At City Year's 24 locations across the United States, teams of diverse young people called corps members serve full-time in schools for 10 months working to improve student attendance, behavior and course performance in English and math. As tutors, mentors and role models, corps members are uniquely able to help students and schools succeed through: Academic Support, Attendance and Positive Behavior Encouragement and Community and School Improvements.
The facts of our nation's crisis in public education are striking. More than a million students give up on school every year in America. In Boston, the graduation rate is just 65.9%. Some of the district's greatest challenges include a high concentration of low-income families attending Boston Public Schools and a disparity of achievement across class and race. Of the 353 students that City Year serves at the Higginson/Lewis, 83% come from low-income families and 96% are students of color.
City Year works in partnership with Boston Public Schools to support its goals and provide the dedicated extra people required to make a difference with students who are at risk of dropping out. Corps members tutor students one-on-one, in small groups and during whole class activities as well as lead out-of-class extension activities that complement school instruction. At the Higginson-Lewis, 10 City Year corps members serve full-time in grades 3-8.
Students who progress to 10th grade with their peers are four times more likely to graduate than students who fall behind. Our Long-Term Impact goal is to ensure 80% of the students in the schools City Year serves reach 10th grade on track and on time, serving the majority of at-risk students in the locations where City Year serves. City Year focuses that service in communities where the dropout crisis is the most concentrated, ultimately serving two thirds of the nation's dropouts.
