Service Learning

 

 

 

Service-Learning

 

The Board of Education affirms the importance of a forty (40) hour service-learning requirement as a vital part of the instructional program and supports service-learning as an instructional strategy because it enables students to be confident, effective thinkers and problem-solvers as well as ethical participants in society. Per Board Policies 6142.4 and 6146, all Fremont Unified School District students must earn forty (40) hours of service between their 9th grade and 12th grade years in order to graduate from high school.

 

 

Fremont Unified has standardized the following components for service learning across the district’s high schools. Specific inquiries should be directed to individual school’s service coordinators and the school’s websites.

• Forms have been standardized across the district and are accepted at all campuses.
• Hours will be recorded until a student has earned 40 hours.
• Hours must adhere to district service learning requirements in order to be recorded.
• The District’s service learning coordinators will establish a list of pre-approved organizations that students can approach for service learning opportunities on an annual basis. Additional opportunities may be posted throughout the year. All other organizations must be pre-approved by the site service learning coordinator before a student begins the service.

 

Requirements

• All service learning hours must be earned outside of the school day.
• Every hour earned must be accompanied by the district-approved form and must adhere to the most current guidelines.
• Hours cannot be earned until a student has attended the first day of freshman year.
• All forty (40) service hours must be completed by May 15 of a student’s graduation year in order to give staff enough time to verify and record. Principals may extend the deadline beyond May 15 on a case by case basis.
  • Exceptions only apply to students who have not been part of the Fremont Unified School District for all four (4) of their high school years. These students must have ten (10) hours for each high school year in the district.
  • Transfer students must bring their transcript with prior service learning hours to the school’s service coordinator in order for those hours to be entered into the student records.
• Hours must be turned in during the same academic year in which they were earned. Hours earned over the summer (9^th-11^th grade only) must be turned in by the end of the first quarter of the next academic year.
• Students are required to keep a copy of all forms and hours submitted over their four (4) years and are responsible to prove all hours in question.
• After a student has completed 40 hours of service, they are encouraged to continue volunteer work; however, additional hours will not be documented by the school’s service learning coordinator.
• An adult supervisor in attendance must sign off on all forms.
• Only non-profit organizations, registered as 501(c) qualify as service providers.
• Any student-created non-profit must have a state issued non-profit number and be able to show the programming through supported documentation. An adult supervisor that works for the non-profit must sign off on hours issued by the organization.
   

The following activities DO count for service hours:

• Science camp is awarded 40 hours when school is in session. Camps run during breaks from school (e.g., spring break, winter break) will receive full hours.
• Hours a student earns for supporting a school activity in which they are not a participant and are verified by a school staff member (e.g., taking stats for the wrestling team when a student is not on the team).
• Senior citizen home outreach that has direct interaction with seniors.
• International service will only be accepted through an American-based organization that can be validated.
• In order to be eligible, any student-tour agency or summer program that has a service component must have a non-profit qualified agency (located in the U.S.) document hours.
• Work for a religious organization that benefits the community at large and does not promote its religion (e.g., clothing drives, food drives, feeding those in need).
• Hours spent training for services to be provided are capped at five (5) hours and must be directly related to a community-service event.

 

The following activities DO NOT count for service hours:

• Tasks that assume the responsibilities of a teaching assistant (e.g., grading papers, cleaning classrooms).
• Religious work or work that promotes a religious organization, including maintenance of grounds and meals connected to a service.
• Fundraising for an event where the money goes back to a club, organization, or team that a student is a member of.
• Court-mandated service hours.
• Any hours required for iCare (Adult School elective).