The Camp Expert Story
Camp Experts & Teen Summers was founded in NYC in 1987 by Joanne Paltrowitz to help parents find the right camp for their child. Since its establishment, Camp Experts has placed thousands of children and teens in summer camps worldwide. The business itself has expanded to encompass a global network of over 30 offices. Camp Experts now represents over 950 programmes worldwide making it one of the leading providers of FREE advice on summer camp and teen programmes.
Every year over 150 camps are visited and reviewed by members of the Camp Expert team. The camps are seen in action, during the summer. Quality time is spent at each camp. All facilities are reviewed as well as the camp’s layout and activity programme. The quality of the staff and their interpersonal skills are reviewed. Safety standards are checked. All of this information is then put into a database and shared amongst the rest of the Camp Expert consultants. Campers are asked for their feedback too and this is fed into the reviews. Finally all of the consultants develop good relationships with the camp directors so they can be as familiar as possible with the camps for their clients.
Camp Experts is completely unbiased. What is paramount to Joanne and the Camp Expert team is that we learn about the child. While parents may be concerned about camp facilities, for Camp Experts what is critical is to know what the child likes, dislikes, is good at and isn’t good at as well as what are they scared of doing in addition to the skills the parents want them to be good at.
“I think a parent comes to us looking at us as experts in the field and as professionals with a good reputation” Joanne says “What we discuss is confidential, and we make the right fit because we know our camps and know the child by the time we make a placement. I have parents say, “You must have a psychology degree, because its taken me all these years to understand and in a short time you’ve been able to pinpoint exactly who my child is and what his or her needs are”. I don’t have a psychology degree, but I have a teaching background, I’ve got children, and I got into this business because I was looking for a way to provide my children with the best camping opportunities”.
The Camp Experts & Teen Summers has received national recognition in the USA as a leading authority on overnight summer camp and teen programme placements for chidren from pre-school onwards. They have been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, the International Herald Tribune, the New York Times and seveal national magazines. Camp Experts have also been featured on numerous radio and TV interviews.