Community Service

Lower School

Community service is a very important component of the Lower School experience. No matter what the age of the students we feel it's important for them to know that they have gifts and talents that can be shared with those less fortunate.

Projects in the Lower School include: visiting a nursing home where the 6th grade chorus performs songs from their spring concert repertoire, and the girls visit with the residents; bake sales and a talent show to raise money for local causes; a walk for the homeless; JumpRope for Heart to raise money for the American Heart Association; delivering handmade sandwiches, soups, scarves and hats to local shelter; and adopting families during the holidays.

Middle School

The Middle School community service program affords students an opportunity to become connected to the world around them, to recognize that they have a responsibility to contribute to a cause greater than their own. In addition to in-school service duties (hall clean-up, lost & found, etc.) that all students fulfill, the program extends beyond the Holton campus in the following ways:

• All students and faculty participate in two service days each year. In small groups, students visit one of over a dozen local sites (e.g., food banks, senior centers, hospitals, parks, pre-schools), where they engage in hands-on, meaningful work
• The Middle School collaborates with Landon on various service projects. The Student Councils from each school meet at the start of the year to determine meaningful causes and appropriate activities
• 8th Graders have the opportunity to spend a portion of their Spring Break on a Service Trip. The group has traveled to New Orleans since 2008 to assist in the post-Katrina rebuilding effort

Upper School

The school year is filled with service projects embedded within the school day and also organized at various locations in the Metropolitan DC area on weekends.  Holton has a long tradition of service emphasized by its community service graduation requirement.

The goals of the requirement are to increase each student’s awareness of community needs and to provide her with an opportunity for service that carries with it the possibility of enhancing her sensitivity to others and her own sense of effectiveness.

Upper School Community Service Requirement:

50 hours of community service are required for graduation. The following criteria must be met:

• Students must complete at least 30 hours of volunteer service project at one location (“the 30 Hour Project”), under the supervision of an individual, agency, or organization whose goal is to serve people in the community.
• The additional requirement of 20 hours may be completed in multiple settings (use one-time-only placement form), or at the original 30 hour location.
• The 30 Hour Project must involve personal contact with patrons or clients of the organization or with one or more persons that are disadvantaged, handicapped, underprivileged, or with special needs. This may include work with senior citizens, animals, and environmental work in settings that serve the community.
• You must submit a project proposal for approval before beginning your 30 Hour Project. Projects completed without prior approval cannot count toward the graduation requirement.
• Projects may be initiated as early as the summer before the freshman year or as late as June of the junior year; however, all proposals must be submitted prior to the end of the junior year.
• The proposal deadline is the end of May for projects to be completed during the summer.
• All community service must be completed and documented by the beginning of any school activities preceding senior year (i.e. preseason).

Procedure

• Choose a project or area of community service that interests you and conforms to the criteria outlined above.
• See the Community Service Coordinator to discuss your idea.
  • Complete the first section of the proposal form and sign it.
  • Obtain all required signatures on your proposal form.
  • Give the completed form to the Community Service Coordinator for final approval.
  • Work on your service project. Near the end of the project, complete your portion of the evaluation form.
  • Ask your supervisor at the agency to fill out his/her portion of the evaluation form and sign it. Make a copy of all completed forms for your records.
  • Return the completed evaluation form to the Community Service Coordinator. Please note that your completed evaluation form must be returned within two weeks of the completion of your project.
  • Projects completed during the summer months must be turned in by the second week of September, unless you are a senior, in which case it is due prior to the beginning of any school activity senior year.  If you mail your evaluation to the School, please write "Attention: Community Service Coordinator" on the envelope.