Families are also invited to participate in the program's summer and school-year activities on a more informal basis. The professional teachers come from Fieldston's faculty. The Teaching Fellows are selected from Fieldston's student body. They are required to complete a comprehensive application that includes questions about education, community service and relevant experience. The Teaching Fellows are charged with developing and teaching the curriculum for their academic classes as well as coordinating the community service placements.
All faculty members participate in an orientation during the week before the students arrive.
This orientation consists of a series of workshops designed to build staff morale and promote collegiality as well as provide time to prepare all aspects of the summer curriculum. The Director and professional teachers are responsible for training and supervising the Teaching Fellows. The Director coordinates the school-year component of the Institute with the assistance of Fieldston student volunteers, who serve as tutors and mentors at the Saturday program. Fieldston faculty volunteers also assist the Director in implementing the school-year component. The Summer Service Institute maintains close relationships with all of its outside sending schools, especially Public School 86.