Burke’s Community Connections
Last month, the BCC parent team was thrilled to organize a Service Day for Upper School students on Festival Set-Up Day!
Burke’s Community Connections (BCC) is a parent- and school-supported committee dedicated to inspiring students and families to adopt a tradition of community engagement.
The committee supports the school's work to encourage Burke's students to think beyond the campus and see themselves as agents of positive change in the world through serving others with dignity. In recent years, the BCC has partnered with Alamo Elementary School, Richmond Neighborhood Center, Surfrider Foundation, Compass Family Services, and Hamilton Families. The opportunities have included:
- A group of 15 seventh graders helping as assistant teachers at Alamo Elementary School after-school programs weekly.
- Food pantry work days for each grade at the Richmond Neighborhood Center.
- Performances and card making for neighborhood seniors.
- Organizing and packaging donated baby clothes into a makeshift "store" for newly pregnant moms.
- Beach and neighborhood cleanups.
Director of Upper School Sheena Tart-Zelvin said, “Last month, with a pause in classes as the Burke’s campus transformed for Festival, the parents of the BCC seized the opportunity to have students go out into the city as engaged citizens to be a part of the broader San Francisco community. They reached out to organizations that we could partner with and managed the logistics of coordinating a day that involved the participation of nearly 130 students–no small feat!”
Students were divided by grade and headed to one of nine service opportunities to learn about the organization, why it’s important in the community, and the impact of their volunteer service. Activities included beach and neighborhood cleanups, park landscaping and weeding, and helping to put on a Halloween Party at Family House by leading craft activities and making bracelets for patients and staff. Here is where our Upper Schoolers spent 390 hours of service!
- Fifth Grade - Richmond Neighborhood Center, Refuse Reuse, Project Night Night
- Sixth Grade - Compass Family Services, Refuse Reuse
- Seventh Grade - Family House, SF Parks and Recreation,
- Eighth Grade - Homeless Prenatal Program
Burke's mission is to educate, encourage and empower girls. Our school combines academic excellence with an appreciation for childhood so that students thrive as learners, develop a strong sense of self, contribute to community, and fulfill their potential, now and throughout life.
Burke's admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.