10 Questions to Ask Before Booking a Summer Camp in Georgia

Booking a summer camp is a bigger decision than most parents realise until they're knee-deep in it. You're handing over your child for a week, sometimes longer, to a group of adults you've never met, at a site you've maybe never visited, doing activities you're not always familiar with. The right camp can be one of the best weeks of your child's year. The wrong one can be stressful, disappointing, or worse.

The good news is that asking the right questions upfront filters out most of the bad options quickly. We've put together the questions to ask summer camp providers before you book, based on 54 years of running camp in Atlanta and hearing what families wish they'd asked before they signed up somewhere else.

Whether you're considering Josh Powell Camp or any other camp in Georgia, run these questions past the camp before you hand over a deposit. A good camp will answer all of them clearly and confidently. If a camp dodges, hesitates, or gets vague, that tells you everything.

Table of Contents

1. How Long Has the Camp Been Operating?

Longevity matters. A camp running for thirty or forty years has weathered every kind of weather, behavioural issue, and operational hiccup imaginable. A brand new camp may still be excellent, but it hasn't been tested.

Ask directly: "How long have you been running this camp under current ownership?" The answer tells you whether you're dealing with a refined operation or a first or second season experiment.

Josh Powell Camp has been running in Atlanta since 1972. That's 54 summers of refinement and tens of thousands of campers.

2. What Are the Staff Qualifications and Background Check Policies?

This is the question that should be at the top of every parent's list. Who are the people spending the day with your child?

Ask:

• Are all staff background-checked?

• What qualifications do counselors have?

• Are they trained in first aid and CPR?

• What's the staff-to-camper ratio?

You want to hear specifics, not platitudes. A great camp hires elementary school teachers, experienced college students, and adults who actively choose to work with kids. They've all passed background checks. They're trained. The ratios are clear. At JPC we maintain 1:8 staff to camper ratio with teacher-led groups.

If a camp can't answer these questions in detail, walk away.

3. What Does a Typical Day Actually Look Like?

Camp websites can make any program sound fantastic. The real test is what your child will actually be doing from drop-off to pickup.

Ask for an hour-by-hour breakdown of a typical day. A real camp can walk you through it confidently. Morning arrival, activity rotations, swimming, lunch, afternoon adventures, end-of-day pickup. If the answer is vague or feels improvised, the camp probably is too.

You want to hear about structured activities, not "free play time" that's really just unsupervised waiting around.

4. What's the Safety Protocol for Water Activities?

Almost every camp in Georgia involves some water, whether it's a pool, lake, river, or sprinkler setup. The safety standard around water is one of the clearest indicators of how seriously a camp takes its responsibility.

Ask:

• Are lifeguards certified, and by whom?

• What's the swimmer-to-lifeguard ratio?

• How do you assess swimming ability before letting kids in deeper water?

• What's the protocol if there's a thunderstorm?

The answers should be specific and confident. Certified lifeguards (Red Cross or equivalent), clear ratios, swim tests on day one, and well-rehearsed weather protocols. Anything less is a real concern.

5. How Do You Handle Medical Issues and Emergencies?

Hopefully you never need this answer. But you need to know it before you book.

Ask:

• Is first aid administered on-site?

• Where's the nearest hospital and how would my child get there?

• How do you handle allergies?

• What's the communication protocol if my child gets injured or sick?

A great camp has clear answers because they've thought it all through. First aid certified staff on site, an established hospital relationship, individual allergy plans for affected campers, and a "we call parents immediately for anything beyond a scraped knee" policy.

6. What's the Refund and Cancellation Policy?

This question gets skipped more than it should. Then something happens (sickness, family emergency, schedule change) and parents realise they're locked into a non-refundable booking they no longer need.

Ask for the cancellation policy in writing before you pay. Specifically:

• What's the refund window?

• Can I switch to a different session?

• What happens if my child gets sick on day one?

• What if the camp itself cancels a session?

At JPC, we offer full refunds until May 15th, no questions asked. Camps that won't put their refund policy in writing, or that have unusually restrictive terms, are a yellow flag.

7. How Do You Communicate With Parents During Camp?

Once your child is at camp, what do you actually know about how their day is going? Different camps handle this completely differently.

Some send daily photos to a parent app. Some post a weekly summary. Some go full silence and you find out at pickup. None of these are wrong by default, but you need to know upfront what to expect.

Ask:

• How do you contact me if there's an issue?

• Will I see photos during the week?

• Can I call to check in?

• Who do I contact at camp during the day?

A camp that answers the phone during hours and replies to parent messages promptly is showing you something important about how they operate.

8. What Are the Logistics? Drop-off, Pickup, and Bus Routes

The best camp in the world doesn't work if you can't actually get your child there reliably.

Ask:

• What are the drop-off and pickup times?

• Is extended care available?

• What bus routes do you offer? From where?

• Is there a charge for buses?

• What's the policy for late pickup?

