The NYCDOE's Service in Schools initiative began in August 2010 in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Service. Read on for an overview of the mission, goals, and accomplishments of Service in Schools.
Service in Schools strives to expand the number of NYC students engaged in transformative community service and service-learning experiences that enable them to use their voice, skills, and critical thinking to affect positive change in their communities and the world.
We aim to offer a range of resources for schools to empower students, as well as recognize and help schools sustain outstanding service and service-learning programs. Service in Schools is a joint partnership of the NYC Department of Education and NYC Service.
Direct Support
We directly assist schools to develop and improve their community service and service-learning programs. Through phone and email outreach, we work with school leaders and educators to answer their questions and provide resources and ideas to expand their service programs.
Resources from Monthly Newsletter and Web Site
We provide schools with resources to create and enhance their community service and service-learning programs.
Through the monthly school-year newsletter and this web site, we regularly communicate upcoming grants, professional development workshop, local service projects, partners, and helpful partner databases to our schools to get them started.
Click on the links below to read our previous newsletters. April 2013 Newsletter May 2013 Newsletter January 2012 Newsletter February 2012 Newsletter March 2012 Newsletter April 2012 Newsletter May 2012 Newsletter June 2012 Newsletter
School Awards for Excellent Community Service
We want to celebrate schools and their students' excellent efforts to improve their communities. Each spring, we offer the Service in Schools Award to honor outstanding service efforts in schools. Winning schools receive free professional development and materials to develop service-learning in their classrooms. Service-Learning Professional Development
Each school year, we provide professional development workshops in the winter for interested schools that are ready to implement service-learning, a teaching strategy that integrates meaningful community service with classroom curriculum. The workshops provide strategies to get started in service-learning and evaluate its impact on students' achievement.
For materials from the 2012 winter workshops, please click visit our service-learning page. School Survey and Data Analysis
We conduct two annual surveys to better understand the needs of schools and to also hold us accountable to our mission. These brief surveys are completed by the community service coordinators of each school (designated by the principals), and they are open in the middle of the school year (usually January) and towards the end of the school year (May). We analyze the results to see how we can best provide support to all NYC schools.
The 2010-11 school year was the first year that Service in Schools supported NYC schools. By the end of our first year in June 2011, we found that nearly 95% of all NYC public schools participate in service. Here are some of our findings::
For an overview of the accomplishments Service in Schools had during the 2011-12 school year, please click here. (pdf)