ABSTRACT
The middle school (grades 6, 7, and 8) social service program was developed partially as a response to faculty fatigue and discontent with an elective program that had run its course after approximately ten years. Community service was, however, consistent with the middle school’s commitment to experiential education and the school’s longstanding commitment to progressivism and service to the community. Hartley’s service program has the most detailed and highly documented statement of purpose and educational objectives of any program studied. After five years of operation faculty are tiring of it and it is, therefore, likely that the program will be eliminated before the ‘87–88 academic year. Some faculty are tired of the enormous demands the program makes of their time; some question the appropriateness of community service for middle school students; and others are frustrated by the high school’s apparent unwillingness to implement a companion program. The program was designed for centrality, but it has apparently run its course after five years.
