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Reporting Community Service Hours

Students will submit community service through SchooLinks. Go to Engage < Experience Tracking < Add Entry. The student will need to enter the contact information for the supervisor of the community service event. The supervisor will receive an email request to verify the hours. Detailed instructions can be found here: Reporting Service Hours in SchooLinks

**Counselors will no longer approve community service hours because counselors are not able to verify that students participated in the activity. Instead, hours need to be approved by someone who can verify participation. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

COMMUNITY SERVICE FAQs

What is it? Students serve the community through approved volunteer activities.  Students receive no compensation, monetary or otherwise.

Who has to do it? Participation is entirely voluntary and hours are not required to graduate. Students who wish to be recognized at graduation will need to fulfill the criteria for the award by May 1 of their senior year:

  • Classes of 2026 and 2027 - must complete 100 hours of hours of documented community service, have 3 years of a language other than English, and maintain a 70% in each course
  • Classes of 2028 and beyond must complete 100 hours of documented community service

When does this community service need to be done?  Students pursuing community service hours for recognition can accumulate credit for approved services performed anytime between the completion of their eighth grade year through the end of April of their senior year. It is to the student’s advantage to submit completed community service hours as early as possible. Hours must be submitted in SchooLinks by May 1st of the student’s graduation year.

For whom can the services be provided? Many avenues are available for students to perform community service. All organizations must provide services to improve a community or benefit those in need, such as the American Cancer Society, Red Cross, Special Olympics, hospitals, food banks, public libraries, etc.

What kinds of activities are excluded? Activities for which the student will not receive approval include, but are not limited to:

  • Mandated services, such as teen court, to forgive tickets or police matters
  • Activities for which the student receives direct benefit, i.e. fundraising for a school-related activity such as field trips, political campaigns for family members
  • Activities during the student’s school day
  • Activities for which the student is compensated
  • Donating items or money in exchange for community service hours

Do colleges receive my community service hours? No, colleges do not receive the hours you enter into SchooLinks. Instead, you will list your community service activities on your application and resume and, perhaps, discuss the impacts of them in your essays.

I do a lot of community service. Do I need to report all of my hours in SchooLinks? No! You only need to report 100 hours of verifiable community service in SchooLinks unless you have been asked by another program to record additional hours in the program (such as NHS). You should be keeping track of all of your community service hours outside of SchooLinks too!