City Year Receives $2.5 Million Grant From The New York Life Foundation
Grant Funds City Year's After-School Middle School Program
NEW YORK, June 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- City Year, an education-focused nonprofit organization that helps students to stay in school and on track to graduation, announced today that it will standardize and scale its After-School middle school program with the support of a three-year $2.5 million grant from the New York Life Foundation.
"We are grateful and proud to welcome New York Life as City Year's newest national partner," said Michael Brown, City Year CEO and co-founder. "With help from this partnership, we can scale up our innovative after-school program to impact as many as 150,000 middle school students, providing kids with academic support and skill-building enrichment activities."
"City Year's mission and the New York Life Foundation's focus are clearly aligned. We see the need to do more to keep middle school students in school and on track to graduate," said Marlyn Torres, senior program officer at the Foundation. "We invested in City Year because they have a successful track record of helping students improve their attendance, behavior, and course performance -- all of which are proven indicators of a student's likelihood to graduate from high school."
In 26 cities across the country, City Year strategically partners with school districts and community leaders to raise achievement in the lowest performing schools. Targeting the high schools with the lowest graduation rates and their feeder elementary and middle schools, City Year establishes a continuum of programs for students as they matriculate through elementary school, middle school, and the 9th grade, ensuring that struggling students receive the personalized support they need to graduate prepared for college and a career.
City Year does this by leveraging national service -- uniting young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, providing them with the training needed and deploying them in partnership with teachers and school staff to add human capital to meet the scale of student need.
During the school day, corps members serve as tutors and mentors to students identified as needing extra help, providing a range of services such as classroom support, targeted tutoring in English and math, attendance support and behavior coaching. In City Year middle school after-school programs, corps members are able to extend these services by providing a safe and structured after-school environment in which students can continue to build their academic skills and engage in activities that promote positive youth development.
City Year, with New York Life Foundation input, will select up to 24 schools over the course of the three-year grant. In these communities with diverse populations, City Year will update and strengthen its after-school curriculum, provide staff training, and pilot the enhanced after-school program before the full launch of the program. The partnership will result in an after-school program that has the potential to impact an estimated 150,000 middle school students at full scale.
About City Year
City Year is dedicated to helping students and schools succeed. City Year partners with public schools in 26 urban, high-poverty communities across the U.S. Diverse teams of City Year AmeriCorps members serve full-time in high-poverty urban schools, providing high-impact student, classroom, and school-wide support to help students stay in school and on track to graduate from high school, ready for college and career success. A proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network, City Year is made possible by support from the Corporation for National and Community Service, school district partnerships, and private philanthropy from corporations, foundations and individuals. Learn more at www.cityyear.org.
About The New York Life Foundation
Inspired by New York Life's tradition of service and humanity, the New York Life Foundation has, since its founding in 1979, provided $200 million in charitable contributions to national and local nonprofit organizations. The Foundation supports programs that benefit young people, particularly in the areas of educational enhancement and childhood bereavement. The Foundation also encourages and facilitates the community involvement of employees, agents, and retirees of New York Life through its Volunteers for Good program. To learn more, please visit www.newyorklifefoundation.org.
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SOURCE City Year
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