Every person is inherently valuable.
At Pilgrim School, community is an action. We create opportunities for students to interact with each other, with the community surrounding our school grounds, and with their macro communities as well. These opportunities introduce students to diverse ways of living and thinking and create a richer community for all of us.
Building Community from Shared Passions
Interest groups are the driving force behind Community Mondays. Secondary students lead interest-based groups of elementary school students to foster community and build social skills for all students. Each meeting includes an activity chosen by faculty that brings each group closer together while exploring new aspects of their chosen interest.
Interest groups are a great way for students to share their passions with the school and for the whole Pilgrim School community to benefit from our hard working and creative students. Additionally, having elementary and middle school students work with high school leaders exposes these younger students to the unique programming and educational options Pilgrim School has to offer.
Expanding the Scope of Our Community
From these interest groups, students partner with nonprofits and charities (such as Planned Parenthood, The Rescue Mission, The Sasha Project, Alexandria House, and more) to create projects that can have a local, national, and even global impact. One of the great benefits of our Community Monday interest groups is that these projects can be handed down each year, building projects that create change year after year with each new group of students.
This focus on service allows Community Mondays to be a way for Pilgrim School to come together as a whole for shared projects like our canned food and hygiene kit drives and make a difference in our larger community. A key part of a Pilgrim education is instilling in students that the need for community and change don’t stop at the school entrance. Community Monday is an important platform for Pilgrim School to continue to build our legacy of being a socially engaged and community-focused school.
Community Mondays
When returning to on-campus classes in 2021, reestablishing Pilgrim School’s deep sense of community was an essential goal. Community Mondays grew out of this desire for students to rebuild old connections and establish new ones with classmates and students in different grades, as well as previous teachers and other staff members. The weekly structure of Community Mondays also increases students’ social skills and investment in their educational environment. The program makes school-wide events like our Lunar New Year celebration and Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations about coming together and celebrating the strength Pilgrim School has in our diversity. It also highlights for students how important community awareness and fostering belonging is. We see Community Monday as a springboard for Pilgrim Students to share ideas, build connections, and foster change.
Community Monday and Sustainability
Pilgrim School is committed to the sustainability of our community and planet. To this end, we’re integrating the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into our Community Mondays program. Secondary School students will participate in theme groups based around the SDGs. Each theme group will work with their Faculty Facilitator to develop a project that speaks to one of the SDGs represented by their group. These theme group projects allow Pilgrim School to integrate actions of social equality and environmental sustainability into our school’s social and educational environment.