FAQs

We are located in Northwest Connecticut, about 2.5 hours north of New York City. Camp is in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains and it’s beautiful  but rural. There are a few small towns around us with your basics - pharmacy, grocery store, coffee shop, pizza place, movie theater - and then a bigger city about 40 minutes away (complete with Wal-Mart, Target and Goodwill).

We seek staff with warm personalities, positive attitudes, strong work ethics, good character and a sincere desire to live and work with children. We also are looking for staff who have teaching experience, even if it’s not in your activity area. If you have those qualities, and you’re willing to live by our values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility, then you’ll be a perfect fit for Camp Sloane. We’ll train you in everything else you need to know during Staff Training.

Our staff tends to fall in love with camp and return year after year, sometimes for 10+ years! We have anywhere from a 50-60% return rate for staff. That said, we love welcoming new staff into the Sloane family and we can’t wait to hear your new ideas and teach you about the Sloane spirit.

Our staff comes from all over the world! 60% of our staff are international, coming from countries such as England, Ireland, South Africa, Spain, Mexico, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia. Our American staff typically come from the Northeast.  Our international staff comes to the states on the J-1 Counselor visa and we work with a number of agencies. If you have questions about the visa process, please email programdirector@campsloane.org.

Yes, within reason. Our kitchen is nut-free and can easily accommodate vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free diets. If you have something more complicated or a mix of dietary restrictions (such as gluten-free AND dairy-free) please discuss this in your interview or email campdirector@campsloane.org to make sure that we are the right job for you.

Counselors live in platform tents with the campers. You will be assigned a village and a tent at the start of the summer based on your personality, skills, and qualifications. Supervisors are also assigned a village and they live in the Head Tent (there is one in each village). Support staff (office, maintenance, kitchen) have the option to live in the villages with campers and counselors but we also have the option to live in one of our rustic staff cabins.

We are a tech-free camp for our kids and for our staff as well. Staff is allowed to bring their computers, phones, tablets, etc. BUT they can only be stored and used in the staff lodge during stated free times. Our staff lodge has wifi available and we do get cell service here at camp through most service providers. You MUST be comfortable being away from your technology for days at a time if you choose to apply for a job at Camp Sloane.

Free time is time on camp that you do not have to be with your campers. This time typically happens in the evenings, after campers are in bed, and usually happens on a rotating basis. You will also have free time during intersession weekends that you are not supervising (you only have to work one). During your free time, you can nap, hang in the staff lodge, call home, etc.

Time off is time that you can spend off-camp. All staff gets a 24-hour period off each week plus one evening off per every 2-week session. We have staff shuttles that you can sign up for to get into town on your time off and staff like to organize fun hiking trips, lake trips, camping trips, and shopping trips.

We wear our uniforms on the check-in and check-out days. You will receive your uniform shirt during training and it gets worn with khaki bottoms that you provide. Our general rule of thumb for all other days is to dress for the job at hand and make sure that your outfit is camp appropriate (i.e. you’d wear it in front of a camper’s parent). Name tags need to be worn every day. We send out a staff packing list once you are hired so that you can prepare for everything that you will need for a successful summer.

Yes, we have a staff parking lot for your vehicle and it’s helpful for time off. If you don’t have a car, we do have staff shuttles that you can sign up for.

Our top priority is to keep campers safe and you are hired as a positive role model to kids. As such, tobacco, vapes, alcohol, and drugs are forbidden at camp. If you are in possession of these substances or found using them while at camp, it is grounds for immediate dismissal. If you’re in the habit of using these substances on a regular basis - then camp is not a good fit for you.

We hire for activities at Camp Sloane so that we know for sure that we can run everything that our campers expect. You will be asked to interview for a specific activity area and you will know your activity area at the point of hiring. During staff training, we get to know you and we watch how you work with others. We then do our best to separate out people based on their personalities, skills, and qualifications for their village assignments. You find out your village assignment about halfway through staff training.

Day campers are rising grades K-6 and overnight campers are rising grades 4-11. 70% of our campers are returning to camp and the rest are new. Most of our campers come from New York City and Brooklyn, but we also have campers from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Westchester, and international campers as well. Our campers come from a variety of racial, ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds and as we are a camp for all, we take pride in camp’s diversity.

Camp Sloane was built on judeo-christian values, but our focus at camp is teaching good character, which is based on our values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility. We also encourage campers to grow in body, mind, and spirit – whatever that means to them. While we don’t teach any particular system of faith or worship, camp tradition guides us to sing non-denominational graces before each meal and hold chapel on Sundays. The feel of the chapel is peaceful, reflective and inspirational, with our oldest campers sharing speeches written about our building block values of camp.

Yes! Camp is a great internship and we are happy to work with you to create whatever responsibilities or criteria you need to meet to help turn this awesome experience into school/work credit. Contact campdirector@campsloane.org to find out more.