Every 26 seconds a student gives up on school, resulting in more than one million American high school students who drop out every year. In urban public schools that serve primarily low-income and Latino or African American youth, between 40% and 60% of entering freshman do not graduate from high school. In Southwest Little Rock, City Year corps members serve in schools which contribute to one of the highest annual dropout rates in Arkansas.
According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, nearly 11,000 students from Arkansas's Class of 2010 gave up on school and graduation. Roughly a third of high schools dropouts came from Central Arkansas. However, City Year corps members can be part of the solution to this alarming statistic.
City Year Little Rock/North Little Rock is dedicated to improving educational outcomes for low-income youth. Through our in-school and afterschool programs, full-time corps members (young leaders between the ages of 17 to 24 who dedicate a year of their lives to full-time service) offer tutoring, mentoring, social support, and engaging activities to improve attendance, behavior, course performance, and civic involvement in four of Little Rock's most struggling schools.
Students who progress to 10th grade with their peers are four times more likely to graduate than students who fall behind. City Year's 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 on the communities where the dropout crisis is the most concentrated, ultimately serving 2/3rds of the nation's dropouts.
