Campus Life

Community Service

A vital component of the curriculum at CFS concerns our work and community service programs, both of which are intended to involve students in the process of helping others and contributing meaningfully to the greater community.
By interacting with others inside and outside of the CFS community, these programs teach our students practical skills while promoting self-worth and self-confidence.
The C.O.R.E. (Challenge of Required Experience) Program offers students a wide variety of community service programs from which to choose during the year. Students participating in the Work Program perform a variety of jobs on campus such as assistance in the library or Learning Center, peer tutoring, routine cleaning and maintenance and kitchen duty.

CORE Program

The Challenge of Required Experience (CORE) is a four-part integrated program of experiential education. It is designed to offer a variety of opportunities which will help students mature both socially and emotionally. This co-curricular program is designed to involve students in their communities, both school and beyond, develop students’ sense of responsibility for their environment, promote student leadership, recognize cultural diversity, experience the arts and build students’ self-confidence and awareness. Students are required to be involved in the following areas during the school year.

List of 4 items.

  • Community Service Learning

    Students have a minimum, mandatory requirement of completing five off-campus hours during the academic year and are encouraged to go well beyond the minimum, as many do. A large variety of on- and off-campus opportunities are offered to all students on a regular basis. A calendar of upcoming events and sign-ups is located on the CORE bulletin board located outside the dining center. Students are encouraged to help design and implement outings for our community, especially with organizations with which they are already involved. Personal community service hours may be officially logged with a letter from the organization, however these hours will not count towards the five-hour requirement unless additional CFS community members are also invited to serve. Personal hours will not count toward community service awards as to specifically encourage involvement in CFS sponsored activities.
  • Outdoor Experience

    This component goes beyond the walls of the classroom to challenge students by participating in a variety of outdoor physical activities. Activities range in duration and difficulty to fully challenge all students at the level they feel comfortable and the level where they may feel challenged. The variety of activities is constantly expanding and students are encouraged to suggest new options. Year-round opportunities range from mountain biking, Frisbee golf, fishing, skiing, camping, sailing, canoeing, rock climbing, paintball and archery. Each student must participate in one activity per school year and are encouraged to take part in more of the weekly offerings posted on the CORE bulletin board.
  • Senior Leadership Retreat

    Every member of the senior class is required to attend a three-day off-campus camping trip during orientation of their senior year. During the trip, the class becomes a cohesive unit by learning effective communication, setting and achieving goals, cooperatively motivating group members, settling disputes fairly, being sensitive to the needs of others, becoming more self-assured, and being able to identify and respond to their own shortcomings. The unified class returns to campus to incorporate their new leadership skills and set a positive example to the underclassmen.
  • Cultural & Creative Arts

    Students fulfill this requirement by attending a variety of choral and musical concerts, theatre productions, art openings and food festivals offered on campus during the course of the year. By exposing students to an assortment of diverse cultural and creative arts, they experience and become more aware of their surroundings. Off-campus offerings and trips are announced in the weekly Schedule of Weekend Activities and Trips (SWAT) e-mail coordinated by the Assistant Director of Students. These activities range from attending food festivals, visiting exhibits in neighboring cities, attending art shows, going to cultural festivals, competing in regional musical competitions and going to community theatre productions.
The Church Farm School is an independent boarding and day school for boys in grades 9-12 located in Exton, PA. Founded in 1918 to provide an excellent education to young men from limited means, Church Farm School now serves boys from a range of socio-economic circumstances who are seeking an extraordinary educational opportunity. The school offers a challenging college preparatory curriculum and an exceptional level of personal attention, with class sizes averaging between just 7 and 12 students.