HorizonHigh School

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 submit a proposal at Horizon Community Service Proposal Form. Work service hours do not need to be submitted for proposal).

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 for the current school year, upload your OCPS Service Log and Reflection Form to the Horizon Completed Service Link. (If you are submitting hours for Paid Work, you will have to upload your Paystubs to the link).

5. Upon submitting your completed Service Hours, a counselor will add your hours to your Skyward account. Updates will occur once a month. (To locate your hours in Skyward - Click on Student Info and the amount of hours you have turned in to Student Services will be located under your graduation year). Hours submitted during summer time will take longer to be submitted to Skyward. 

6. Service Hours are to be turned in every school year by the last day of school. Hours completed during the summer months can be submitted (Step #5) once the next school year begins. All SENIORS must have their hours submitted by the last day of Senior Year.