Founded
1978
Mission
Julian Krinsky Camps & Programs is focused on redefining what a summer should be. They make summer about doing something you love, meeting people from all over the world, preparing you college or your future career or experiencing something new. They make summer better by creating experiences people love and by pushing the limit on student-centered programming.
What They Do
- Architecture at Penn
- Art at Penn
- Business School
- Coding Academy
- Cooking School
- Esports Academy
- Management & Technology Summer Institute
- NIKE Basketball Camp
- NIKE Junior Golf Camp
- NIKE Tennis Camp
- Penn Medicine
- Villanova Soccer Camp
- Wharton Moneyball Academy
- Wharton Sports Business Academy
- Yale Pre-College Summer Program
Remember the ol’ days of endless knock hockey, trading pogs, and kickball all summer long? Well like everything else, summer camps, too, have evolved! Now, kids make memories while receiving culinary training from a chef, doing science experiments with chemists and acting with thespians, all while learning valuable life lessons at Julian Krinsky Camps & Programs (JKCP).
JKCP, located at Haverford College, (one of their four current campuses, they also host manage at Villanova University, University of Pennsylvania and new this year Yale University!) takes summer camp to a whole new level. This 40-year-old institution began as a weekly tennis camp, and over the years, grew to include golf, cooking, business, fitness, academics and much more. One of the elements that make this top-rated camp so impactful is its ability to adapt to the students they serve, which led to its unique blended platform.
“Kids nowadays, Gen Z, live from experience to experience,” says JKCP CEO, Steve Robertson. “They don’t want to spend the entire day playing tennis anymore. They want a little bit of tennis or basketball, then spend some time doing fashion or cooking or something else.” These life-changing experiences, honed over 40 years, is what keeps the JKCP team motivated… The reason we do the type of programming we do is we really believe in understanding the generations that come through our doors and we’ve programmed specifically to impact and change their lives.”
This approach can make it difficult for JKCP to promote all they really do. The impact they have goes far beyond camp, and much of that can be contributed to their amazing staff. Skilled instructors provide the highest level of training and are the best in their industry, with 95% having a masters degree or higher. And the residential staff engages with students so well, that less than 1% of students go home from homesickness during their residential stay.
JKCP invests in their staff to aid in maintaining a team that can work well under pressure and sustain a great company culture. Office Olympics, lunch challenges, charitable comedy shows and happy hours all contribute to a strong relationship between the camp and staff in the non-summer months. And it seems to be working, as staff members tend to stay with the camp for multiple years.
As JKCP continues to adapt to better serve Gen Z students, they are growing their program roster into new areas, one aspect that is gaining in interest and popularity is the world of Esports. And no, that doesn’t mean you are sending your kid to camp just to play video games.
As Steve explains, “Esports and gamification is what will prepare your son/daughter for tomorrow. It teaches them teamwork, time management, communication skills and more. Our new program is teaching them the entire ecosystem of this multi-billion dollar industry from game development, developing & running a tournament and how to market/sell a game and maintaining your health as a player. We want them to understand the business of the sport and see the potential scholarship and career opportunities in this growth industry.”
JKCP’s Esports Camp is powered by N3rd Street Gamers, an industry leader not only in Philadelphia but across the country in bringing this sport to the forefront. They are also the Official Training Camp of the Philadelphia Fusion University, (Philly’s e-sportsteam in the Overwatch League) to bring the best instructors and industry knowledge to the JKCP students.
And as you probably surmised by now, JKCP isn’t all fun and games…They’ve even begun offering a new Yale Pre-College program that provides an innovative academic experience for high school students, designed to develop the next generation of top thinkers and change-makers during a two-week residency at Yale University.
As you can see, this isn’t the camp you remember from childhood. It’s the camp of the future and they are ready to prepare your son/daughter for their future and to have fun while doing it. Get To Know JKCP or find out how to enroll by visiting jkcp.com. And make sure to follow them at @jkcp on Instagram and @juliankrinskycampsprograms on Facebook.
