Private School Manages Experiential Learning Requirements
Custom Reports
Event Calendar
Milestones
How Athenian School Organizes Multiple Service Requirements with Track it Forward
The Athenian School in Danville, California is a unique private school focused on experiential learning. They have a multifaceted community service program with different requirements for students in grades 9 through 12.
Beth Spencer, the Dean of Experiential Education at The Athenian School, oversees multiple experiential learning areas including the school's robust service programming. For ninth and tenth graders, the program focuses on school-led weekend activities centralized around themes like environmental sustainability, food insecurity, and supporting unhoused populations. By the time students reach eleventh and twelfth grade, they transition to an independent project that requires 30 hours of concentrated service with a single organization of their choosing.
“Since we’re tracking both individualized activities and consistent service to one organization for 180 students, it’s a lot to keep track of,” Beth explains. “We started with Track it Forward within two months of my arrival at Athenian.” Beth’s predecessor used an offline database to keep track of student service hours, and she knew she wanted an online platform to replace it. With the old system, “students didn’t have access to their information, and program requirements were submitted by paper,” she explains.
Beth knew it was not ideal to be the sole keeper of this important information, and so she worked with the Director of Educational Technology to find a software platform that would work for Athenian.
"I was looking for [a platform] that allowed us the flexibility to manage both the calendar and the [grade-level] programs, but also individual service…hours tracking. And so we settled on Track it Forward."
Milestones and Event Calendar for Student Requirements
The milestones feature in Track it Forward allows for admins to assign different requirements or goals to different students. At The Athenian School, requirements are assigned by grade level and activity type. For example, while eleventh and twelfth graders are required to complete a 30-hour service project for the year, ninth and tenth graders are required to complete hours across different categories such as environmental service, food security service, and unhoused populations service. A select group of students also complete an immersive community engagement internship every March that requires 75 hours.
At The Athenian School, students sign up for events, log their hours with a description and verification, and track their progress. They can log into Track it Forward at any time to check progress toward requirements and see which hours are approved or pending. Admins can view at-a-glance milestone summaries showing student progress, and run more in-depth milestone reports.
Service activities for ninth and tenth graders are school-led and posted on the event calendar. Students can RSVP for the time that works best for them and choose the activities they need in each category. Custom filters can also be applied to the event calendar, so students can only view activities for their grade level.
“[Students] really like being able to view the events calendar and see the ones they’re eligible for,” Beth shares. The Track it Forward event calendar is also used to organize ‘orchard work parties’, where community members can volunteer at the on-campus orchard, which is run by students.
Empowering Independent Service and Approvals
When students reach eleventh and twelfth grade, they use the hours log feature of Track it Forward to keep track of their 30-hour independent service projects. Beth recommends students complete at least two-thirds of their annual service by the end of the third quarter. “I really like the tracking feature, especially since our program is based on grade level,” Beth says. “I can see who’s not on track and who I need to support and follow up with more.”
Since community service at The Athenian School is a pass/fail graduation requirement, accountability is essential. Students are required to provide an organizer's email for verification. Additional verifications, such as GPS location, photos, and signatures are optional. The submissions then go into an approval queue managed by Beth and another administrator.
With Track it Forward, administrators can choose to delegate approvals and assign additional roles to admins, teachers, parents, or students in the system. For example, the orchard work parties are run by student leaders and Beth is able to delegate specific approvals to those students.
Streamlined, Custom Reporting
Because the upper school service requirements tie directly into student transcripts and Canvas assignments, Beth needs to be able to extract precise data without wading through irrelevant numbers. Track it Forward’s custom reporting helps her seamlessly merge volunteer data with the school's grading system.
“I like the flexibility we have in how we curate reports. I can go in when I need to pull reports and pick exactly which components I need, and pull just that information.”
For Beth, streamlined reporting is essential to help keep students on track and share progress with school leadership. “When I pull reports specifically for our eleventh and twelfth graders, I’ll share the results of those reports with our upper school leadership team so [they are] aware of who is struggling to meet requirements,” Beth explains.
A Flexible Solution for Experiential Learning
By transitioning away from paper forms and offline databases, The Athenian School has successfully empowered its students to take ownership of their experiential learning while giving Beth the oversight she needs to run the program. Students now have easy mobile access to their service hours and events, and administration can easily see who is on track and who needs extra support.
Track it Forward’s flexibility allows the school to track diverse grade-level requirements, independent projects, and community-wide events all with one software platform. With Track it Forward, Beth and her colleagues at Athenian School can focus on what matters for experiential learning: fostering meaningful community engagement and student leadership.
If you're tired of managing community service with paper forms, messy spreadsheets, or offline databases, it might be time for a change. Discover how Track it Forward can securely track, verify, and report on student volunteer hours with ease. Learn more about our solutions for schools here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best way to keep track of experiential learning for students?
The best way to keep track of experiential learning for students is by using a dedicated, flexible online platform like Track it Forward. Track it Forward empowers students to log their own hours, RSVP for events, and monitor their progress via a mobile app, while giving school administrators the oversight they need to manage complex, grade-specific service requirements seamlessly.
How can schools manage different community service requirements by grade level?
Schools can use milestone tracking software to assign unique goals based on a student's grade or program. Track it Forward is fully customizable to create different requirements or goals based on custom fields.
How can students verify their volunteer hours for graduation requirements?
Accountability is essential, especially when service hours are tied to graduation. Using Track it Forward, students submit their hours along with an organizer's email for direct verification. Schools can also require or offer optional verification methods, such as GPS location pins, photo uploads, and digital signatures. Administrators and delegated student leaders can then easily review these submissions in an approval queue.
Can students track their own progress toward service learning goals?
Yes. Modern school volunteer software provides students with individual dashboards. Instead of relying on a single administrator to pull offline records, students can log in at any time to view their approved or pending hours, check their progress against specific milestones, and sign up for upcoming volunteer opportunities on a centralized event calendar.