Semester of Service Act - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to direct the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service to award competitive matching grants to local educational agencies or their nonprofit partners and, through them, competitive subgrants to schools or their nonprofit partners for Semester of Service programs that allow high school juniors and seniors to earn academic credit for service-learning that meets unmet human, educational, environmental, or public safety needs in their communities.
Gives grant priority to applicants that propose to direct subgrants toward programs at schools that receive school improvement funds under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
Requires Semester of Service programs to engage youth in service-learning for a minimum of 70 hours over a minimum of 12 weeks and have: (1) a weekly classroom-based component that is integrated into schools' regular curricula and aligned with applicable state academic content standards; and (2) a field-based component covering at least 24 of the minimum 70 hours.
Directs the Chief Executive Officer to reserve funds for: (1) competitive grants to Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands for such programs; (2) technical assistance and training to grantees and subgrantees, and program outreach activities; and (3) independent evaluations of the programs.