Community Service

Service to others is an integral part of the Charlotte Country Day School experience. In fact, one of our key values states that we will "inspire service and leadership within the school and community and prepare students for stewardship, responsible citizenship, and global involvement."

That mission translates to hundreds of service initiatives each year by our students, faculty, and parents. Some projects are schoolwide such as our connection with Hidden Valley Elementary School, for whom parents volunteer to tutor students, Lower School students collect books and write letters, and Middle School students hold an annual Holiday Party and Field Day. Others are ongoing, like our 20-year partnership with Special Olympics as host of the spring games. Students and faculty are also quick to respond to immediate issues, such as when students organized a collection of blankets for Earthquake victims in India, collected stuffed animals for children who lost parents on 9/11, and collected money to help schools in New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Charlotte Country Day is virtually never without one or more service projects in progress, whether through divisions, clubs, classes, or advisories. Service initiatives begin in Lower School, where students learn that their small acts of kindness can make a big difference in the lives of others. In Middle School, students' interpersonal involvement with outreach organizations increases as advisories pair up with seniors to provide pet therapy and underprivileged pre-school children for play therapy. By Upper School, students fully understand that privilege and service go hand in hand.

Lower School Service Projects
Here is a look at some of the types of ongoing community service projects conducted in the Lower School:

• Junior kindergartners perform several times a year at a local nursing home.
• Kindergartners collect mittens and hats for the needy, and create holiday greeting cards for cancer patients.
• First-grade students provide healthy treats, twice a year, for their eighth grade buddies during exams, and adopt a sea creature.
• Second graders make greeting cards and help deliver meals for an organization that supports shut ins.
• Third-grade students collect canned goods for Loaves and Fishes.
• Each fourth-grade class has the opportunity to be the Leadership Class and are responsible for recycling, service collections, and sharing service information. Each class also sponsors a needy family at the holidays, and select students are matched with seniors at a retirement community.
• All Lower School students collect books for Hidden Valley Elementary School.
• Lower School teachers conduct a food drive for the Hidden Valley Elementary School food pantry, and some participate in the Komen Race for the Cure to raise money for breast cancer research.