Interested in Creating SSL Opportunities for Students?

As we kick off the school year and staff interact with students in class and extracurricular activities, remember that any MCPS staff member may supervise student service to support the school or wider community during lunch or outside of the school day. Students must earn 75 Student Service Learning (SSL) hours to graduate from high school and can start earning SSL hours the summer after 5th grade.

The MCPS Office of Student Service Learning also has a process for reviewing and approving school-hosted SSL opportunities that are supervised and monitored by school staff during instructional time or virtually/remotely in order to provide equitable access to service-learning opportunities. The school-hosted SSL opportunity form can be found here. Guidelines and resources for creating school-hosted SSL opportunities can be found here. For questions, email the SSL dropbox.

Teachers of Course-Based SSL

Students enrolled in the following courses will receive SSL hours upon successful completion of the course: Grade 6 Science (10 SSL hours), Grade 7 English (10 SSL hours), Grade 8 Social Studies (10 SSL hours), Grades 6/7/8 English for English Learners (10 SSL hours each), High School NSL (15 SSL hours), High School Health A (5 SSL hours) and other high school electives. 

For any student who does not complete the embedded service project, the teacher must complete Form 560-54: Deletion of SSL Hours Attached to Courses and submit the form to the school’s SSL coordinator at least a week before grades are due.

Additional information for teachers of course-based SSL projects may be found at the following link.

Central Office Staff

Students may earn SSL hours for any in-person service completed under the direct supervision of an MCPS staff member in a public space, or for select virtual/remote service activities supervised and monitored by staff. Check out this flyer for additional information and a list of ideas for hosting an SSL opportunity.

Middle School and High School Staff

MCPS is partnering with WE Schools to host an hourlong service-learning workshop for middle and high school staff to learn more about free resources and materials available for creating school-hosted SSL opportunities for students. If you are interested in hosting service projects with your class, club, team, grade level or entire school, consider registering for this workshop, and share this flyer and the details below with other staff members who may be interested.

The course, Service Learning Workshop with WE Schools, is available on Professional Development Online (PDO), course #91915. Sessions available are:

• Wednesday, Oct. 11, 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Zoom
• Tuesday, Oct. 24, 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Zoom
• Thursday, Nov. 9, 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Zoom