track, archery and mountain biking through our private trails. Our creative and performing arts activities include a massive arts and craft studio, air-conditioned music room, photography shack and 600-seater Playhouse for performances and skits. Whatever you child’s passion, their time and Schodack will be full of exciting opportunities to excel.

Easy adjustment to sleepaway camp

At Schodack, we pride ourselves on making sure every camper adjusts easily to life at camp. The key ingredient is starting this early, so we meet personally with every family who is interested in joining us for the following summer. Whether it is on a personal tour of camp during the previous summer or a home visit from our director during the fall or winter, we make sure to get to know your family well before the start of camp.

We also host many fun, informal get-togethers throughout the year for new and interested families. These meet and greets are held in communities all over the northeast and beyond and are great ways for our Schodack community to get to know one another and learn more about camp. After you choose Schodack for you child, they will be assigned a Big Brother or Big Sister. This is an exciting relationship for all our new campers! The Big Brother/Big Sister Program links a new camper with one of our 15/16-year-old Leadership Trainees. This long-time camper will be in touch with your child during the lead up to the summer to answer any questions they might have. They will email or chat about how to pack for camp, what to expect on the first day and much more. Then, on the first day of camp they will meet in person and form a connection that will last for the rest of the summer and beyond. We often hear about these friendships lasting for many years beyond camp.

You can also look forward to our New Camper Day in early June when we host all of our new families at camp for a fun day. New campers get to meet their staff, see what cabin they will be living in for the summer and meet all the other new campers their age. It is a wonderful day that puts everyone at ease, parents and campers alike. All of these pieces create a “Positive Camp Adjustment Package” which ensures that your child will start camp with positive expectations and smooth start to the summer at Schodack.

Our dynamic program

At Schodack, we believe the best program for children is a combination of structure and choice. With this in mind, we have designed our dynamic program to incorporate lots of time for children to be exposed to new activities AND to get time doing the things they already love the most. Six periods per day consist of time with your bunkmates going to structured periods that we have scheduled for their bunk ahead of time. These six scheduled periods are enough time for your child to do everything we offer, at least once, throughout every week at camp. These activity periods are also a wonderful time for group bonding and cohesion.

Strong friendships are formed because of our bunk concept and it helps everyone feel a part of a tight-knit community.

In addition to these activity periods, every day and three Camper Choice periods where your child can do anything they want at camp. Every single one of our regular activities, and more, are available to them. This is a favorite time for campers because they develop the independence and autonomy that comes from having choice over what activity to choose. Choice time may consist of more instruction time in the pool or more waterskiing in the lake. Or, it may be a time when your child signs up for a more competitive sports league or has rehearsal for the upcoming musical. Campers are always active during choice time and they thrive by being able to choose in a safe, child-centered environment.