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Service Hours

Service Hours

OCPS and Horizon accept service hours from the summer prior to entering Grade 9 (starts the last day after Grade 8) through the last day of Grade 12 in high school. 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.

Important Notes

  • 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 below.
  • Service hours alone do not guarantee a Bright Futures Scholarship. Bright Futures requires students to meet the all requirements as outlined in the Bright Futures Handbook.

Step by Step Instructions

 (Earning/Documenting My Service Hours)

  1. Find a service opportunity in the community. You may check with your School Counselor to see if specific hours or tasks qualify for service hours.
  2. Track your completed hours on the OCPS Service Log and Reflection Form. You can also pickup copies of the form in the Student Services office before school, during lunch, or after school.
  3. Once you have completed the form, make a copy or take a picture of it for your records.
  4. Submit your form in the Student Services office. We only accept service hours in person, and they must be delivered by the student.
  5. Once hours are received, your counselor will enter them on Skyward within one to two weeks. The hours in Skyward are the only hours that are submitted for Bright Futures.