Our Philosophy
At Spence, the importance of service to the community comes from our founder, Clara Spence, a tireless reformer who believed that building both character and a sense of responsibility is crucial to a child’s education. Although almost a century separates us from Ms. Spence, this belief continues today as we live our mission to educate our students for life.
Our program is grounded in the development of strong partnerships with some of the city’s and nation's most dynamic non-profit organizations. Through these partnerships, our students engage in meaningful service work that will familiarize them with the cause the organization works to address, provides students with meaningful opportunities to act and, finally, offers the students a chance to reflect. We further recognize that the best service work is mutually beneficial, so our partnerships are selected on the basis that both our partners and our students will be served from our work together.
Through these partnerships, we teach our students, whether they are 5 or 18 years old, that needs exist both a few blocks and half a world away. We also empower our students with the skills and confidence to take their seat at the table of those actively taking on our city’s, nation’s and the world's greatest challenges.