Founded in Boston in 1988, the nonprofit City Year partners with public schools to offer full-time targeted intervention (tutoring and mentorship) for at-risk students. The organization uses the Whole School Whole Child model, where AmeriCorps members (typically 8-13 corps members per school) serve as an additional resource for teachers in classrooms, head after-school programs and lead school-wide initiatives that help improve student achievement and school culture. City Year AmeriCorps members receive more than 300 hours of professional training based on three early-warning indicators: attendance, behavior and course failure in math and English. City Year hires young adults ages 18-24 for a full year and corps members provide at least 1,700 hours of service each year. Since its founding, City Year has served more than 1.2 million children in grades 3 through 9.
The organization now has three international affiliates and operates in 25 U.S. locations at more than 240 schools, including Milwaukee. According to City Year, Milwaukee Public Schools has a graduation rate of around 62%, which is much lower than the state rate of 88%, and more than 80% of Milwaukee students qualify for free or reduced-rate lunch. City Year Milwaukee (648 N. Plankinton Ave., Suite 190) is striving to reduce the dropout rate of these at-risk students and 98% of area teachers agreed or strongly agreed that City Year Milwaukee corps members improved their students’ overall academic performance.
To learn more about City Year Milwaukee, joining the AmeriCorps team or bringing City Year’s program to your school, visit cityyear.org/Milwaukee or call 414-223-0150.
