Community Service & Service Learning
Community service has always been an important part of the Middle School program because, through service to others, students learn in a very practical way to assume responsibility for their immediate environment and the community at large. It also fosters greater maturity, self-awareness, and cooperation among students.
Students and teachers care for their school environment by sharing routine daily maintenance in the classrooms and, after lunch, in the cafeteria. Increasingly, faculty look for ways to integrate service learning into their curricula. For example, in language arts and social studies, students have worked with senior citizens and in elementary schools. Eighth grade students may opt to make service learning a topic of their speeches.
The eighth grade life skills program focuses on service, with students involved for one-quarter of the year in off-campus work on a project chosen by the group. A Community Service Club supports a number of activities, ranging from tutoring at the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), painting with Park’s Habitat group, or collecting foodstuffs for Viva House.
