Community Service and Service Learning

Greene Hill students are active stewards of community life in their neighborhoods, in NYC at large, and beyond. The aim of our community service program is for students to engage in projects where they can have a direct impact, develop meaningful relationships with members of the community and their peers, and have a high level of respect for their environment. Since service learning is an integral part of the social-emotional curriculum, we believe it is important for students to have a say in the projects that they undertake. By the end of Middle School, GHS students will have had the opportunity to participate in both internal and external community service and service learning projects. Through these experiences students develop their capacity for compassion, empathy, and caring.

Here are some ways that Greene Hill Students develop, facilitate and take ownership of community service initiatives both inside and outside of school:

  • Overseeing recycling

    Organizing a Lost and Found

    Caring for our garden

    Leading activist campaigns for causes such as gun control

    Creating student-run Earth Club to raise environmental awareness

  • Volunteering at local community service organizations

    Cleaning up local park

    Running drives to collect items such as food, coats, toys, diapers for those in need

    Working with the local Business Improvement District to beautify and create pedestrian safety measures

    Planning events to raise money for global causes

Community Building

We are committed to cultivating a strong school community where members learn from and give back to each other

Throughout Greene Hill School, teachers support students in working together to navigate conflict, communicate effectively, and collaborate with purpose. Classrooms are student-centered which means that children’s developmental stages drive everything that occurs during the day, from academic lessons to classroom jobs and responsibilities. The importance of a strong community is taught both through targeted activities as well as through the purposeful structure of daily routines and instructional practices in all spaces of the school.

Home/School Partnership

Based on an understanding that a strong partnership between families and school ensures that students can be successful, Greene Hill has a schedule of regular opportunities for family engagement as well as openness to ongoing communication with parents. Some of the ways that families learn about their child’s experience at school are:

  • Welcome Conferences

  • Curriculum Night

  • Community Forums

  • Classroom Newsletters

  • Fall Conferences

  • Midyear Reports

  • Winter Conferences

  • Spring Family Conferences

  • End-of-Year Reports