Community Service

Community Service Requirements

In addition to completing coursework requirements for graduation, students are required to complete 20 hours of community service with a charitable organization year registered as a 501c3 each school year. This is a requirement to graduate from Paradise Honors High School. These hours must be completed before returning to school of the particular year. For example, a ninth grade student must have his/her hours completed before attending the first day of school his/her sophomore year. If hours are not earned before the last day of August of the new school year, the student will be placed on academic probation until the hours are earned and verified.

**Please note: Parents and/or relatives cannot sign off on their student’s hours and students may not complete hours during the school day**

Community service has many benefits. Most importantly, it is a crucial way to give back to our community and help others through serving. Community service also has many benefits for those serving. The activities will allow students to meet other people, learn valuable skills they can use in future jobs, and identify their own interests. For example, a student who loves animals might serve at the Humane Society. The experiential learning from the journey might encourage the student to have a career as a veterinarian. Please note, the goal is to give back to the community, not simply serve an internship.

Procedures

Students must obtain a letter or log from the charitable organization (501c3) on company letterhead that indicates the student’s name, the dates and times, and the total hours that the student served. In addition, the letter should contain the non-profit tax identification number of the organization and the name, signature, and contact information of the supervisor.

This letter must be submitted to the Counseling Office. Furthermore, PHHS requests that the letter includes information regarding what the student did as volunteer work. Students are encouraged to spread out their service to different organizations. This will allow the students to gain a variety of experiences and knowledge while building relationships with different people in the community.

The Counseling Office will keep a running total of the community service hours for each student. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the 20 hours are met each year. They may inquire with the Counseling Office to see how many hours are remaining if they have not kept their own records.

Students who did not submit their previous year’s community service hours will be placed on academic probation until their hours are verified from the previous year. Further, they will lose the .25 credit for the service, which may cause them to add (and possibly pay for) a class in order to make up the credit to graduate. If students have not submitted the previous year’s hours after nine weeks of school, they are subject to disciplinary measures including suspension and probation in addition to the lost credit.

**All hours will need to be completed, submitted, and approved by the last day of August, in order to receive the .25 credit.

** All community service hours for seniors must be completed, submitted, and approved by Friday, April 1, 2022.

Questions about community service hours?

Visit Mrs. Reynolds in the counseling office or send her an email for assistance.