x2VOL Earns Approved Vendor Status from NYC Department of Education for Tracking Service Hours and Work-Based Learning

x2VOL is the only approved New York City Schools vendor to track and verify student service and work-based learning hours, eliminating the archaic paper-based system many schools use.

x2VOL has been approved by the New York City Public Schools Department of Education as an approved vendor to manage, track, and verify student service hours towards the 100-hour requirement for the Chancellor’s Service Endorsement (also called the “Seal of Recognition for Service”). x2VOL is the leading and longest-running service tracking and management system in K-12 schools nationwide.

Schools rely on x2VOL to make the service learning and community service hours students give as part of formalized national school efforts like the National Scholarship Federation and state or district initiatives like the NYC Chancellor’s Service Endorsement, more secure and easier to manage. x2VOL also includes a verification process to securely approve student hours, which is important for programs like the Chancellor’s Service Endorsement. Given the competitiveness of college and job applications, verification means that every hour has been reviewed and approved by the school service leader and the organization where the service was completed.

Jaime Byrne Baranoff, a social studies teacher and coordinator of student activities at Townsend Harris High School in New York City said that x2VOL is an easy and flexible solution for their service program. “We have 1,400 students at Townsend Harris High School, most of whom perform a great many service hours each year. x2VOL makes it easy for them to enter their hours, and then get them verified and approved,” Baranoff said. “From an administrative standpoint, x2VOL streamlines what could be an inordinately cumbersome process into one that is quite manageable.”

“We have worked with several NYC DOE schools for many years and now, as an approved vendor, it is much easier for more schools to use x2VOL to ease the tracking and reporting process,” said Michele Pitman, founder and CEO of intelliVOL, maker of x2VOL. “High school is a crucial time for students as they make connections between service and potential careers. In x2VOL, educators can see that connection happening and also have evidence of applied learning and skill development.”

With x2VOL’s administrative features, school counselors and administrators can quickly see which students are on track to meet their goals, which students need hours approval, and which organizations are best utilized, among other metrics. Student “reflections” on their service make service far more meaningful while boosting engagement and also helping to guide students in future college and career choices.

Additional facts:

• New York-specific information for schools here at x2VOL.
• New York City Public Schools offer a 100-hour service seal for students to add to their graduation diploma and transcript. 
• The goal of the New York City DOE Service in Schools initiative is to engage students in meaningful and transformative service experiences.
• Since 2009, schools have relied on x2VOL to manage, track, and verify student community service hours, including those in service learning, and work-based learning, providing a system to manage, track, and verify the hours a student gives.