dual commitment of academic rigor and community service at an urban, Catholic high school

Abstract

This research study sought to explore and understand more deeply how educators and stakeholders at a particular urban, independent Catholic high school view the phenomenon of a dual commitment to academic rigor and community service as part of the Catholic identity and mission of the school. Participants in the study agreed the standards of academic rigor, especially in the Advanced Placement (AP) program, should be maintained, but they also valued the school's community service program for its contribution to the development of the whole student. Participation in community service in this school occurs in place of attending classes two days out of the school week, during a critical period of approximately eight weeks in the final semester prior to the administration of the May AP exams and graduation. This dual commitment has created a dilemma of competing priorities for time and resources, producing some tension and struggle, and leading to a cultural mismatch among subgroups of AP teachers, campus ministry personnel, and administrators. One challenge faced by the researcher was to understand how the study's participants perceive the dual commitment, and how they make meaning of it in light of their roles as educators and stakeholders. The hope of the researcher is that the perceptions captured across educators and stakeholders in the school can help recommend ideas and solutions that allow the AP program and the community service program to coexist in more harmonious ways.