Community Partners for High School Senior Internships

Senior internships are interactive, career-based learning partnerships in which students increase their knowledge and abilities under a mentor in a selected area of study or profession. They are board-approved, credited experiences that may be in any discipline or involve any profession.

Students spend a minimum of 5 hours/week at the internship. Most eligible students will have enough credits to take a half-day school schedule, so they are available to attend their internships 2-3 mornings or afternoons a week. Some students take a full schedule and attend their internships after school. The internships run from September to March each school year, although there is some flexibility. The program culminates in a presentation to partners, school staff, and parents in April. Please note: All internships must be in person. No remote, home-based, or hybrid work is permitted.

In successful internships, students actively participate in an area of interest with the guidance of a mentor. Some mentors design a special project that allows students to develop skills. Other mentors bring students onto existing projects, which may require the student to work collaboratively or work independently on one aspect with minimal supervision.

While most interns are unpaid, this is not meant to provide unpaid workers for laboratory assistance or office help. The purpose of the internship is active participation in a career-related area. Students can perform tasks such as record-keeping, filing, etc., since they are members of the team, but this should not be the majority of their time.

Cherry Hill Public Schools provides a commercial general liability policy that your organization will be listed on as co-insured. A copy of the COI can be emailed to partners upon request starting in mid-September.

School personnel will visit the intern at the worksite ~3x per year to view the work area and learn about the student’s activities. Each week, the students will ask you to verify their attendance and mentors are requested to notify the Intern Coordinator if students are unexpectedly absent. If a mentor is unavailable on a particular day, the mentor should notify the Intern Coordinator and the student (if possible) that the student should not attend the internship. Students who are sick are responsible for informing their mentor and the Intern Coordinator that they will be absent from the internship.

Contact Sondra Castellani at scastellani@chclc.org with the following information:

❖ Organization Name
❖ Organization Address
❖ Contact Person Name, position, and email address
❖ Description of your organization and what an internship would look like
❖ How many interns would you like to take (most partners take 1-10 interns)
❖ Or complete the form using the QR code right (only works with google accounts). If you complete the form, also email Sondra Castellani to let her know your interest.

The CHPS Intern Coordinator will schedule a site visit to see the place of work, help you structure the internship, and answer any questions you may have. Potential interns will apply for a position with you through an in-school process, and the Intern Coordinator will help coordinate the setup of interviews. Interviews can be in person or virtual.

In late summer/early fall, the student will ask you to sign a school-issued agreement that outlines who the worksite mentor will be and the working hours for the student. A learning plan outlining a few key outcomes of the internship experience will also be developed.