Jewish Portal of Teacher Education

Source: JData Revealed

In this issue of JData Revealed, we present findings from the Summer 2013 annual camp census. Eight headlines summarize key trends in enrollment, staffing, and budgets. In addition to overall growth in the Jewish overnight camp world, you will see a "Tale of Two Camps"---- a recognition that while many camps are growing, some are not. The census is based on the 150 overnight camps that come under the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) umbrella. These camps have all met a set of criteria for inclusion. Summer 2013 continued the growth of previous years with a 2.6% increase in the number of campers at the 150 nonprofit Jewish overnight camps in JData. These camps served over 70,000 campers this past summer.we present findings from the Summer 2013 annual camp census. Eight headlines summarize key trends in enrollment, staffing, and budgets. In addition to overall growth in the Jewish overnight camp world, you will see a "Tale of Two Camps"---- a recognition that while many camps are growing, some are not. The census is based on the 150 overnight camps that come under the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) umbrella. These camps have all met a set of criteria for inclusion.

Summer 2013 continued the growth of previous years with a 2.6% increase in the number of campers at the 150 nonprofit Jewish overnight camps in JData. These camps served over 70,000 campers this past summer. Some of this growth comes from recently opened camps and other camps newly welcomed to FJC, while some of the growth comes from increased capacity and enrollment within individual camps. Together these camps added over 1,400 new beds to the field's total capacity.

Behind these numbers, however, is a "Tale of Two Camps" — those that are gaining and those that are losing campers. Between 2012 and 2013:

• 47% of camps experienced higher enrollments;
• 47% experienced lower enrollments;
• 6% remained about the same.

Capacity utilization is a key metric for Jewish overnight camps. It indicates how many of the camp's beds are used during the summer. Given that enrollments differ week by week and session by session, it is calculated as the average of a camp's weekly utilization.

In summer 2013, average capacity utilization was 76% (up from 74% the previous summer). This means that, on average, one-fourth of a camp's capacity was unused. If all these camps operated at full capacity, they could engage close to 17,000 more campers.

Read more at JData Revealed.