Calendar
Attendance at QVS Days and Retreats is mandatory. Please get all these dates on your personal calendar!
Let your Coordinator know if something will prevent you from participating in a scheduled event. Your Coordinator might suggest alternative ways for you to engage with the day’s content. However, your absence will always have an impact on the experience of community that day.
You Need to Be There
August 25 to 29: National Orientation at Pendle Hill Quaker Retreat and Study Center in Philadelphia. All 2024-25 QVS Fellows will be together.
August 30 to September 3: Local Orientation - After you arrive in the city where you’ll be spending your QVS Year, you’ll have opportunities to meet with local Friends and learn about your neighborhood and city.
September 4: First day of work at your site placement.
Getting Started
During the first months of your QVS Year, you’ll work on building community. During these first months, you’ll also be setting patterns for House worship and decision-making. You’ll meet with your Spiritual Nurturer for the first time and set expectations for how often you eat together with your Housemates. The first months can feel especially hectic as you do things for the first time.
Around the time of Fall Retreat, you’ll have an opportunity to meet with your Coordinator and site supervisor. This meeting is to make sure that everyone is getting off to a good start. Let your Coordinator know if there’s something that needs to be addressed!
You’ll also receive a feedback form from the Director of Program, asking about the relationships you’re developing. Your feedback is always welcome!
Please make sure these dates are on your calendar:
Monday, Sept 9 - QVS Day
Monday, Sept 23 - QVS Day
Monday, October 7 - QVS Day
Saturday-Monday October 19-21 Fall Retreat
Tuesday, October 22 - recovery day
Monday, November 11 - QVS Day
Thursday-Friday Nov. 28-29 Thanksgiving Break
Monday December 2 - QVS Day
Monday. December 16 - QVS Day
Dec. 21-Jan 1 Winter Break
Autumn 2024
There’s a break from December 21 - Jan 1. Let your Coordinator know if you need a ride to the airport or would like to spend the break with a local family; many local Friends are happy to provide this kind of support.
In some ways, the new calendar year feels like a new beginning. During the first months of the new year, Coordinators will introduce tools for analyzing the systems in which we operate.
Because the end of January marks the halfway mark of your QVS Year, you’ll have a second round of check-ins with your Coordinator and site supervisor. Your feedback will help your Coordinator decide which site placements will be invited to reapply for the coming year.
There will be a second feedback form from the Director of Program; please take a few moments to let QVS know what’s working well or needs to be improved.
Because this is also the season in which QVS actively recruits applicants for the coming program year, you might be invited to visit your college or home community as an ambassador for QVS.
About the time of the Midyear Retreat, Fellows will begin to play a more active role in planning and facilitating QVS Days. Fellow-led QVS Days provide you with an opportunity to talk about the work you’ve been doing at your site placement.
Please make sure these dates are on your calendar:
Monday, January 13 - QVS Day
January 20 - MLK Day
Monday, January 27 - QVS Day
Monday, February 10 - QVS Day
Saturday-Monday, February 22-24 Midyear Retreat
Tuesday, February 25 - (recovery day)
Monday, March 10 - QVS Day
Monday, March 24 - QVS Day
Winter 2025
As the days get longer and warmer, it’s natural to start thinking about what comes next. You’ll have opportunities to discern next steps and reflect on what you want to take from your QVS Year into the next chapter of your life.
You, your site supervisor, and Coordinator will gather for an end-of-year check-in. QVS will ask for feedback, reflecting the totality of your experience over the year.
During your last week in the House, please plan to spend time cleaning. Local Friends will do some deep cleaning over the summer, but we expect you to conduct a final, thorough cleaning of the house, remove soon-to-expire food from the fridge, launder all sheets and towels, and remove personal belongings before leaving.
Please make sure these dates are on your calendar:
Monday, April 7 - QVS Day
Monday, April 21 - QVS Day
Monday, May 5 - QVS Day
Monday, May 19 - QVS Day
Monday, June 2 - QVS Day
Friday, June 6 - Last day of work for Fellows
Sunday, June 8 - House cleaning
Monday-Thursday, June 9-12 Closing Retreat
June 13-15, finish cleaning and move out
Spring 2025
Local Friends will host a variety of Retreats and workshops this year. There are interesting events in your city. Local meetings may be willing to sponsor your participation at a national conference. Get involved in what brings you life!