Community Service Learning

Community Service refers to activities carried out by individual students or groups of students to enhance and contribute to their local community. This approach includes:

• Teaching and learning in which students use academic knowledge and skills to address needs in their community

• Providing a way to help foster civic participation and personal responsibility

• More than just “volunteerism,” community service activities benefit members of their local community and should include the following components: preparation, action, and reflection

• Activities that can take place within Arkansas or outside of Arkansas, as long as students receive approval from the Community Service coordinator or district administration.

• Community Service in Arkansas combines service to the community with student learning in a way that improves both the student and the community.

For Class of 2026 Students

Arkansas Code Annotated §6-16-120 states that “beginning with the 1996-97 school year and ending with the graduating class of 2025-2026, a student who has completed a minimum of seventy-five (75) clock hours of documented community service in grades nine (9) through twelve (12), at any certified service agency or a part of a service-learning school program shall be eligible to receive one (1) academic credit that may be applied toward graduation."

The Community Service Learning (CSL) course code (496010), along with Arkansas law, enables students to earn credit for their community service activities.  This course remains active and is still integrated into the accountability framework. The essential components of CSL, including preparation, action, and reflection, continue to be a requirement for credit.

For Class of 2027 & Beyond Students

Arkansas Code Annotated §6-16-1901 states that “beginning with the graduating class of 2026-2027, a public high school student shall complete a minimum of seventy-five (75) clock hours of documented community service in grades nine through twelve (9-12), as certified by the service agency or organization with which the public school student volunteers, in order to graduate.

There is no minimum community service hour requirement per grade level, or a limit on the number of hours a student can earn towards the 75 hours in a year. For example, a student who earns 30 hours in 9th grade and 45 hours in their sophomore year will have completed the required 75 hours prior to graduation.

Community Service Guidelines

Students are required to provide details about their community service projects, including their preparation, actions, and reflections. The process for collecting and verifying this information may vary depending on the district and could be incorporated into the Student Success Plan.

For Transferring Students

Students transferring into a public school district after 9th grade may receive a diploma provided that the minimum requirement for each year they attend a public school district in Arkansas is met.  The minimum number of community service hours for each grade level for those students shall be:  Fifteen (15) hours for students in 9th grade; Twenty (20) hours for students in 10th grade; Twenty (20) hours for students in 11th grade; Twenty (20) hours for students in 12th grade. For example, a student moves to Arkansas from a different state in the 11th grade. The student would need to accrue 40 hours of community service to graduate.

Lakeside students should complete the form below to log volunteer hours.

All hours previously logged in another form will be migrated over to our new system.

Community Service Ideas