Almost a quarter of seniors don't have enough SSL to graduate at our HS

[Anonymous]

My kids are SN, and I would push them out of their comfort zones to get that 75 hours SSL done. Probably I have to accompany them and helping them at the beginning due to their social skill deficit, lack of executive functioning skills and anxieties. I do not think it is a waste of time, and I kind of like this idea as a real life learning experiences to some extent probably in my situations. They may not do a good job compared to other volunteers , but at least they learn something out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are SN, and I would push them out of their comfort zones to get that 75 hours SSL done. Probably I have to accompany them and helping them at the beginning due to their social skill deficit, lack of executive functioning skills and anxieties. I do not think it is a waste of time, and I kind of like this idea as a real life learning experiences to some extent probably in my situations. They may not do a good job compared to other volunteers , but at least they learn something out of it.

And that's great that you have the time in your day to accompany your children to complete those 75 SSL hours required to graduate. I would suspect that most parents do not.

To me, it's ridiculous that a quarter of seniors may not graduate because they didn't do their SSL hours, when many affluent kids get SSL from "volunteering" for high cost camps they attended in past summers or their own swim/sports teams...

My kid got 10 SSL hours just from attending Outdoor Ed in 6th grade and another 10 hours for attending English class in 7th grade. What's the point of having these SSL requirements and counting things kids are required to do anyway? It seems like MCPS is trying to have it both ways by requiring kids to do "service" but recognizing that many kids don't have 75 hours of meaningful service opportunities and gifting them hours so they graduate...

[Anonymous]

How about summers and weekends? I thought there are many SSL opportunities, like in non profits, or community centers. And, they could start at 6th grade to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in another state and there was ZERO mandatory community service required to graduate. National Honor Society did have some required volunteer hours. If you want to fight it, go to a school board meeting. This is a curriculum issue.

-Just my 2 cents from another state. Sorry to nose into the conversation.

OK...are you saying your state is better? Your state may also require less math is that better too? Does make it easier to pass kids through for sure..

No, PP is saying that the sensible thing to do is talk to the authorizing entity, which in this case is the state of MD. SSL is a noble idea, but the system has made accommodations for students whose parents aren't focused on community service. International students get SSL credit for making presentations in class because MCPS doesn't want to deny diplomas and lower graduation rates because of insufficient number of SSL hours.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand how that’s possible? My son had zero issue getting his hours. He did all but one hour in school related activities. They earned them in class and watching videos on specific topics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s like 14 people who work in the SSL office. I think volunteering and service is important, but SSL hours misses the mark a lot of the time. Students earn 45 hours for just taking required classes. I’d be ok with eliminating the requirement and re-assigning the SSL office.

Take it up with the state. This is not just a MCPS requirement.

My kid went to a private MD school. He wasn't required to do service hours. Is this just for public school students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know how many notices were sent out? My DS is a senior and I haven’t heard a word. Most kids that I know of are way over the required 75.

OP here. My son had a breakdown of the students that as of now won't graduate. It showed how many had less than 20, 20-30, etc.

That makes no since as they get like 30-40 hours between middle school and high school classes.

YOU make no SINCE!

! am surprised at how many illiterate people there are on this forum!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s like 14 people who work in the SSL office. I think volunteering and service is important, but SSL hours misses the mark a lot of the time. Students earn 45 hours for just taking required classes. I’d be ok with eliminating the requirement and re-assigning the SSL office.

Take it up with the state. This is not just a MCPS requirement.

My kid went to a private MD school. He wasn't required to do service hours. Is this just for public school students?

Yes.
https://marylandpublicschools.org/programs/pa...ion-requirement.aspx

[Anonymous]

Yowsers. This thread might take the cake for irrational, uninformed opinions.

My kid finished his hours the summer before 8th grade with minimal effort. Find something they're interested in and build on it. There are many, many things to push back on in K-12 education right now - particularly in MCPS - but this is not one of them. This is an opportunity to explore strengths, interests, and potential pathways - frame it for them in a positive light and they'll be interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yowsers. This thread might take the cake for irrational, uninformed opinions.

My kid finished his hours the summer before 8th grade with minimal effort. Find something they're interested in and build on it. There are many, many things to push back on in K-12 education right now - particularly in MCPS - but this is not one of them. This is an opportunity to explore strengths, interests, and potential pathways - frame it for them in a positive light and they'll be interested.

Do let us know the details of how your kid completed his hours before 8th grade with minimal effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s like 14 people who work in the SSL office. I think volunteering and service is important, but SSL hours misses the mark a lot of the time. Students earn 45 hours for just taking required classes. I’d be ok with eliminating the requirement and re-assigning the SSL office.

Take it up with the state. This is not just a MCPS requirement.

My kid went to a private MD school. He wasn't required to do service hours. Is this just for public school students?

Yes.
https://marylandpublicschools.org/programs/pa...ion-requirement.aspx

He graduated in 2023. Maybe it was waived due to Covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s like 14 people who work in the SSL office. I think volunteering and service is important, but SSL hours misses the mark a lot of the time. Students earn 45 hours for just taking required classes. I’d be ok with eliminating the requirement and re-assigning the SSL office.

Take it up with the state. This is not just a MCPS requirement.

My kid went to a private MD school. He wasn't required to do service hours. Is this just for public school students?

I'm surprised there is a private school that didn't require. Was it built in somehow?

Every private school kid I know completed many. My child went to SAES and did 20+ hours per grade in HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is at DS's upper-mid-tier MCPS high school based on the notices they've sent out. How does this happen? These kids have so many opportunities to get hours and get so many reminders. Parents get a lot of reminders also. These students have had many years to get this done.

If the SSL rule is so hard to get students to comply with, maybe it should just be eliminated.

Here’s how this happens:

1) Teenagers are lazy. They procrastinate and ignore multiple reminders and opportunities to earn SSL hours because they’d rather blow off the obligation to spend time on TikTok or Instagram.

2) Teenagers are irresponsible. They do the SSL hours but fail to fill and/or turn in the required paperwork to get the credit.

This. I have a senior who I believe is still about 20h short.

He also is missing the easy/automatic MS hours because he was not a MCPS student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a stupid requirement, anyway.

The idea behind the requirement is not stupid, but the implementation, where schools can have away SSL hours for little to no meaningful service work is.

Yes it is.

But the hours are stupid easy to get so I don’t see why there is a requirement (it’s performative) or how kids don’t have the hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are SN, and I would push them out of their comfort zones to get that 75 hours SSL done. Probably I have to accompany them and helping them at the beginning due to their social skill deficit, lack of executive functioning skills and anxieties. I do not think it is a waste of time, and I kind of like this idea as a real life learning experiences to some extent probably in my situations. They may not do a good job compared to other volunteers , but at least they learn something out of it.

And that's great that you have the time in your day to accompany your children to complete those 75 SSL hours required to graduate. I would suspect that most parents do not.

To me, it's ridiculous that a quarter of seniors may not graduate because they didn't do their SSL hours, when many affluent kids get SSL from "volunteering" for high cost camps they attended in past summers or their own swim/sports teams...

My kid got 10 SSL hours just from attending Outdoor Ed in 6th grade and another 10 hours for attending English class in 7th grade. What's the point of having these SSL requirements and counting things kids are required to do anyway? It seems like MCPS is trying to have it both ways by requiring kids to do "service" but recognizing that many kids don't have 75 hours of meaningful service opportunities and gifting them hours so they graduate...

Thank you! This is Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's long-ago contribution to Maryland's education system and it's turned into something that takes staff time and resources to somehow, through non-service time, count something - anything - as SSL hours so students can graduate. It's ridiculous.