Serving Others Fosters Social Awareness and Compassion
At RCDS, service opportunities are more than items on the well-rounded child’s checklist. Service is infused in the school culture.
The RCDS Service Learning Program is born from our core values, The Four Pillars (Kind, Honest, Responsible, Respectful), and integrated into our students’ educational experience. We participate in a roster of activities that support local programs, including the CROP Hunger Walk, Meals on Wheels, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Holiday Express and Lunch Break. Our students notice our Parent Council facilitating opportunities to give back to the community and they absorb the energy created when young RCDS alumni return to campus each summer to volunteer with the Horizons Student Enrichment Program.
The Service Learning Elective for Upper School students provides opportunities to recognize the needs of others, help solve problems and share positive experiences with those in need. Students taking this elective typically make regular visits to The Atrium, an assisted living facility; The Harbor School, a school for special needs students; and our Early Childhood Education Center on campus.
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“Service opportunities make you realize you can be part of something bigger. The RCDS Service Learning Program allows us to volunteer for a wide variety of organizations. Whether it be sharing a joyful moment or providing food for the hungry, helping people in need or animals that need rescuing, we bond together for a good cause. It’s pretty awesome."
– Finn Carton, RCDS Class of 2021
