Community Service

Community of Caring

At the Lower School we strive to foster responsible citizenship through our commitment to Community of Caring©, a school-based character education program founded in 1986 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Community of Caring is designed to promote character building that empowers young people to be responsible and caring members of a community. The program at Prospect Hill Academy’s Lower School is built on six core values: Caring, Respect, Responsibility, Trust, Family and Learning. These values provide our school community with a cohesive framework and common language to serve as a foundation for all school activities. In casting our school as a caring, respectful, responsible, trustworthy and family-oriented community, we put children, teachers and school staff at the center of education as the values are weaved into every aspect of school life and the existing curriculum.

In Community of Caring, we believe the quality of caring we give to our parents, to our brothers and sisters, to our families, to our friends and neighbors, and to the poor and the powerless endows a life, a community with respect, hope and happiness.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Community of Caring Founder

Assemblies

Each month the school sets asides two assembly times for the entire student body to celebrate and reflect on the Community of Caring value of the month. In preparation for these assemblies, students write skits, rehearse spoken words or musicals, and summit drawings which they perform and present at the assemblies. Families and the school community are invited to participate in this meaningful tradition.

Awards

At each assembly, one to three students per class receive a Community of Caring award. Teachers nominate students who have shown exemplary behavior and /or actions in respect to the core value of the month.

Environment

To serve as a reminder that the Prospect Hill Academy Lower School is a Community of Caring school, the building’s hallways have been named according to the six core values such as “Caring Boulevard,” “Learning Mountain,” “Respect Street,” “Family Lane,” “Trust Avenue,” and “Responsibility Road.” Values are also painted in rainbow colors across the cafeteria walls.