Engaging with Purpose

Saintsgiving

• Annual tradition on the day before Thanksgiving where the entire school community has the opportunity to help local community partners
• Since 2020, SSSAS has facilitated the distribution of over 400 Thanksgiving meals in partnership with Mother of Light Center

Community Engagement Certificate

• 100 hours of service to local or global community before 1st day of senior year
• Senior capstone dedicated to community engagement 
• Extended External Learning Opportunity Required
• Class in Community Engagement Required
• Presentation of capstone project at Academic Symposium and recognition on Prize Day

Social Innovators Program

• Launched in 2025 in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania and Schoolyard Ventures
• 12-week social innovators/entrepreneurship workshop
• Students receive a Social Innovation Certificate from the University of Pennsylvania

Distinction in Service 

• Elevated 80 hour requirement between the first day of 9th grade to the first day of 12th grade with 35 hours served with one community partner/issue area
• Students create a website to tell their story of service
• Presented at the Spring Academic Symposium and honored at Prize Day

Colloquium for the Common Good

• Upper School day dedicated to the school’s commitment to social responsibility as called upon by our Episcopal Identity
• Workshops (both by faculty and community partners) and keynote speakers dedicated to Equity, Inclusion, Service, and Environmental Sustainability

Leadership in Place Class and Workshop

• Open to 10th and 11th grade students
• Students engage in off-campus activities once a week to explore the ways in which local community partners create change in the world

NAIS Civic Leadership Summit 

• Students gather with others from across the United States to tackle complex issues in their communities
• They come back with a plan to be civic leaders in their local communities

LearnServe Fellows and workshops

• SSSAS partners with LearnServe to offer social entrepreneurship opportunities to our students
• LearnServe connects students to local community members making social impact

Kids for Kids Fund

• The Kids for Kids Fund, created by The Giving Square, educates 4th grade students about the ways in which they can engage in philanthropy with their gifts and abilities and helps to define philanthropy beyond monetary giving
• The entire 4th grade participates and works to identify and raise support for local nonprofits that serve children
• Students hold a bake sale whose proceeds go to support these organizations

While our students engage with a variety of people and organizations across our region and beyond, the relationships the school has cultivated below provide our students with the ability to have a head start in their quest to make a positive impact in the world. 

• ALIVE! Alexandria
  • Often called “Alexandria’s Food Pantry,” ALIVE! provides a variety of services to residents of the City of Alexandria from housing to food
  • SSSAS raises food and awareness for ALIVE! and hosts an annual Empty Bowls event through our art department and community members volunteer their time to aid ALIVE!’s programming
• Mother of Light Center
  • Committed to supporting those in Alexandria in need of food and emotional support
  • Students help with Mother of Light’s food delivery program in their center around the year and especially at Thanksgiving
  • Reach for the Stars, founded by an SSSAS student, is an after school program in offered conjunction with Mother of Light Center that serves youth on a weekly basis
• Child and Family Network Center
  • Child and Family Network Center provides no-cost preschool to residents of Alexandria
  • Students visit Child and Family Network Center and provide mentorship to the students through the Saints Skills Class
  • Fifth grade students have visited for over a decade to get to know the students and perform an end-of-year magic show
• All Ages Read Together
  • All Ages Read Together provides no-cost preschool to residents of Alexandria
  • Students visit All Ages Read Together sites through their 8th Grade Seminar Project and partner with AART through their capstone projects
• Tuesday Night Tutoring (Patrick Henry Elementary School)
  • SSSAS has been partnering with this afterschool program for over a decade
  • Most Tuesday nights during the school year, students and other community members help students at Patrick Henry receive extra curricular support as designated by their Individualized Educational Plans
• Panda Friends (Charles Barrett Elementary School)
  • SSSAS has partnered with Charles Barrett for a decade
  • One to two days after school, students from SSSAS provide extra support to students at Charles Barrett Elementary as designated by their Individualized Educational Plans
• Four Mile Run Conservancy Foundation
  • Four Mile Run Conservancy Foundation is committed to the health of the Four Mile Run Waterway
  • Students visit Four Mile Run Foundation in Lower School to learn about the waterway and engage with the group to help with cleanups in Upper School
• Historic Christ Church Alexandria Refugee Ministry
  • Historic Christ Church Alexandria has had a refugee ministry dedicated to the needs of those resettled in Northern Virginia
  • SSSAS partners with Historic Christ Church to offer a weekend program where members of this community can gather on our Lower School campus with food and play opportunities for the children in this community
• Affordable Homes and Communities
  • Affordable Homes and Communities is dedicated to low-cost housing solutions and services for people in Northern Virginia and beyond
  • SSSAS partners with AHC in our new student orientations 
• Goodwin House
  • Goodwin House Alexandria and Bailey’s Crossroads provides senior living in our area and is committed to the quality of life for its residents
  • Students visit Goodwin House at all divisions to promote intergenerational learning

Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder

• Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder is a group of schools and educators devoted to the idea that learning about and making an impact on places around the world starts with partnership and long-lasting relationships
• SSSAS is a member school and has participated in Shoulder-to-Shoulder programming around the world since 2018

Haderslev Katedralskol

• Haderslev Kathedralskol in Haderslev, Denmark has been a school exchange partner since 2018
• SSSAS and Haderslev have engaged in penpal relationships and worked together to understand stories in the English classroom

Feng Hsin High School

• Feng Hsin High School in Kaohsiung, Taiwan has been a school exchange partner since 2023
• Travel to Feng Hsin is hosted by our Chinese Language program

High School of Dundee

• The High School of Dundee, Scotland is a new exchange partner with SSSAS as of 2025
• Alexandria, VA and Dundee, Scotland are sister cities, and this partnership grows from the work of the Dundee/Alexandria Twinning Association which manages the relationship between the two cities

Lycée Jeanne D’Arc

• SSSAS and Lycée Jeanne D’Arc in Bayeux, France have been partners for over 30 years
• Travel through this exchange is considered a capstone experience for upper level French language students. 

LOWER SCHOOL

• Kids for Kids Fund 
  • 8 week program for fourth grade dedicated to teaching students about the ways in which they can engage in philanthropy as youth
• Crenshaw Arcade
  • The reading of Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate informs student education in food insecurity in our region
  • Students create a “Crenshaw Arcade” full of games where other students can pay in canned goods to play
  • Students have raised thousands of pounds of food each year for ALIVE!
• Goodwin House
  • Collaborative enrichment programs with seniors
• Waterway Education
  • Partnership with the Four Mile Run Conservancy to learn about local waterways
• Magic Show
  • Fifth grade students get to know the students at Child and Family Network Center and put on a magic show for the kids at the end of the year

MIDDLE SCHOOL

• Saints Skills Class
  • Students learn about the core traits of being a student at SSSAS and assist in programming with Child and Family Network Center and Mother of Light Center throughout the year
• Eighth Grade Seminar and Religion
  • Students engage with community partners throughout the year and find ways in which they can make a positive impact in their communities through a capstone project

UPPER SCHOOL

• Leadership in Place
  • This class and workshop, offered in partnership with the World Leadership School, gives students a primer in their individual purpose and calling to community-engaged work
• New Student Orientation and Bridge Program
  • Seeks to give students a sense of the ways in which they can engage with their local and global communities over the course of their time as Upper School Students
• Upper School Service Requirement of at least 40 hours