Volunteer Program

Volunteer Program students

Inspired by the school motto—not to be served but to serve—Taft’s Volunteer Program serves a variety of local constituencies including the Red Cross, St. Vincent De Paul Homeless Shelter, Girls' Inc., Children's Community School, Watertown elementary schools, Watertown Land Trust, Waterbury Police Activity League, Boys’ and Girls’ Club, nursing homes, YMCA. Students have the opportunity to participate in a program by choosing community service as their extracurricular activity.

Although the tradition of service has long been part of the Taft experience, an annual Community Service Day has been organized every year since 1995. On that day, all students and faculty devote a day to service with the mission to reach out to the community and to expose students to the joys of helping others.

Each year a number of service trips are also offered, over March vacation or in June. For several years students have returned to Outreach 360 in the Dominican Republic and the God’s Child Project in Guatemala.

For more information about Taft’s Volunteer Program, please contact Baba Frew.

If your organization would like help on Community Service Day, contact Jeremy Clifford at 860-945-7845.

Community Service Day

environmental stewardship

Taft is deeply committed to environmental stewardship. As a member of the Green Schools Alliance as a Climate Steward, Taft is dedicated to reducing its carbon footprint through constant evaluation of the school’s energy and material consumption, waste stream, efficient technology opportunities and sustainable behavior. 

Green dorm rooms and offices are encouraged through our Green Rhino Certification Program, where students and faculty can apply to have their space audited and approved as a low environmental impact room. Our EcoMon program is designed to help develop future leaders of environmental consciousness.

While events and education take place throughout the year, the Earth Day Green Fair in April is a highlight of the year, reaching out to members of the community outside of Taft to bring their knowledge and passion for sustainable living to campus.

Service Learning

Service Learning students

As part of the Global Service and Scholarship Department, Taft’s Service-Learning program focuses on issues such as poverty, public health, immigration, environment and education. Students spend at least one session per week in the local community working with partners in the Greater Waterbury area (at hospitals, homeless shelters, afterschool programs and environmental sites).

All students complete regular written assignments as well as one major individual research paper.

Additionally, grants are available to students from two of the school’s endowed funds: Robert Keyes Poole '50 Fellowships and Meg Page '74 Fellowships.

THE TAFT SCHOOL  | 110 Woodbury Road | Watertown, Connecticut 06795 | 860-945-7777 | Info@TaftSchool.org