Community Service
Program Philosophy
Community service is an essential part of life at The Athenian School. Involvement in community service is a proven way to develop many of the skills and traits central to an Athenian education: citizenship, multicultural understanding, environmental stewardship, leadership skills, critical thinking, and compassion.
Because the lessons learned through community involvement are as important as those learned in the classroom, Athenian has a community service program that is part of the curriculum, and successful completion of each year’s community service program is required.
Program Organization and Goals
Middle School students are encouraged to participate in several community service projects each year. On-campus projects include serving in student government, creating the yearbook, and maintaining the Middle School garden. Off-campus options include class projects such as cleaning the Hayward shoreline, working at food banks, and volunteering at an assisted living facility. Individual activities can also be arranged through organizations in the student’s community. Students submit a record of their hours to the community service coordinator.
Athenian has a 200 Hour Club for Upper School students who perform over 200 hours of community service in a single academic year (June to May). Students in the 200 Hour Club have this accomplishment noted on their school transcript. Athenian has a Community Service Director, and a Community Action Board (CAB) to help students become engaged in service.
The goals of Athenian’s community service program are to:
- Develop students’ citizenship skills, including their ability to analyze and advocate for a social issue, and to take leadership to address community needs.
- Develop ongoing relationships between Athenian students and persons different than themselves; develop students’ respect for the dignity of all persons.
- Make a substantive difference in our communities through reciprocal relationships with nonprofit organizations and government agencies.
- Inculcate service as a way of life.
- Foster civic virtues such as integrity, courage, responsibility and compassion.
- Invigorate the core curricula by providing a meaningful context for students to understand and utilize classroom learning.
For more information, email the Community Service Director at
mark.friedman@athenian.org or phone 925-362-7202.
