The grant application for the 2026 round of funding will open fall 2025. For any questions, please contact Karen Greenesmith, grantee success manager.

Press and Media

• SMBC Global Foundation Supports ACA with Grants to Strengthen Camp-School Partnerships
• SMBC Announces Building Resilient Futures to Enrich Youth Through the Power of the Outdoors
• Mo-Ranch Named Recipient of 2023 NSLA New York Life Foundation's Excellence in Summer Learning Award
• Milwaukee Schools and Camps Increase Access for Students through Partnership
• New Camp-School Partnership Provides Children with Summer Camp Opportunity
• View all news coverage

Community of Practice

• Recording — Partnerships to Increase Equity and Inclusivity
• Recording — Camp-School Parnterships: Elevating Your Camp Story for Sustainable Funding

Resources

• University of Utah Downloable Resource List
• The ABCs and 123s of CSPs (Camp-School Partnerships)
• The ABCs and 123s of CSPs Workbook
• Building Successful Camp-School Partnerships: A Multi-Part Study
• Program Outcomes and Quality: A Common Theme for Impact and Funding — blog post discussing using data to build sustainable funding
• Year 1 Summary Report
• 2023 Guide to Camp-School Partnerships
• Camp-School Partnership Tool Kit — made available thanks to the California Collaboration for Youth

Project History

In the first years (2021-2023) of the Camp-School Partnership Demonstration Project, ACA partnered with our sister organization, the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), to disperse funding to 10 camps, each receiving $25,000 toward a camp-school partnership, and matched by $25,000 in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding from schools, districts, and/or community organizations.

The Demonstration version of this project supported camps and schools in implementing high-quality, camp-based experiences that support middle-school students' social-emotional learning and address COVID-related learning loss, along with gathering research that demonstrated the positive effects of camp-school collaboration and sustainability.

The project was first funded by a generous grant from the New York Life Foundation and the Charles Stuart Mott Foundation.

Want to Learn More?

If you’re a camp, school, or similar organization that is interested in joining the Community of Practice, and/or participating in this project, please complete this online inquiry form. We will announce new funding opportunities directly to this email list, in addition to announcing via ACA Now and Regional newsletters. (This form is NOT an application.)

Questions about the Camp-School Partnership Demonstration Project? Interested in funding this project? Please contact Karen Greenesmith, grantee success manager.