Starting in the 4s class all Greene Hill Students develop, facilitate and take ownership of community service initiatives throughout the year. Younger students lead family efforts to bring food or clothing to people in need. In age appropriate ways they strive to understand the difficult notion that many children and their families do not have the basic things they need to live. As much as possible GHS works with local organizations and has formed long-term relationships with these providers.
As children grow they think more about visible needs in their own neighborhoods and the government structures that oversee these areas of concern. In the past GHS students have successfully worked with local agencies to petition for more traffic and street lights, have planted and cleaned local parks and are frequent visitors to local community and senior centers.
As part of an internal commitment to caring for our school all children have school-wide jobs. Children sort and distribute lost and found items, oversee recycling and care for our garden.
Service-learning is practiced in both internal and external ways at Greene Hill School. Students use what they know (or are researching) to help address genuine community needs. Some examples of service learning are activist campaigns that have reached beyond school walls to petition against GMOs or middle school students teaching younger children about fairness in the media. Our WOWs (see “Key Programs”) provide a natural place for children to share their passions with other students and come together to bring change.