Community Engagement

A person living within a community considers every opportunity, in all aspects of everyday life, to provide for the needs of others and to take action in society. They seek to ensure that their impact, and the difference they make in the world, are positive. Socially-responsible decision-making infuses every area of their life from employment and business to personal, financial and domestic decisions.

Black River develops in students the qualities of service work and compassion. Through engagement and service, they will learn about and make connections with those in need in local communities. Students will make a significant commitment of time during their school career in service to the School and to the wider community, and these experiences will be integrated into the academic curriculum.

What that means to us:

• Expeditionary School at Black River graduates will not only have spent six years serving their own personal advancement. Middle and high school is a time when one’s place in the community and relationships to others become intensely important and formative.

• Our graduates will emerge from this time as young adults who have already practiced genuine community engagement on every level, from their individual classrooms, through the school and town to the greater region and world.

• Through expansive apprenticeship and personalized learning programs, we will integrate community members as educators, working alongside our faculty.

What that means for students:

• Students will make a significant commitment of time during their school career in service to the school and the wider community, and these experiences will be integrated into the academic curriculum.

• Genuine engagement will come from real participation in actual, productive work including service-learning projects and town meetings.