Date:  May 10, 2001
Contact: Irene Cromer
(703) 791-8720

The Corporation for National Service has selected New Dominion School as a National Leader in Service-Learning. The school was one of 64 schools selected and the only school in Virginia. Winning schools are selected based on integration of service into the curriculum and the life of the school, promotion of civic responsibility, improved school and student performance and strengthened communities. New Dominion teachers Sue Flores, Julie Cremo, and Lynn Sillitoe prepared the portfolio and will attend, along with Principal Ed Doyle, a gathering of Leader Schools, the Leadership Institute, in Washington, D.C. from June 22 to
June 24.

More than 60 New Dominion students in grades six through eight participate in service learning projects throughout the community. Each of the six classes in the school adopts a project and develops a plan of action, which has expanded into more than nine service learning projects. Students have dedicated more than 1,500 hours to maintaining equipment and caring for horses for the 4-H Rainbow Therapeutic Riding program, organizing recreational activities for senior citizens at a nursing home, tutoring students with disabilities, and making quilts to donate to charitable organizations and mothers-in-need.

Service learning projects have benefited New Dominion’s non-traditional students that are referred to the school because of deficits in social skills, truancy, or lagging academic performance. “Service learning has helped our students feel as successful as we know they can be,” said Ed Doyle. “Our students are not used to being recognized for their achievements, but rather for their failures.” New Dominion has used this innovative teaching method for four years and has seen a positive impact on its students -- their contributions have brought them an increased sense of responsibility and empathy towards each other and their community.