The rule in one paragraph
Fremont Unified high school students must complete 40 service learning hours to graduate, the requirement for the class of 2025 and later. Students who are not in FUSD for all four years need 10 hours for each high school year they attend in the district. Hours start counting on your first day of 9th grade, or your first day in the district, and must be earned outside the school day. Any part of a school year counts as a full year.
What counts and what does not
- Counts: service with a nonprofit registered as a 501(c), signed by an adult supervisor from the organization who was there.
- Counts: service for a religious organization that benefits the whole community and does not promote the religion, such as clothing drives, food drives or feeding people in need.
- Counts: helping at a school activity you do not take part in, verified by school staff, such as keeping stats for a team you are not on.
- Counts: science camp: 40 hours when it runs during the school year, and full hours for camps during breaks.
- Counts: up to 5 hours of training, when it prepares you for a specific service event.
- Counts: service abroad only through a U.S.-based organization that can verify it.
- Does not count: service completed online, such as online tutoring: supervisor signatures cannot be electronic.
- Does not count: for-profit businesses, such as a dentist’s office or a retirement community.
- Does not count: helping a teacher with tasks like grading, decorating or cleaning classrooms, and anything during school hours.
- Does not count: religious work or work that promotes a religious organization, including grounds maintenance and meals connected to a service.
- Does not count: fundraising for a club, organization or team you belong to, and service in exchange for money, goods or donations.
- Does not count: court-ordered service and hours required for iCare.
How to record your hours
Every hour needs the district-approved form, signed by an adult supervisor who was there. Turn hours in during the same school year you earn them; summer hours (after 9th, 10th or 11th grade) go in by the end of the first quarter of the next year. All 40 are due by May 1 of your senior year, and principals can extend that case by case. Hours beyond 40 are not recorded. Transfer students bring a transcript showing earlier service hours. Keep a copy of every form for all four years.
Supervisors must sign in ink: electronic signatures are not accepted. Fill in every field, especially the total hours, the dates of service and the back of the form. No more than 8 hours count in one day.
Use a new form and log for each organization. Recorded hours show in the Aeries student portal, and processing can take 2 to 3 weeks. Each high school sets its own collection dates, so check your school's service learning page.
A simple pace
10 hours a year is the whole plan: a 5-hour shift each semester covers it, and you never have to chase signatures in senior spring.
Online hours do not count in Fremont
Many lists of “virtual volunteering” ideas will not work here: FUSD does not count service completed online, because supervisor signatures cannot be electronic. Choose in-person service with a 501(c) nonprofit, and see the 30 community service ideas you can do in your town or with friends.
Keep your own record, free
Your school's system is the official record; keep your own copy too, with the date, the hours and who supervised you. Print the free volunteer hours log, work out your weekly pace with the volunteer hours calculator, or track it in My Award Tracker: set a goal of 40 hours for Fremont Unified service learning hours and see the hours left and the pace you need as you log.
Other states and districts: see community service hours to graduate, every state.
Frequently asked questions
How many service hours do you need to graduate in Fremont Unified?
40 service learning hours, or 10 for each high school year you attend in the district if you are not in FUSD all four years.
Does online volunteering count for FUSD service hours?
No. Service completed online, such as online tutoring, does not count, because supervisor signatures cannot be electronic.
What organizations count for Fremont Unified service hours?
Only nonprofits registered as 501(c). A student-created nonprofit needs a state-issued nonprofit number and an adult supervisor who works for it.
When are FUSD service hours due?
All 40 by May 1 of your senior year, and hours in the same school year you earn them; summer hours go in by the end of the first quarter of the next year. Each high school also sets its own collection dates.
Does church service count in Fremont Unified?
Only service that benefits the whole community without promoting the religion, such as clothing drives, food drives or feeding people in need. Religious work, grounds maintenance and meals connected to a service do not count.
How many service hours can I earn in one day in FUSD?
No more than 8.