SUMMER CAMP

Job Description

Common Ground Summer Camp Staff

Calling all nature lovers and adventure seekers!

Common Ground Camp serves children ages 4 - 14. Our campus includes a farm, forest, and lots of opportunities for playing and learning in nature! Camp staff work together to plan activities that range from cooking and fort building to stream stomping and nature arts. We are looking for staff who have big hearts, love kids, and want to spend their summer active and outside.

Staff do not need to have expertise in all program areas, but everyone must be ready to work outside, be active, be highly responsible, and have fun with children for all the hours they are at camp. All applicants who love nature and children and have relevant experience are welcome and encouraged – our camp staff represent a wide range of ages, backgrounds, identities, and experiences.

Check out our camp instagram for a peek at our summer adventures!

CAMP TEACHERS create and lead activities that are in line with the mission of the camp. Ideas and resources are provided, and staff have time to develop these activities in collaboration with their staff team during staff training week. Teachers manage the big picture of scheduling and activities for their group, interact daily with camp parents, lead lessons and activities, are the point person for medical and social/emotional needs for children in their group (in collaboration with camp directors and the camp nurse), and meet daily with their staff team to plan and problem solve.

CAMP ASSISTANT TEACHERS (ages 18 and up) support camp activities and typically do not have daily responsibility for planning and leading activities. Assistant Teachers play an essential role in making sure the needs of our campers are met each day! They serve as an additional helper in hands-on activities, provide one-on-one support to campers as needed, and help ensure an overall great day for their camp team.

CAMP COUNSELORS (ages 16 and up): Applicants who are under 18 and/or have limited experience but are enthusiastic about working outside and caring for children may work as counselors in camp. Most counselor roles work in Extended Day from 2:30 - 6 PM.

Duties for all camp staff include:

Support our camp mission and culture through thoughtful participation in camp staff week and staff meetings with the goal of creating a fun, safe, inclusive camp experience for our diverse camp community.

Work almost entirely outside in nature, in all weather, with good energy and attitude! We have access to indoor spaces for thunderstorms or other outdoor emergencies.

Supervise & interact with campers during instructional, recreation, and lunch times

Supervise & direct Counselors and Junior Counselors (ages 14 – 18)

Responsible for physical/emotional safety of all participants, including proactive behavior management and providing basic First Aid.

Contribute to clean-up and care for campus and program materials as needed at the end of each camp day.

Minimum Qualifications

TEACHERS typically have strong experience in these areas, especially around planning and leading activities and being the lead person responsible for a group of children.

ASSISTANT TEACHERS are typically developing their skills in one or more of these areas.

Experience working with groups of children in formal or informal settings (school, nature center, summer camp, scouts, etc). Experience with groups of 10 or more children is preferred.

Ability and desire to work and participate in community with children and adults of all identities. Our staff team and the campers we serve are diverse in many ways and all staff are expected to contribute to a safe, inclusive, and welcoming camp environment.

Enthusiasm for exploring nature with children. Basic knowledge of the natural world is preferred, but not required in all roles.

Experience (personal or professional) with one or more program activity areas is preferred. Seeking staff with expertise in camp songs and games, leading music with children, gardening, farm care, hiking and outdoor adventure, naturalist skills, cooperative games, nature arts, building and tinkering, storytelling and role playing games, cooking with children, and outdoor adventure!

Willingness and ability to work outdoors in all weather (including summer heat & humidity and/or rain) and to be physically active for most of an 8 hour day. This is a physically intensive job that includes significant movement throughout the day, including walking and hiking on uneven terrain, kneeling, bending, lifting, and carrying.

Ability to be emotionally and socially “on” for the majority of an 8 hour day. A typical day includes 6.5 hours of direct time with campers, requiring emotional presence and energy to engage with children and coworkers.

Demonstrated commitment, reliability, punctuality, and responsible behavior at previous jobs

Job Schedule

Camp dates are weekdays, Monday, June 22 – Friday, August 7, 2026 (including staff training week). Applicants who can commit to all camp dates receive hiring preference. June 22 - 25 are mandatory for staff training. Additional, optional work from August 10 - 28 may be available.

Most staff work 8 AM - 4 PM, however we will have a few roles that work from 10 AM - 6 PM and some that work from 2:30 - 6 PM. Schedule preference can be indicated in the online application form.

Location

Common Ground, 358 Springside Ave, New Haven, CT 06515

Hourly pay rate for staff who are new to camp this summer

$16.94 for Counselors, $17.50 for Assistant Teachers, and $21.63 for Teachers. This is a seasonal position and is not eligible for employment benefits, union representation, or for a guarantee of work past August 7, 2026.

A STAFF DISCOUNT on fees is available for camp employees with dependent children ages 4 - 14 and morning and extended day care are provided free for campers while their parent or sibling is working at camp.

Opportunities beyond summer

We offer nature based programs for children year-round and our school year staff are most often drawn from our summer camp team. Part time, year-round work may be available for interested camp staff!

To Apply: Complete the form HERE

Interviews will be scheduled with qualified applicants

Applications accepted until positions are full.

Common Ground is particularly eager for candidates who can help us to fulfill our commitment to building a racially and culturally diverse faculty and staff. Common Ground has a commitment to examining the intersection of social, environmental, and food justice issues; how systems of oppression, including white privilege, impact the organization’s work; and how resistance to those systems can offer windows into a more sustainable society.

Common Ground is committed to the recruitment and retention of staff that is reflective of the communities we work with. We strongly encourage applicants from people of color, immigrants, women, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community, people whose native language is something other than English, and other underrepresented and historically marginalized groups.

It has been the policy and will continue to be the strong commitment of the Common Ground and all contractors and subcontractors who do business with Common Ground to provide equal opportunities in employment to all qualified persons solely on the basis of job-related skills, ability and merit. Common Ground will continue to take Affirmative Action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, mental disorder (present or past history thereof) age, physical disability (but not limited to blindness), marital status, intellectual disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and criminal record. Such action includes, but is not limited to, employment, promotion, demotion or transfer; recruitment or recruitment advertising; layoff or termination; rates of pay or other forms of compensation, and selection for training, professional development, attendance at conferences or other opportunities for advancement. Common Ground, its contractors and subcontractors will continue to make good faith efforts to comply with all federal and state laws and policies which speak to equal employment opportunity. The principles of Affirmative Action are addressed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments of the United States Constitution, Civil Rights Act of 1866, 1870, 1871, Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VI and VII of the 1964 United States Civil Rights Act, Presidential Executive Order 11246, amended by 11375, (Non-discrimination under federal contracts)

Discrimination against Criminal Offenders (46a-80), definition of Blind (46a-51(1)), definition of Physically Disabled (46a-51(15)), definition of Intellectual Disability (46a51(13)), cooperation with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (46a-77), Sexual Harassment (46a-60(a)-8), Connecticut Credit Discrimination Law (360436 through 439), Title I of the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972. This Affirmative Action Policy Statement re-affirms Common Ground’s commitment to equity in the workplace and the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity