Community service is an integral part of a student's life at Claremont Prep. Through personal interactions and projects, students develop an understanding and sense of responsibility about their school community as well as the surrounding neighborhood and the entire world. Beginning in Kindergarten, students engage in daily responsibilities such as bringing Lower School attendance to the office, and reading with the younger students. Middle School students have a buddy system with Kindergarteners in the spring and also help them navigate the routines of the café.
Throughout the year, Claremont students embrace a philosophy of giving to organizations such as New York Says Thank You where our students helped rebuild communities struck by natural disaster. Claremont's Middle School and High School students individually determine organizations with significance to our community and the world, including Gods Love We Deliver, mycharity: water and City Harvest. Our monthly Dress Down Day on the first Friday of every month raises considerable amounts of money for designated charities (following Haiti's earthquake, Claremont quickly implemented a three-day Dress Down which raised close to $4,000 for three charities determined by the students).
Holiday celebrations are carefully planned to include school-wide partnerships and community service events. During Thanksgiving, Claremont works with a local High School, Millennium, to create a Wall of Giving. The Middle School students visit each Lower School classroom and run a morning meeting asking younger students, "What are you thankful for?" Lower School and Middle School students work together to decorate bags used to transport Thanksgiving Day meals to people who are homebound. Each Earth Day, Middle School students conduct mini-lessons on the importance of recycling, and together all of our students create posters and decorate bags that are used in local cafés.
Additionally, Claremont Prep proudly partners with the downtown community on a number of service projects. One organization which Claremont works with is the Trinity Partnership. The Middle School and High School have participated in a number of Trinity-sponsored projects such as a walk for migrant workers, National Volunteer Week, and a downtown urban planning project. Students have volunteered to work with local nursing homes, including St. Margret's House where our Middle School students donated and planted in the garden at St. Margret's House while working with their community on embedding plants.
|
