St. Andrew's sees chapel and community service as two inextricably linked pieces of our Episcopal identity. As one faculty member said, "Chapel is where we learn to love each other." Community service, then, is where we learn to love those outside our school community.
Chapel service are held every day from 1:00 to 1:30. The Holy Eucharist is celebrated at 7:45am on first Thursday of every month and on every Thursday during Lent. We also celebrate the Eucharist at our twice-monthly Community Worship services on Sundays at 5:30pm. Parents are always welcome at chapel, and all are welcome for Community Worship.
Weekly schedule (subject to variations):
Monday - contemplative worship featuring a musical or other artistic offering by a member of the community
Tuesday - Fr. Rob preaches
Wednesday - Hymn sing or guest preacher
Thursday - Mr. Hagen preaches
Friday - Guest preachers or presentations
Faculty and seniors are encouraged to volunteer to give homilies in chapel. If you'd like to give a homily, please contact Fr. Rob.
Prayer requests: We pray daily for those who are in need of our prayers. You can write your prayer requests on the sheet in the chapel foyer or e-mail Fr. Rob or Mr. Hagen.
Upper School Community Service Guidelines
“Where chapel is the classroom, service is the lab.”
In the Upper School, service is a part of our daily life. Service is also a part of our Episcopal Identity—"we guide and challenge all who attend our schools to build lives of genuine meaning, purpose, and service in the world they will inherit." We encourage our students to develop the habit of service because we believe that community service is one of the ways in which we all make the world a better place in which to live. By meeting and serving those who are less fortunate than ourselves, we better understand the world around us.
Requirements
Required for graduation: Successful completion of 40 hours of approved, voluntary community service occurring between August 15 of freshman year and May 1st of senior year. Hours must be submitted to student’s Presidential Service Account (see PSA Account Setup Instructions) and by signed paper form (see Community Service Report Form) to community service coordinator.
Important Note: Members of the classes of 2013 and 2014 fulfilled their community service requirement by taking Service Learning 9 and Community Service 10. They do not need any additional hours to graduate. Members of the class of 2015 are only required to complete 30 hours. Members of the class of 2016 and beyond must complete the full requirement (see Community Service Graduation Requirements for more on this policy by grade level).
Recognitions
Optional: Servant Distinction at graduation: 100 hours of approved service over 4 years (9th-12th). 30 of these hours must be “Face-to-Face.” (see Making Your Service Count, below.) Please note: The 40 required-for-graduation hours can be included as part of the 100 for servant distinction.
Optional: Presidential Service Award at Student Recognition Ceremony each spring (see PSA Account Setup Instructions).
Making your service "count"
Submitting both your required and optional hours:
- Turn in signed ComServ Report form (see Community Service Report Form) to community service coordinator’s office. Supervisor of your service signing the ComServ Report Form may not be a parent or relative.
- Log both required and optional hours on your Presidential Service Award Account page (see PSA Account Setup Instructions).
For the optional graduation servant distinction, at least 30 of the 100 hours served should be face-to-face service. Face-to-face service is defined as service in which you meet and work with the person(s) or animal(s) you are serving. Behind-the-scenes service means that the organization you are helping may provide face-to-face service, but you are not involved in the actual “face-to-face” work. Fundraising, helping with publicity, stocking shelves, environmental clean-up or clerical work, are all examples of behind-the-scenes service. Up to 70 behind-the-scenes hours can be counted toward graduation distinction.
Qualifying organization must be a not-for-profit, or registered 501(c) (3).
You must not be paid in any manner
The supervisor of your service signing the ComServ Report Form (see Community Service Report Form) may not be a parent or relative.
Service hours assigned by a judge or the Honor Council or other administrator at St. Andrew’s will not count toward hours required for graduation or for the optional recognitions.
On-campus service hours are limited to:
- The official SAS Peer Tutoring Program
- Writing Center Fellows
- Breakthrough volunteers
- Special Pre-Approved school projects
- Blue Key volunteer opportunities offered through the admissions office
- The Travel Scholarship program
- IMPORTANT about Junior Experience trips: because completion of a Junior Experience trip is a stand-alone graduation requirement, you may not count the hours served on a Junior Experience trip toward either your St. Andrew’s required-for-graduation 40 service hours, or your optional 100 hours for servant distinction at graduation. While some trips are primarily service trips and others may include a service component, community service work done during a Junior Experience trip will only count toward the optional Presidential Service Awards. For further information on the Junior Experience program, click here: Jr. Experience link.
- Volunteering for school events such as performances or athletic events will not count as approved service hours.
- Fundraising through the school must be pre-approved by the community service coordinator and approval is necessarily limited.
Community Service Opportunities for St. Andrew's Students
Helping Hand Home
St. Andrew’s Upper School Writing Center
Austin Recovery
Rosedale Summer School
Gazelle Foundation Run for the Water
St. Andrew’s Upper School Blue Key Club
St. Vincent de Paul
Travis County Child Protective Services
Ronald McDonald House
Caritas of Austin
Lifeworks of Austin
Austin Museum of Art
Westbank Library
Lifelong Friends (Animal rescue)
Habitat for Humanity
Zachary Scott Theatre
Mobile Loaves and Fishes
Capital Area Food Bank of Texas
St. Andrew’s Family Fair
Seton Hospital
St. David’s Hospital
Dell Children’s Hospital
El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission
Project Transitions AIDS volunteer
Austin Humane Society
Town Lake Animal Shelter
Susan G. Komen Foundation
Coats for Kids
Settlement Home
University United Methodist Church Fig Leaf Store
St. David’s Trinity Center for the Homeless
Victory Tutorial Program: AISD
Foundation for the Homeless
Austin Pets Alive!
Relay for Life
Free Cakes for Kids
Caritas Soup Kitchen
The Miracle Foundation
Texas Book Fest Reading Tent
Keep Texas Beautiful
March of Dimes
Breakthrough
St. James Episcopal School
Destination Imagination Team Captain-AISD
Shoes for Austin
Blue Santa
Laguna Gloria Art School
St. Andrew’s Writing Center
The Human Race
Churches and Synagogues
Camp CAMP
The Assistance League of Austin
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Stewpot Summer camp and homeless shelter
Micahle of Austin
The Mexican Consulate in Austin
University Medical Center at Brackenridge
Candlelight Ranch
Mobile Loaves and Fishes
Feed My People Foundation for the Homeless
St. Andrew’s Peer Tutoring
St. Bernard Project-New Orleans
Any Baby Can/CEDEN
Amnesty International
Arts and Fitness Program for Young Children
Amigos de las Americas
The ARC of Austin
Dell Children’s Museum
Clarksville Community Development Corporation
Austin Children’s Shelter
Austin Foundation for Eating Disorders
Brighton Gardens Senior Living
Capital Area Food Bank
Center for Child Protection
Communities in Schools
Dell Children’s Hospital
Down Home Ranch
Ecology Action
Faith in Action Caregivers
First Tee
Habitat for Humanity
Hearts and Hooves
I Live Here, I Give Here
Keep Austin Beautiful
Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center
Learning Ally (recording for the blind and dyslexic)
Marbridge
Manos De Cristo
Pajama Program
Partnerships for Children
Ride on Center for Kids
Sara Sanctuary
Settlement Home
Special Olympics
Teens Giving it Back (TGIB)
Treefolks
Walking Tree
Westminster Manor
Heritage Retirement Village