Dedicated Service

In the Primary School, students establish a foundation for dedicated service with a focus on building habits of service learning. Students explore their roles as individuals, friends, and community members at Fay. They learn what a community is, and how to treat others while serving their communities.

As Primary Schoolers learn that it is cool to be kind, they practice spreading kindness, from writing a thank you note to making sure that a friend is included during recess play. In second grade, students have taken part in a day-long service trip at the nonprofit Cradles to Crayons, where they sort clothes and toys for disadvantaged children.

Lower School students learn how they can make a difference through service and the impact they can have with their work. Curricular based programming, such as writing book reviews for the Southborough Public Library, provides students an opportunity to apply content to the real world, which can reinvigorate their passion for learning.

Students in fifth and sixth grade serve as lunch helpers in the Primary School, as snack helpers, recess helpers, and dining hall sweepers and assistants. They also work as junior admission ambassadors. With each project, students learn about the issues connected to their services efforts and reflect on their impact.

Lower Schoolers are encouraged to take ownership of their service, and they have frequent opportunities to determine how they want to help solve problems.

In Upper School, our students consider service learning to be a part of their day and an important part of their Fay experience.

Seventh graders learn about the importance of meeting basic needs. With a focus on the environment, they conduct a water study that includes topics such as water and climate resiliency, watershed protection, a water pollution lab, and water testing. Then, students use the design thinking process to brainstorm solutions and create prototypes for a water filtration device in our Center for Creativity & Design.

Eighth graders focus on advocacy and research aspects of service learning through a project in their Wellness curriculum. Students select a topic to explore further and, using the design thinking process, create a final product that they share with the larger Fay community. Projects take many shapes, including posters, PSA videos, and slide decks. As part of Fay’s long standing relationship with the Special Olympics of Massachusetts, eighth graders volunteer at Young Athletes, an early childhood play program for children with and without intellectual disabilities, ages 2 to 7 years old. They also serve as volunteers as part of the Special Olympics annual state basketball tournament, hosted in Harlow Gym.

Ninth graders consider Fay School as their sphere of influence and select from one of six focus areas - social, environmental sustainability, academic support, campus beautification, nutrition, and inclusion. Using the guiding questions “How are you going to make this a better community?” and “What will be your legacy to Fay School?”, they develop a student-led, action based, real-world project. They collect and analyze data, interview professionals when appropriate, and present their plan and findings to the broader community. This type of civic engagement helps students develop critical thinking, collaboration, and citizenship skills, and feel a sense of agency.

Upper School students have additional opportunities to  participate in service projects throughout the school year that align with their grade-level themes. Within Fay’s own community and in the surrounding communities as well.