Growing Awareness, Activism, and Empathy

Menlo’s Upper School Community Engagement aims to develop students’ activism, awareness, and empathy and empowers students to become ethical, responsible, and engaged members of ever wider communities.

Community Engagement’s Four Areas of Focus 

Community engagement challenges students to learn through experience and acts of service and to grow in and reflect on four areas of focus meant to help students develop critical consciousness and awareness of injustices and inequities in the world around them: 

• Getting out of your comfort zone
• Building empathy
• Growing social consciousness
• Taking action on issues that matter to you

Community Engagement (CE): A Graduation Requirement

CE is a graduation requirement at Menlo because its four areas of focus are essential skills for a life of active citizenship, in line with our school mission and values “to become ethical, responsible, and engaged members of ever wider communities” and “commitment to purposes greater than ourselves.”

We don’t simply want students to be ready for college when they graduate from Menlo—we want them to be ready to take on a leadership role in changing the reality of the world for the better. In order to do this, it’s essential that students have numerous and diverse service experiences throughout high school. Students must accumulate at least 40 CE credits by graduation, but many Menlo students far exceed this requirement. 

“10 AND 3”

Each year, Menlo Upper School students must complete at least 10 CE credits through at least 3 unique community engagement experiences.

• Any experiences between June 1 and August 20 of a year can be counted for the previous academic year—input reflections by August 20—for the coming academic year—input reflections after August 20.

• Reflections are due the day before the start of the new school year.

“YLE:” Year-Long Engagement

Students who wish to engage in more intensive and consistent service throughout the year can apply to carry out a Year-Long Engagement (YLE). Learn more about YLE and the application process by reaching out to the Director of Community Engagement.