Josh Powell Camp runs buses from three pickup locations across Atlanta (Trinity Presbyterian in Buckhead, Kairos Church near I-285 and Riverside Drive, and Roswell Cultural Arts Center) with car rider drop-off at the Acworth site. Extended care is available for car riders from 8am to 5pm at an additional $30 per day.

Knowing the logistics in advance means no surprises during a week when you're already juggling work.

9. Can We Visit the Site Before Booking?

Most quality camps will say yes to a site visit if you ask. Some run open houses in spring. Some let you swing by during a quieter weekend. Some can't accommodate visits during active camp weeks for safety and privacy reasons, which is reasonable.

But a camp that flatly refuses any kind of site visit, ever, raises questions. What are they hiding?

If you can't visit in person, ask for:

• A virtual tour video

• A photo gallery from past sessions

• Reviews from past families

• Permission to speak with another parent who's used the camp

Trust your instincts here. A camp that's confident in what it offers is happy to show it off.

10. What's the Camp's Approach to Technology?

This question reveals a lot about the camp's philosophy.

Some camps allow phones throughout the day. Some have a strict no-electronics policy. Some sit somewhere in the middle, with phones used for limited check-ins.

Neither extreme is automatically right, but knowing where a camp sits tells you what your child's week will actually look like. At JPC, we have a strict no-electronics policy. The whole point of camp is real outdoor experience, real friendships, real engagement, and screens are the opposite of that.

If you specifically want a tech-free week for your child, ask the question and get a clear answer.

Bonus Questions Worth Asking

If you've got time, a few more questions sharpen the picture further.

• What ages are grouped together? Mixing 5 year olds with 10 year olds in the same activities rarely works for either group. Ask how groups are split.

• What food and snacks are provided, or do we send them? Lunch policies vary. Some camps provide food, others ask families to pack lunches. Both work, but you need to plan.

• How do you handle behavioural issues? A camp with a clear, calm answer about this has thought it through. A camp that says "we don't really have any" probably hasn't.

• What's the return rate of families? Roughly what percentage of campers come back next summer? At JPC, 8 in 10 families return the following year. That's the strongest endorsement a camp can offer.

What the Answers Tell You

If a camp gives clear, confident, specific answers to all ten of these questions, you're probably looking at a quality operation.

If they hesitate, redirect, or give vague answers on more than one or two, keep looking. The right Georgia summer camp should feel like a partner in your child's summer, not a transaction.

The right team will happily spend twenty minutes on the phone with you because they know that's the start of a relationship that often spans many summers.

Ready to Ask Us Anything?

If you're considering Josh Powell Camp for your child this year, we'd genuinely love to answer every one of the questions above and any others you have.

Our Summer 2026 sessions are open for registration, with 11 sessions running from Memorial Day through the end of July, full refunds available until May 15th, and three bus pickup locations across Atlanta.

Call us at (678) 369-0780, email Hey@JoshPowellCamp.com, or come find us. We pick up the phone, and we love camp questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How much should I expect to pay for a summer camp in Georgia?

  Day camp prices in Georgia typically range from $300 to $600 per week, depending on the camp, included activities, and whether transport is part of the package. Specialty camps (sports, academic, arts) often run higher. Watch for hidden costs: lunch fees, late pickup charges, registration fees, or paid add-ons for "premium" activities. The best value isn't always the cheapest option, it's the one that delivers a real outdoor experience with everything included upfront.

• When does summer camp registration usually open in Georgia?

  Most Georgia camps open registration between November and February for the following summer. Popular sessions, especially the weeks before and after July 4th, sell out by March or April. If you're targeting a specific camp, get on their mailing list in the autumn so you're notified the moment registration opens. Waiting until May to start researching often means scrambling for whatever's left.

• Are there discounts available for booking multiple weeks of summer camp?

  Some camps offer multi-session discounts, sibling discounts, or early-bird pricing if you register before a certain date. It's always worth asking directly. At Josh Powell Camp, we don't run a formal multi-week discount, but many families book several sessions back-to-back because it's the simplest way to cover the whole summer. Always ask about sibling rates if you have more than one child attending.

• What should I do if my child gets homesick or wants to leave camp?

  For day camps, homesickness is much less common than at overnight camps because kids come home every evening. But it can still happen, especially in the first day or two. Ask the camp how they handle it. Good camps will tell you they let counselors gently work through it first, communicate with you proactively if your child is struggling, and never force a child who's genuinely distressed to stay through the day. A camp without a thoughtful answer here hasn't dealt with enough kids.

• Should I tip summer camp counselors at the end of the session?

  Tipping policies vary widely. Some camps explicitly discourage cash tips and instead suggest end-of-session cards, gifts, or contributions to a staff fund. Others welcome individual tips. Ask the camp directly before pickup day so you're not caught off-guard. If you want to show appreciation, a handwritten note from your child is often valued more than money, and it's something counselors actually remember.