Best Summer Camp In the United States

The Best home-grown staff – numbers that speak for themselves

Camp Schodack has the best bunk staff that you can find in any camp in the US– and that is why your camp search should go no further. How do we know? More than 90% of them grew up right here at Camp Schodack, came for two summers in our Leadership Training Program and then graduated to become bunk staff. Amazing – the ties and bonds at Camp Schodack are so strong that our campers grow up excited to be able to become future counselors so they give back to the next generation of campers. We are so proud to nurture amazing young women and men who love Camp Schodack and its traditions so much that they aspire to be the ‘heroes’ that they remember their counselors being for them a few years earlier. This only works by taking great care in the bunks to provide a warm, caring, pressure-free environment for campers to enjoy and thrive in. The focus on friendship groups, of sitting in a ‘open circle’ (always leaving a space so that another person can walk up and join a group) and the amount of time a group spends together during the day are set up to help campers love being at Camp Schodack – most come to consider Schodack their second home.

Terrific Summer camp activities

Camp Schodack provide a warm, family environment for girls and boys in a traditional setting. Campers are full of spirit and take part in a whole host of sports sports, swimming, waterskiing as well as performing arts and creative arts. Each camper gets to try everything – and here’s the kicker – they are able to spend as much of their ‘choice’ time as they like at those special activities that they prefer the most or want to improve at over the summer. A fantastic combination! Most of the day will be spent with your bunkmates allowing for those special, close friendships and group identity. The bunk group spends 45 minutes at each activity and then goes on to the next adventure. There is meaningful instruction and skill development and also the ability to live in the moment while knowing that the next great activity is just around the corner. By having two plus hours each day away from the group – which fosters a sense of independence – campers improve most in those areas they are fond of and are particularly interested in.

Group friendships – without all the technology

Wanting your child to stare at a screen all summer? Schodack may not be the right choice for you…. actually, far from it! Camp Schodack’s campers like to get away from the phones and computers and without them, our campers thrive on personal communication, eye contact, group dynamics, team building, even learning how to work out problems from time to time! Camp Schodack is where your child will be exposed to a smile (not an emoji) – a real thumbs up rather than that yellow cartoon on your phone – high fives instead of… you get the point?!! Campers develop amazing friendships which are with them for the long haul – right through transition to middle school, then high school, college and beyond. And because these friendships are formed on the basis of real values in a technology-free environment, they are very strong and last forever.

What will my child come home with from Summer camp?

Boys and girls grow confident and assured as their ability at a wide range of activities grows and as their group bonds and personal friendships grow stronger each year. Cabins, camper groups and their staff are chosen with great care in the spring so as to create a family atmosphere – kids are nice to each other and enjoy the varying activities that they play with their bunkmates during the day. As the summers pass, campers work together as Leadership Trainees to invent, create and put on events for the enjoyment of the rest of camp – whether an all camp event like All For One, or putting out the daily newspaper or decorating the dining hall for a theme dinner, being an LT is something all campers aspire to. Finally of course, there is that desire to become a counselor, to be for some younger kids as good as the amazing counselors that I have had while growing up here. There is a home at Camp Schodack for the long haul with exciting challenges along the way.

For your first year, you will make tremendous friends, be exposed to a wonderful array of activities and be cared for by counselors who have grown up here at camp and have waited patiently to give back to your child. Traditions run deep at Camp Schodack and it’s the campers and the counselors who are making everything happen.