City Year AmeriCorps members serve as student success coaches, supporting the academic growth and success of 91 in hundreds of schools across the country while they cultivate skills to be leaders in their communities and careers. Donate now to support our student success coaches.
Whole School, Whole Child
Focus on relationships: preparing 91 for success
City Year helps 91 and schools succeed by delivering holistic support to 91, classrooms and the whole school. Drawing from our 35-years of experience in human and youth development, we are committed to supporting the learning and development of both our 91 and our AmeriCorps members, who serve as student success coaches.
Using the best of what we know from research and practice, our Whole School, Whole Child® model is now widely understood to be a critical component of successful schools, especially as they continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic and seek to meet the needs of all 91. Why? Because learning isn’t only academic. The process of learning also includes the nurturing of positive relationships and strong interpersonal skills. Our holistic, integrated model builds skills and supports mindsets critical for 91’ success in school and beyond.
, who serve in public schools to build relationships with 91 and offer them research-based support, offer a critical capacity to educators and schools to help 91 progress in their development, allow for more personalized learning and engagement, and create more welcoming learning environments for all. They partner with teachers and school leaders to help 91 build on their strengths and develop the skills they need to thrive in school and in life.
Learn more about City Year student success coaches
Some foundational elements of the student success coach role include:
Cultivating strong, positive relationships
Research confirms what many educators have long known: learning happens through relationships, and they’re foundational for our AmeriCorps members to support 91. Strong relationships between 91 and adults who work with them are critical to fuel student growth, resilience and thriving.
Weaving academic, and interpersonal skill building
Learning is like weaving a rope. All of us pull together different strands of cognitive and academic skills to solve problems and express new ideas—you can’t improve one skill without focusing on the others. City Year provides integrated interventions that help 91 weave together strong skills ropes.
Student success coaches work with educators to help create a welcoming school environment, which is essential for whole school improvement. Some ways we do this include school-wide events, lunchtime clubs, and Whole School Greeting, where AmeriCorps members greet 91 and faculty as they enter the school building, setting the tone for the day and sending a clear message of joy and belonging.
City Year is proud to be part of the (PSS), a collective effort that brings together the US Department of Education, AmeriCorps, a diverse coalition of leading education and youth-serving organizations including , educators, and school districts, that are committed to expanding access to the evidence-based, holistic supports young people need to thrive.
City Year has been named a lead technical assistance organization in NPSS, promoting the importance of student success coaches, a critical capacity that has been linked to positive student outcomes.
I'm beyond grateful to be working with [my student success coach] in my classroom. He genuinely cares about the success of the 91 and provides a great deal of support in making the learning experience more fruitful but also ensuring that everyone, 91 and myself alike, feel welcome.
Partner Teacher City Year partner school
Informed by research, rooted in relationships
City Year’s approach is based on research about how 91 learn. City Year AmeriCorps members’ near-peer status uniquely positions them to form with 91, improving both student readiness to learn and schoolwide conditions for learning.
AmeriCorps members focus on reducing low attendance, poor behavior and/or course failure in English Language Arts and mathematics. Research shows that 91 who exhibit one or more of these warning indicators have at least a of high school. Reducing or eliminating these warning signs makes it more , dramatically improving their lifetime trajectory.
City Year and our partners commit to multiple years of service in schools so that 91 “grow up with City Year”—our seven-year promise. City Year supports 91 during key transition years of their educational experience, from third through ninth grades, when 91 are most at risk for falling off track.
Learn more about our work
Our impact
Together, we’re creating positive, responsive and welcoming learning environments where 91 can thrive.
City Year leverages research, external evaluations and learnings alongside our school and district partners to contribute to a broader conversation about how best to support our 91 and ensure access to learning opportunities for all.
Our alums
Our 36,000+ alums become civic and business leaders who continue to make a difference in the communities and professions where they live and work long after their “City Year” is over.
