 | FROM ITS FOUNDING, CROSSROADS TOOK A LEADERSHIP
position among independent schools by requiring community service of all its students. This concept is embedded in the school’s values, practices and curriculum and is a critically important dimension of the “education in balance” that Crossroads seeks to provide every student. Here, Community Service is not a theory, an option, an elective or “an extra.” From service learning in the Elementary School to the specific community service classes and requirements in the Upper School, the spectrum of opportunities and initiatives that students are exposed to echoes the myriad ways an individual can and should contribute to the society we all share.
Crossroads models what it asks of its students through a program of “institutional community service”. In 1993, founding Headmaster, Paul Cummins and the Board created a separate non-profit, The Crossroads Community Foundation (CCF), and PSArts was born. Enormously successful, PSArts now provides a comprehensive arts program to more than 14,000 underserved students and became its own separate legal entity in 2003. That same year, CCF became the Crossroads Community Outreach Foundation (CCOF). Under the leadership of Roger Weaver, the school’s second Headmaster, CCOF has two initial projects. The first, PSScience, brings an exploration-based weekly science experience to students in grades 1-3 at underserved schools with the hope of inspiring a life-long interest in science. The other is a partnership with St. Anne School, the only non-public Title I school in Santa Monica, a majority of whose families live below the poverty index.
Paul also established the New Visions Foundation (NVF) whose mission is to found schools based on the Crossroads philosophy. This educational innovation launched New Roads School and a series of charter schools. NVF is still headed by Paul and now functions independently from Crossroads.
Our work in outreach reflects the belief that a commitment to the greater community is essential in any responsibly educated person. Crossroads students develop a strong sense of social responsibility, an understanding of “the common good,” and a commitment to community service.
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| | ONCE WE LEARN TO LIVE TOGETHER, WE CANNOT LIVE ALONE.
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REFLECTING ON YOUR EXPERIENCE AT CROSSROADS, WHAT STANDS OUT?
“Crossroads instilled the value of respecting and honoring those who are different from me. I learned at a young age that diversity and community service are to be cherished and pursued. As an adult, they are central to my life, and I am always looking for new ways to give back to my community.”
– Crossroads Graduate
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