Service Hours

Service Hours

OCPS accepts two different kinds of service hours: Community Service and Paid Work. Community Service is defined as unpaid work performed by a person or group of people to address a social issue in the community. It is often completed near the area where you live so your own community benefits from your work. This requires students to look beyond themselves and address an issue faced by our society (i.e. poverty, abuse, elderly citizen rights, and people with disabilities' rights). Community Service is important because it helps you become more involved with your community and enhances your growth as an individual. Paid Work are service hours that are documented through a student's place of employment and students must be able to provide a paycheck as documentation. Paid work is accepted from June 27, 2022 onward.

  • Although service hours are not a high school graduation requirement, colleges and universities look favorably on applicants that have demonstrated connectedness within their community.   
  • Some scholarships, such as the Bright Futures Scholarship, require service hours as part of their qualification as notated here.

OCPS and Horizon accept community service hours from summer prior to entering Grade 9 (starts the last day after Grade 8) through the last day of Grade 12 in high school.

 

Step by Step Instructions (Earning/Documenting my Service Hours):

1. Search for Service opportunities through our Service Opportunities Suggestion List or find some on your own. (If your Community service is not listed in the list above and you are unsure that your community service hours will be accepted, you may email Horizon Student Services at [email protected] to check for approval)

2. Begin your Service Hours for the current school year!

3. Document your Service Hours using the OCPS Service Log and Reflection Form.

4. Once you have completed your Service Hours, hold on to your forms until the 2024-2025 school year. We are in the middle of revamping our Service Hours collection process. We will advise you in Fall 2024 on how to submit your community service and/or paid working hours to be added to Skyward for documentation for the Bright Futures Scholarship.

Bright Futures Scholarships -                                      https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/

  • Students have the opportunity to earn a Bright Futures Scholarship for college in one of the following three categories below. Students apply during their senior year of high school. More information regarding the Bright Futures Scholarships can be found on our College and Career Tab, however, the required amount of service hours for each scholarship is listed on the Florida Student Financial Aid Website.
    • Florida Academic Scholars (FAS)
    • Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS)
    • Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV)