Yes, Schoolhouse is an eligible organization for the President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA).
To submit a request for the award via Schoolhouse, please complete **this form**. We review requests on a monthly basis so please complete your request in advance of your due date to allow time for our team to process.
The PVSA has specific criteria for qualified individuals. As of November 2023, the criteria for this award are:
United States citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e., green card holder)
Must be at least five years old
Completes eligible service within a 12-month period (for annual Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards) and over a lifetime (for Lifetime Achievement Awards)
Please visit the official PVSA website for more information.
Can I combine my SHW volunteer hours with another organization’s hours to apply for an award?
Yes, you can use hours from another organization in combination with hours from Schoolhouse to apply for a PVSA award. To qualify to submit yours using this method, the following guidelines must be met:
A majority of the volunteer hours must be from Schoolhouse, not the other organization. If most of the hours are with the other organization, we suggest applying for the award through them.
The other organization must also be PVSA certified (please reach out to the organization to confirm their PVSA status before applying for an award)
Provide the organization’s name via your PVSA application
Provide a signed form or official document from the other organization indicating how many hours were completed within the specific time frame you are applying for (this time frame must match the time frame you input in the SHW PVSA application)
What awards package do we receive?
Schoolhouse will award the following award packages for all age levels. Note: this may be different to the PVSA website.
Bronze: Certificate Only
Silver: Certificate + Pin
Gold: Certificate + Medallion
Lifetime Achievement: Certificate + Coin
Can I apply for an award using a 12-month period that is not part of the previous year’s time frame?
You can use any volunteer hours from a 12-month period that is within the past 2 years as of the date you apply for the award (date of submission on your application form). For example, if you submit an application on January 2, 2023, you can use any 12-month time frame starting as early as January 2, 2021. You can use the time frame March 1, 2021 - March 1, 2022, but you cannot use December 1, 2020 - December 1, 2021.
Additionally, please submit the age you were for the majority of the time during the specific 12-month period of your application. That age may not be the age you are as of the date of your submission.
Am I allowed to reuse my hours for multiple awards?
No, you can’t.
Let’s say you submitted a PVSA request for the period Jan 1, 2024 - April, 30, 2024 for a Bronze award and received it. You then complete additional hours in May 2024, which when combined with the previous period i.e. Jan 1, 2024 - May, 31, 2024 puts you in the “Silver” category. You cannot request a new award for Jan 1, 2024 - May, 31, 2024 because some of those hours have already been used against a different reward.
What volunteer hours count towards this award? How do I find out how many hours I have so far?
Only verified volunteer hours can be used towards your application for a PVSA award. Note that verified volunteer hours may not equal the hours/minutes you see on your SHW profile.
To find the total number of verified volunteer hours, please visit the Volunteer Hours Tracker page. Then, complete the following steps:
Enter the start date and end date of the 12-month period you will be using for the PVSA application
Filter the “Status” to Approved
Find the total time in the blue highlighted row
How long will it take for my PVSA submission to be reviewed?
All PVSA submissions should be reviewed within 30 days of being submitted. If you have not heard from the Schoolhouse team and it's been 30 days, please reach out to User Support for guidance.