Community Service

St. Mark’s develops the habit of community involvement to awaken concern for those coping with hardship and to instill a lifelong commitment to service and advocacy. A meaningful program of mandatory community service will raise social awareness, develop the ability to communicate respectfully with all individuals, and teach sound leadership values and skills.

St. Mark’s distinguishes between community service and charity by emphasizing the educational, person-to-person nature of community service. Such service enables our students to play a beneficial role in the Dallas community, as well as in agencies serving special needs within the city. Students acquire knowledge and deepen understanding of their community through presentation of experts, direct observation, and personal experience.

Upper School students are required to complete 15 hours of service per year. A minimum of 10 hours is required for the first part of the year due mid-January. The remaining five hours are due in April. Since the goal of the program is to foster empathy, develop an appreciation for a broad range of backgrounds and experiences, and to encourage students to step out of their traditional daily interactions, students will not receive community service credit hours for service at a private camp, church, synagogue, mosque, music/dance school, etc. unless they are directly involved in outreach through their organization.

More Info

List of 4 items.

Community Service Board 2023–2024

James Sutherland, Co-Chair
Andrew Xuan, Co-Chair
Ethan Bosita, Vice Chair

Seniors
Ethan Gao
Arnav Lahoti
Raja Mehendale
Vivek Patel
Rishi Rai

Juniors
Carson Bosita
Maddox Canham
Jack Frary
Chris Han
Akul Mittal
William Morrow
Arjun Poi
Hilton Sampson
Daniel Sun
Mateo Ubinas
Max Yan

Sophomores
Weston Chance
Reagan Graeme
Rohen Kakkar
Andrew Liu
Benjamin Standefer
Ronan Verma
Kayden Zhong
Aryaman Lahoti

Freshmen
Cristian Duarte
Andrew Hofmann
Dylan Macktinger
Jack Shepro
General Guidelines
- We encourage students to wear St. Mark’s apparel.
- Remember that you represent St. Mark’s when you are out in the community. Be an active participant and remember your actions are a direct reflection on our School.
- The Community Service Director and/or an Assistant will attend all major functions along with various faculty members from both schools. There will be some activities that will not be chaperoned by faculty but will be monitored through the agencies with whom the service is completed.
- Academic responsibilities always come first and should not be postponed in order to comply with students’ service hours.
- Enjoy what you are doing, and others will enjoy having you help. Remember that the benefit runs both ways: others will benefit from your help and you will benefit from your engagement by building on your leadership, communication, and decision-making skills. This will help you develop socially and academically by being able to integrate your learning experiences with practical knowledge.
Community Partners

Austin Street Bingo (Wednesday)
Best Buddies
Chess for Humanity
Feast of Sharing (Junior Class)
For the Love of the Lake (Saturday)
Genesis Shelter (Thursday)
Genesis Thrift Shop
Habitat for Humanity (January – March)
Hope Supply Co.
Kid-Netic Games
Live Beyond (Haiti)
Martin Luther King Community Center
Music Healing
North Dallas Shared Ministries
North Texas Food Bank
Rays of Light (Friday)
Restorative Farms
Special Olympics
St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store (Saturday)
Texas Tree Foundation
The Jubilee Center (Saturday)
The Salvation Army:
Angel Tree
Carr P. Collins Social Center (Saturday)
Cedar Crest Corp Community Center (December)
West Dallas Community Center
Requirements
- Grades 5–8: Participation in projects organized by the Middle School Community Service coordinators.
- Grades 9–12: Fifteen hours of service per year.
- The year is divided in two periods. A minimum of 10 hours is due by mid-January. The remaining five hours are due by April.
- Students are reminded that community service is external to the School. Therefore, most service opportunities will occur after school hours or on weekends.
- Because the goal of this program is to open up new horizons, students may not receive community service credit for volunteering at St. Mark’s, a private camp, church, mosque, synagogue, temple, music/dance/riding school, sports clinics, etc. unless they are involved in service outreach through that organization (reaching those outside the organization membership and into the community such as the Brendan Court Program carried out at School after hours and during the summer).
- Eagle Scout projects may be used to claim service hours, but only the portion involving direct work with the beneficiaries of the project count. Planning, traveling hours, etc. do not count. Boys may recruit friends and classmates.
- Professional internship hours do not qualify as service hours, unless you are reaching out to a specific community.
- St. Mark’s is a certifying organization for the National President’s Service Award. The School orders awards for the students who qualify at the end of each school year. All hours count toward the award, including summer hours. Awards are given based on age category as determined by the organization. May 1 is the last day to submit hours for the Service Award.
- Some projects and events are shared with The Hockaday School. Both directors take turns to transport and chaperone shared projects and events.