At Woodward Academy, our North Star is our mission: Excellence. Character. Opportunity. Through service learning, we develop character in our students by extending education beyond the classroom to nurture self-agency, empathy, and ethical leadership. During the Academy-wide Week of Understanding January 27-30, we’ll focus on our school’s dedication to service with a series of panels and activities for students.

Woodward’s service learning approach emphasizes doing in addition to giving. Students engage in hands-on service experiences appropriate to their developmental level, focusing on three key partnerships for sustained, meaningful involvement:

• Woodward Academy is an impactful supporter of the Jesse Draper Boys & Girls Club, which works with hundreds of kids and teens each year to help them reach their full potential. In fact, Woodward owns the land where the club is located, adjacent to Main Campus, and leases it to the club for only $1 a year. Members of the Woodward community volunteer there regularly. In 2025, the Upper School raised more than $9,000 for the club. In the spring and fall of 2025, the Upper School’s Service Leadership Board and WA Serves hosted festivals for club members, and  students donated more than 1,000 hours of their time in the 2024-2025 school year to serve as tutors and mentors.
• In support of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, our annual food drive in November raises thousands of pounds of food and dollars to fight food insecurity in Metro Atlanta and beyond. During the rest of the year, students and faculty involved in Woodward Grows plant, grow, and harvest hundreds of pounds of fresh produce at the greenhouse and garden space on Main Campus. All of the produce goes to Family Life Ministries, a food bank located in the Tri-Cities area near Woodward supporting veterans, elderly people who are homebound, and families in need. 
• Horizons Atlanta at Woodward Academy is part of a national, award-winning summer program with a mission to close the opportunity gap for underserved students from College Park area schools through high-quality academics in an engaging six-week summer enrichment program on Main Campus.. Over the 2025 summer, Horizons Atlanta at Woodward hosted 150 scholars with the help of 125 Woodward student volunteers. The scholars from local elementary schools participated in deep daily educational enrichment, STEAM activities, swim lessons, and field trips. Woodward Academy is the host location for this important program every summer, and WA students earn thousands of service hours each summer in support of the mission. The Woodward community also supports the Horizons program through concession stand proceeds and fundraisers like the Valentine’s Day shirts and carnations. 

These key partnerships were selected based on their alignment with the Academy’s mission and their capacity to provide consistent, meaningful engagement opportunities for students across all grade levels. They support students in addressing critical issues like food insecurity and educational access while cultivating compassion, perspective-taking, and courageous communication. 

As students matriculate through the Academy, they participate in progressively more intensive learning experiences and deeper opportunities to participate. The expectation increases with a 20-hour per year service requirement for all Upper School students. This requirement supports student participation with more hands-on opportunities in the Upper School as they continue to deepen their relationships with community partners. Upper School students also can pursue a diploma distinction in Service Learning.

During the Week of Understanding next week, students will participate in an Interfaith Panel: Exploring the Value of Selfless Service as well as a service project for 9th-12th graders and activities at the school levels. The week will begin with an International Photographers’ Panel featuring Shingo Kanagawa and alumni Tejasvir Rekhi ’12, and Domia Edwards ’16.