Educational Excellence Since 1912
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12
Hamden Hall is committed to creating a culture of social responsibility, stewardship, and global awareness among its students at all grade levels. Furthermore, in preparing students for the challenges of life, we believe that each one has a responsibility to give of themselves for the benefit of others. As such, Community Service is a valuable part of The Hamden Hall Experience.

Throughout the year, we provide many opportunities for the students to reach out to the local community. The students may perform community service projects with their classes as a whole or with just a few friends in their own free time. They are also strongly encouraged to follow their own individual cause.

School-sponsored activities include our annual Stuff A Bus, which helps feed 500 families in need through Hamden's Keefe Community Center, and Earth Day, during which all divisions participate in various undertakings and programming. In addition, the Lower School participates in monthly community service projects. 

"It's part of our mission at Hamden Hall to teach students social responsibility. Each of our service projects throughout the year helps our students do this in a developmentally appropriate way," said Lower School Director Lorri Carroll.

In the Middle School, community service is built into the curriculum. Students prepare and serve meals in what is knows as our Life Is Delicious community service project for a local homeless shelter. Since the program’s inception during the 2011-2012 academic year, 3070 meals have been served. They also help maintain urban gardens in Greater New Haven. 

Many of the Upper School's community service projects are sponsored and coordinated by Hamden Hall's chapter of Interact, a Rotary-sponsored youth service program that is recognized throughout the world. Other efforts are coordinated by Peer Leaders, the American Red Cross Club, and many others.

Community Service Happenings

List of 20 news stories.

  • Preserving Reserves with Middle School

    Middle School students partook in an off-site outdoor and nature conservation trip as they spent the day working to maintain Connecticut’s nature landscapes by lending helping hands and supporting two organizations, Greater New Haven and The Quinnipiac River Watershed Association (QRWA). The initiative was part of the Middle School’s annual Earth Day observation and was planned and organized by the efforts of teachers Paulomi Aldo and Aidan Clark-Long.
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  • Students Get Crafty to Celebrate Earth Day

    The Art Cottage has been bustling with Lower School students all week as each class spent time crafting art projects that honor Earth Day and raise awareness on environmental issues.
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  • Student-Led Stewardship Builds Community Connections

    The power of giving back to those in need is deeply rooted in the Hamden Hall experience and Middle School students commenced the first installment of their annual community service project, Life is Delicious. The program provides  patrons at the Columbus House Overflow Shelter in New Haven with a hot meal and community connections. This year marks the first year the students hand- served the meal since 2020.
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  • Upper School student volunteers and Upper School English teacher Tricia Dowcett.

    Helping Hands Lend to Community Service Project

    Giving back to those in need is a valuable part of the Hamden Hall experience, and students in all grade levels have a long-standing tradition of being involved with local organizations and working with neighboring communities.
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  • Interact Club Hosts Book Drive in Partnership with ‘More Than Likes’

    The Interact Club is hosting a book drive in partnership with More Than Likes, a non-profit organization in North Haven. 
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  • Hamden Hall Community Works Together for Ukraine Donation Drive

    Over the last few weeks, the Hamden Hall community organized and collected items for a donation drive benefiting Ukrainian families. All school divisions participated in the effort with students, faculty, and staff overfilling donation boxes with medical supplies, toiletry items, and children’s items such as coloring books, toys, and crayons. 
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  • Community Service Project Offers Healing Meals

    Hamden Hall’s longstanding commitment to helping those in need continues as Middle School students commenced their annual community service project – Life is Delicious. This program serves clients at the Columbus House Overflow Shelter in New Haven and provides them with a hot meal.
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  • Annual Stuff-A-Bus Donations Helps Local Community Food Bank

    The Hamden Hall community graciously over-stuffed the bus this year during our annual Stuff-A-Bus tradition that occurs prior to Thanksgiving.
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  • Socktober Drive Benefits Local Organizations

    In their first community service project of the year, Lower School students and faculty collected 1,588 pairs of socks. 
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  • Lower School Students Bowl over Pantry with Cereal Donations

    Lower School students ensured that Hamden's Keefe Community Center had plenty of cereal for its food pantry shelves before parting for the summer. According to Lower School Director Lorri Carroll, the pantry was down to about six boxes!
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  • Seniors in the Class of 2021 helped create a pollinator garden at town-owned Eli Whitney Park.

    Pitching in to Protect our Pollinators

    As Upper School students recently trucked back and forth to classes between Hamden Hall’s Whitney Avenue and Davis Street campuses on a patch of land called Eli Whitney Park, some of their peers were busy with one last community service project.
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  • Lower School students created Valentine cards for troops overseas in conjunction with the Hugs for Soldiers program.

    Student Hugs Heading to Troops Overseas

    Hamden Hall Lower School students were part of a global initiative last year that sent more than 20,000 valentines to soldiers overseas. This year, despite the fact that the Hugs for Soldiers program has suspended the project due to COVID-19, our community is one of the few schools across the country asked to participate with student artwork.
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  • Red Cross Club Hosts Second Blood Drive in Six Months

    Hamden Hall's Red Cross Club, which formed during the 2019-2020 school year, conducted its second blood drive within a six-month period on December 6 in Taylor Gymnasium.
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  • Annual Stuff-A-Bus Initiative Helps Feed Local Families

    Our Hamden Hall community stuffed two buses this year during our longstanding Stuff-A-Bus tradition that takes place prior to Thanksgiving.
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  • Heart-Healthy Service Above Self

    Students in Grades 1-5 raised $3,000 for the American Heart Association during the Kids Heart Challenge.
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  • Middle School students prepare and serve a meal four times a year as part of the Life is Delicious community service project.

    A Homemade Meal Makes 'Life Delicious'

    Students weren’t afraid to “dig in” to the ingredients while prepping an evening meal for more than 80 residents at the Columbus House Overflow Shelter in New Haven.
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  • Members of the Hamden Hall Red Cross Club.

    Newly Formed Red Cross Club Has Important Mission

    While there have been blood drives on campus over the years, the school’s inaugural American Red Cross Club has been formed with about 30 students on the roster to participate.
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  • Members of the Music Community Service Club act as harmonious ambassadors for the school.

    Musical Ambassadors: The Music Community Service Club

    Members of the Music Community Service Club along with their advisor, Lower School music teacher Rachael Jungkeit, entertained residents recently at Atria Larsen Place Senior Living Center in Hamden.
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  • Knitted Nicety

    Members of Hamden Hall's Fiber Arts Club sent 31 handmade scarves to the Red Scarf Project, which distributes them to college students who had been in foster care.


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  • 'Souper' Students Serve Meal

    Bill Hunter
    Six members of the Interact Club and two veterans from last year's crew helped serve dinner to 120 visitors in February to the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen in New Haven.  
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Hamden Hall Country Day School

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Hamden Hall Country Day School is a nurturing and inclusive community with a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence by understanding each child and fostering their individual growth.