In keeping with the school’s mission to “embrace the city,” we hope to guide each student in exploring the many facets of urban life through their educational experience at GFS. The aim of the Community Involvement program is to provide opportunities for students to have meaningful interactions with the people, places, and resources which make up the neighborhood of Germantown and the city at large.
"Within blocks of the school, you find a stop on the Underground Railroad and the temporary White House George Washington chose when yellow fever hit Philadelphia. You find the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, where our students learn about deaf culture and sign language, and you find the heart of Germantown, a fascinating place and the focus of our Germantown Seminar."
To this end we begin with teacher-directed projects in grades K-6. In grades 7-10, student projects are mainly organized by the director of Community Involvement and led by teachers and parent volunteers. In grades 11 and 12, student projects are mainly initiated and organized by the students themselves, with support from teachers and the director of Community Involvement. Ultimately we hope that Community Involvement becomes a part of students’ lives beyond graduation from GFS.
In 1997 we intentionally changed the name of our program from Community Service to Community Involvement, in an attempt to emphasize the reciprocal nature of our relationships in the community: to see the community as an intricate educational resource instead of simply a collection of sites which need our “help.” We are continually learning how to articulate and understand this reciprocity. The Community Involvement program serves as a clearing house for students, parents, staff and teachers from other schools seeking contacts and ideas for volunteer projects.