PHILOSOPHY...

Community service is a key emphasis of our program at Covenant Day School.  In keeping with the school’s mission to equip students to be salt and light for God’s glory, we desire to inculcate in students the habit of giving of themselves and their resources. We wish to emulate Christ’s model of service to others, who washed the disciples’ feet and then told them:  “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15, ESV). We begin instilling the ethic of service in transitional kindergarten and continue year to year with more challenging projects that culminate in high school with talent- and venue-specific service projects of the student’s choosing.  Our service curriculum is intentional and is designed to inspire CDS students to continue serving long after they leave Covenant Day.

LOWER SCHOOL...

This program also intentionally follows the biblical model of being Christ’s witnesses to the world beginning in Jerusalem, then to Judea and Samaria, then to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).  Our Lower School students in transitional kindergarten through fifth grade focus their service beginning right on our own campus and then through reaching out to the rest of our own community in the town of Matthews (Jerusalem).  These projects include, but are not limited to, on campus service tasks such as flag patrol and safety patrol, organizing food and toiletry drives for the Matthews HELP Center, honoring local first responders through involvement in the annual Community Heroes ceremony, grade-level specific initiatives including service to elderly shut-ins and gift-making opportunities, participation in Operation Christmas Child, and more.

MIDDLE SCHOOL...

Our Middle School students in grades six through eight reach out to the broader community of Charlotte and surrounding cities and counties (Judea and Samaria).  These students have opportunities to serve throughout the school year through specific projects such as Operation Christmas Child, penny wars (fundraising for Haiti), bake sales coordinated by MS cooking classes ( with proceeds going to Haiti), canned food drives, assisting various Christ Covenant Church ministries, assisting lower school teachers, etc.

Their service culminates each spring where the entire middle school takes a full school day to literally spread throughout the community in service to numerous organizations including Jackson Park Ministries, Matthews Presbyterian Hospital, Christ our Shepherd, Hickory Place Apartments, the Matthews Help Center, helping shut-in members of Christ Covenant Church, and creating items on campus that will be used by missionaries around the world.

HIGH SCHOOL...

Our high school students continue the tradition of service.  They have opportunity to follow up with projects done close to home as well as throughout the community as part of clubs, teams, classes, and other organizations that have chosen to serve out of a desire to live like Christ who “…came not to be served but to serve….” (Matthew 20:28)  One such project is our partnership with the Matthews Habitat for Humanity where our senior class(es) have taken it upon themselves to help build homes for needy families.  There are also numerous projects in partnership with ministries in Charlotte including the Brookstone Schools, Jackson Park, Alexander Children’s Home, Love, Inc., etc.   The high school students also have opportunity to participate in international missions in partnership with El Shaddai Ministries in Haiti (ends of the earth).  In February of 2009, a group of faculty and students traveled to Les Cayes, Haiti where they were able to visit over 1,000 orphans at seven different orphanages and deliver supplies donated by Covenant Day School students and families. We hope that this partnership continues to be one in which the people of Haiti benefit and the lives of CDS faculty, administration, and students are changed.