Service Learning
In keeping with Oakwood’s Quaker values and mission, service learning and community engagement are woven into the curriculum and residential-life programs. At all grade levels, students are challenged to think outside their classroom walls and build relationships both locally and beyond.
Service Learning and Community Engagement
Multiple times a year the entire school community focuses on service-learning and outreach. During these day-long events, students volunteer in food pantries, senior centers, local gardens, children’s centers and with rescue animals. On campus, students paint and pressure wash campus buildings to keep them beautiful, plant gardens, build picnic tables and benches and bake for donation to area soup kitchens.
At each grade level, students have unique opportunities to work with their peers and community members throughout the year.
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Middle School students engage in monthly, themed service work with their Advisory groups focusing on issues such as LGBTQ2IA+ rights, breast cancer research, and supporting migrant families.
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9th graders give back locally at sites around Poughkeepsie stocking local food pantries, performing trail maintenance at Mohonk Preserve and beautifying local parks.
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10th graders explore Hunger in the Hudson Valley through meetings with local food insecurity advocates, visiting the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley and preparing food for donation to the school’s Community Fridge
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11th graders take part in service learning on their annual trip to Washington, D.C, meeting with local advocates and visiting Capitol Hill.
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12th graders complete a block of independently designed community service projects as a requirement for graduation.
Featured Service Projects
Community Service Through the Arts
In this class students plan and engage in artistic service-learning projects through musical performances and theater pieces in retirement homes, hospitals, schools and other area nonprofits.
“It’s been great to see the positive impact their performances have had on a wide variety of people in the Hudson Valley including some individuals who rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to hear live music.”
-Music Director Ted Messerschmidt
Sustainable Gardening in the Hudson Valley
Oakwood Friends School’s four-season greenhouse serves more than just as a place to pick fresh carrots during the February freeze. This space serves as an outdoor living classroom and a focal point of Oakwood’s sustainable agriculture program. Students learn about amending soil, composting and sustainable farming practices.
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