https://www.acacamps.org/book/aca-accreditation-process-guide

A field-friendly, binder-format guide for camps featuring ACA's 2025 camp programs and services accreditation standards and implementation guidelines. To the public, ACA accreditation means that ACA...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/summer-issue

We are in the midst of another summer, and wherever you are in your camp season, I want to say, “Thank you.” Across the country, camp professionals have one of the most important jobs there is...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/disability-inclusion-no-budget-no-problem-creative-diy-strategies-camp

Walk into almost any camp staff training, and you will hear a familiar concern: “We want to be disability inclusive, but we don’t have the budget.” Or “We’d love to do more, but we don’t have a...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/partnerships-matter-elevating-camp-through-purpose-driven-programming

Today’s camp families are looking for more than a place to spend the summer; they are seeking environments where their children feel safe, supported, and meaningfully engaged. At the same time, camp...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/shaping-minds-future-leaders-2026-eleanor-p-eells-award-winners

Each year, ACA’s Eleanor P. Eells Award for Program Excellence honors camps that embody the spirit of the award’s namesake through their efforts to provide exceptional programming that effectively...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/finding-your-dedicated-small-group-leaders

Most of us would agree that camp is one of the most powerful settings for meaningful impact in the lives of every person involved, including campers, staff, adult leaders, and even parents. We’ve...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/camp-need-rebrand-its-time-widen-lens

I am not a camp person. That’s what I’d tell you if you asked. And that’s likely because it’s what I tell myself. Show me the archetypal image of a camper, be it the outdoorsy type or the wide-...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/executive-recruitment-camp-retreat-pond

“The pond is shallow, and many of the fish we try to catch can’t even swim,” one camp’s board member expressed his group’s exasperation during our discussion in an effort to help them hire a new camp...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/how-summer-camp-prepared-me-hospital-wards

Early in the morning in a physician workroom on the 15th floor of a busy county hospital, I thought about summer camp. My mind drifted to warm, sunny days by the lake and the sweet sounds of...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/three-character-principles-we-can-learn-forest

Walking through the majestic realm of a forest is tonic for the soul. There is a mystical presence; an environment of tranquility in the rustle of leaves or the arc of branches. In...