In 1992, the District of Columbia Board of Education recognized the importance of instilling in students an ethic of service and an appreciation for giving back to the community. The District of Columbia was one of the first large urban school districts in the country to include community service as a graduation requirement. The Board of Education also recognized that academic learning is more meaningful when it can be applied to real life situations. DC Municipal Regulation 2203.2 requires “100 hours of volunteer community service” and provides that “requirements shall be established by the Superintendent [Chancellor].” This guide details those requirements for the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).

 

All students must complete at least 100 hours of community service in order to obtain a high school diploma from DCPS. There is no maximum.

 

The requirements laid out in this guide must be implemented in the current school year unless otherwise noted.

 

Community service is defined as an independent act of providing a needed service to a person or persons.

 

The goals of community service are to:

 

• To foster a life-long habit of serving others.

• To increase a student’s sense of social responsibility and civic engagement.

• To provide opportunities for students to identify and engage with issues impacting their community.

• To provide access to real-life authentic experiences that will prepare them for college, career and life.

 

In order to ensure school oversight of the fulfillment of this requirement, each DCPS high school must identify a community service point of contact (POC). The community service POC is responsible for compliance with and maintenance of all documentation related to community service requirements for their respective schools. This includes, but is not limited to, the verification of all community service activities and ensuring that the appropriate community service documentation is maintained in students’ cumulative folders. Each school must also identify someone responsible for entering community service information into the student information system (ASPEN). The community service POC may work in conjunction with the school counselors on the requirements outlined above.

​

​