Most martial arts school owners treat summer as the slow season. Gary Schill treats it as his biggest opportunity. Schill has been training for more than 50 years and helped launch his instructor's first martial arts after school program in San Antonio in 1989, back when people assumed it meant turning a dojo into a daycare. Today he runs Peak Performance in the Austin area, a school that combines a traditional martial arts program and a Jiu-Jitsu program under one roof, and coaches other academy owners on building the same model.
His numbers are why owners should pay attention. Schill says his summer camp alone brings in about $550,000 in roughly 10 to 11 weeks, which is more than many schools generate in a full year. And he describes both after school and summer camp as supplemental programs: martial arts remains the core of the business.## Summer Camp as a Lead Funnel, Not Just a Revenue Line
The most important shift in Schill's thinking is that summer camp is a marketing channel. Each summer his camp brings in an estimated 150 to 160 children who have never been in the program before. Parents enroll for a week or two, notice their kids standing taller and acting more confident and respectful, and then ask how to keep it going.
From there, the school converts families into after school (which includes martial arts) or into standalone martial arts lessons for families who don't need childcare. Schill notes that a child who attends ten weeks of camp generates a little over $3,000, while his basic martial arts program starts above $3,000 a year and his Peak Performers program runs a little over $5,000 a year. A family that stays across programs year after year becomes extremely valuable.
Summer camp is just one entry point. Schill compares good marketing to the donkey in Shrek shouting "pick me": the school should be in front of families constantly through camps, after school, birthday parties and community events. One standout tactic is a program where his team teaches a gym class for the day at local elementary schools. In Texas, physical education must cover state standards known as TEKS, so Schill built a 50-minute session that covers 56 of them. For an overloaded PE coach managing a hundred-plus kids, that is a welcome day off and a box checked. The result is goodwill with educators, and some principals now refer struggling students directly to the academy.
Be a Necessity, Not a Luxury
Schill frames every school as either a necessity-driven or a luxury-driven business. When families tighten budgets, luxuries like coffee runs and dinners out get cut. Necessities stay.
After school programs sit firmly on the necessity side: working parents must put their children somewhere. Schill saw this during COVID. Because essential workers such as police officers and firefighters had kids in his program, he obtained a variance from his county judge and never closed. While competitors shut down, his school kept running camps and after school, picking up families who later converted into long-term programs.
His broader point applies to any school, with or without childcare: build something parents feel they cannot live without, and you are far less exposed when the economy turns.
The All-Inclusive Pricing Model
Schill's programs sit at the high end of local after school pricing, and he argues against competing on price. Low tuition, in his experience, attracts families who are less committed. He wants the right students at the right tuition in the right culture.
To justify premium pricing, he moved to an all-inclusive model around 2002. Testing fees are built into martial arts tuition after he saw kids quit when parents couldn't cover a test and the child didn't want to fall behind. After school tuition covers school pickup, a daily snack, martial arts classes, academic help and roughly 24 all-day camp days on school holidays.
Summer camp includes a field trip every day: bowling, swimming, trampoline parks and more. Schill explained the psychology of avoiding à la carte add-ons: the first question every parent asks at pickup is whether the child had fun, and a child who missed the paid field trip only remembers what they didn't get. Including everything gives every child the same experience and makes conversion easier. Group rates help; Schill says a trip costing an individual $20 may cost the school around $7.
Each spring, his team mystery-shops competing camps and shares a spreadsheet of their true total costs with parents.
Structuring the Day Off the Mat
Children can't train for three hours straight, so the non-training time is where many programs fall apart. Schill's first question to coaching clients is whether they have space separate from the mat. Putting after school kids beside the mat distracts students in class and frustrates evening families.
His after school setup uses two classrooms at opposite ends of the building, staffed by three people. Off-mat time rotates through roughly 15-minute blocks of academic assistance, creative activities, building, strategy games, and a weekly STEM project, because short attention spans demand frequent changes. Children read for 15 minutes a day, and homework comes first, so families go home with it done, a major selling point for parents juggling evening sports.
Summer days follow a rhythm: open play from 7 a.m., a field trip around 9, an early-afternoon cooldown back at the academy, then the regular after school routine. Academic review continues all summer to limit learning loss.
Think Like a Business Owner, Including Your Exit
Schill urges owners to be "a black belt in business" as well as in their art. Part of that is planning an exit strategy from day one. He explains that businesses are commonly valued as a multiple of EBITDA, and that recurring-revenue businesses with students who stay year after year can command a substantially higher multiple than a typical brick-and-mortar shop. Owners who resist agreements and recurring billing, he argues, may be shortchanging the long-term value of their school.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Treat summer camp as a top-of-funnel lead source; Schill brings in an estimated 150 to 160 new children each summer and converts many into year-round programs.
- ✓Position your school as a necessity in family budgets, and after school programs make that positioning concrete.
- ✓Avoid à la carte pricing: bundle testing, field trips and camp days so every child has the same experience and parents see clear value.
- ✓Give after school kids dedicated space away from the mat and rotate them through short, structured activities.
- ✓Partner with local schools by solving a real problem for PE teachers; it builds referrals and community trust.
- ✓Build recurring revenue with your eventual exit in mind.
Listen to the Full Episode
Gary Schill's conversation covers far more detail on staffing, scheduling and conversions than one article can hold. Listen to the full episode on Spotify or watch it on YouTube. And if you're ready to turn more of your camp and trial families into long-term students, Red Belt Software helps martial arts school owners improve student retention and grow their schools.