I was really intrigued by John Gatto’s ideology and his requirement of community service in the classroom. I’ve seen projects like this implemented at the university where I used to work, but to my knowledge, I have never seen this in an elementary or high school setting, so I wanted to investigate this further.

Paladin Academy in Florida requires their students to complete 10 hours of service in 8th grade, and then 80 hours of service while in high school (must be a minimum of 20 hours per year for 4 years). Their website states "...Our goal is to challenge every student to meet a standard of excellence in everything that he or she does. That begins with academics, but in no way does it end there. We do not measure achievement by grades alone. Our students learn valuable lessons through community service experiences and activities." They offer a web portal that allows students to locate opportunities according to age and interest levels. 

DC area schools also include community service as a graduation requirement, requiring students to complete at least 100 hours at a non-profit center. 

Maryland Schools require 75 hours or students can complete a service program that is approved by the state superintendent. 

As I began searching, I thought I would only find something like this at private schools, but I was very happy when I found so many public schools implementing these standards as well! According to this article from Education Week (fair disclosure- this article is actually a criticism of mandated student service projects), "As of 2011, 19 states had allowed districts to award credit towards graduation for volunteering or service learning, and seven states allowed districts to require service for graduation." It may still have a long way to go beffore being a nationally recognized and implemented idea, but the requirement of student volunteering is gaining acceptance and hopefully turning out better students for it. 

Sparks, S. D. (2013, August 21). Community Service Requirements Seen to Reduce Volunteering. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/08/21/01volunteer_ep.h33.html