At Charter Arts, we believe community service expands a student’s worldview, develops empathy and leadership skills, and helps students realize their actions can have a positive impact.

Charter Arts defines "community service" as unpaid work performed by an individual for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Compensation is defined as monetary payment, reduced tuition or fees, exchange for goods or services. In most cases, volunteering at non-profit organizations count towards community service, whereas volunteering at a for-profit organization will not count towards community.

• Community service hours can only be earned outside of school hours.

• Parent/Guardian(s) are not authorized supervisors for their own child’s community service/internship hours. Moreover, a parent/guardian’s validation of their own child’s hours is viewed as a conflict of interest.

• Private babysitting, family caretaking, house cleaning or chores are not an approved activity.

• Performances/assignments related to required coursework or departmental expectations cannot be used as community service/internship hours.

• If a student auditions, interviews or applies for a role in a Charter Arts or public production/concert (e.g., performers, stage managers, crew), the time put into the production cannot be used.

• Participation in a home district extracurricular activity (e.g., marching band, athletics, dramatic, musical theater productions) cannot be used.

If you have any questions whether an opportunity or experience can be used for community service, please inquire with J. Hill, Director of School Counseling, at jhill@charterarts.org, prior to participating in the opportunity.

Students are required to submit hours as they are completed within a given semester. Hours submitted from past semesters and years will not be accepted. The final deadline to submit community service hours for graduation credit is the end of Quarter 3 of senior year. Minimum hourly requirements are as follows: 

• 4 years of Charter Arts attendance (60 hours) 

• 3 years of Charter Arts attendance (45 hours) 

• 2 years of Charter Arts attendance (30 hours) 

• 1 year of Charter Arts attendance (15 hours)

To access the Official Community Service/Internship Guidelines and Log, click here.

To search for community services opportunities through Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley,  click here, or through VolunteerMatch, click here.

Click here for a Google Doc of community service opportunities or consider volunteering at the following institutions, agencies and groups:

Allentown Art Museum Allentown Public Library ArtsQuest/Levitt Pavilion Bethlehem Public Library Boys & Girl Clubs

Civic Theatre Community Action LV Food Banks & Soup Kitchens Habitat for Humanity Heritage Clubs

Hispanic Center of the LV Humane Society/SPCA Last Chance Ranch Lehigh Valley Arts Council Lehigh Valley Hospital

Musikfest Peaceable Kingdom Pediatric Cancer Foundation Phoebe Nursing Home Second Harvest Food Bank

Sixth Street Shelter St. Luke's Hospital Student Ambassadors Woodlawn Fire Company

Houses of Worship (Churches, Mosques or Temples)

Contact Information

• Jamie Hill, Director of School Counseling, jhill@charterarts.org

• Olivia Price, School Counseling Administrative Assistance, oprice@charterarts.org

Charter Arts is proud to support students academically, behaviorally, socially and emotionally.  We are constantly working to improve our systems.  In order to do that, we have taken the following steps:

• Increased staff support, including three full time school counselors and one school social worker, so that we can provide students with one-to-one brief, solution-focused support

• We partner with Concern Counseling, so that students can receive therapy sessions during school hours.

• Implementing student skills support groups, implemented by our  School Social Worker along with community partners, such as the Center for Humanistic Change.  These student skill groups (e.g., coping skills, social skills, organizational skills, life skills, grief and loss) are free and available to all students in need.

• We have trained our staff in mental health first aid, trauma-informed care and restorative practices, along with Multi-Tiered Systems of Support.

• We partner with community organizations to provide training to parents/guardians on self care, mindfulness and managing tough emotions/crises.

• We partner with community organizations to provide student wellness education opportunities and to highlight community resources and relevant information for self-care.

• We are piloting a social-emotional learning curriculum available to ALL students.

• We continue to provide a growing collection of resources through our School Counseling Site.