To support the salary of the new Director of Career Connections who will lead a new three-person Career Connections team. They will help students move towards personal and professional success by gaining industry specific knowledge, professional relationships, and meaningful work opportunities. The team will significantly increase Bottom Line’s capacity to build hiring partnerships with companies, develop larger professional networks for their students to tap into, and support alumni through their job searches after they graduate. Over the past year, they have determined that providing their students with these sorts of additional professional development opportunities is essential to better ensure that they successfully transition to the workforce and fully capitalize on their college degree.

To support a counselor who will oversee the Middle School Transitions Initiative (“MSTI”), a year-round program that will help 240 young people aged 11 to 15 and their parents with the transition from middle school to high school. It will: offer young people and parents workshops on the high school application, admission, and major determination process; provide them with one-on-one assistance related to the process; convene trips to high school fairs and campuses; provide information related to the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test; and develop a peer support infrastructure for parents and youth. Through this program, they will help to ensure that middle school youth living in low-income Bronx neighborhoods receive the individualized help they need to more optimally remain within the educational pipeline.

To support their new Student Recruitment and Family Engagement Manager position. The Manager will have the critical responsibility of recruiting and maintaining student enrollment, and for fostering and cultivating positive relationships with prospective and current families for both their middle school and their new elementary school which will open in the 2021/2022 school year. While CQA has experienced consistent positive enrollment since its founding, it is necessary for their long-term growth and sustainability to implement a deeper and more strategic plan to support their expansion efforts. CQA, which currently serves 400 students in grades 5 through 8, will grow to serve 900 students in grades K through 8 at full enrollment. CQA prepares students for success in education, in the workforce, and in the community through schools that integrates literacy, standards-based academics, and culturally responsive support services.

For the Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives (“MDSI”) who will play a key role in planning for, implementing, and evaluating three capacity-building initiatives which will help them to improve their services to partner schools: the year-two expansion of a standardized literacy-tutoring curriculum; year-two of enhanced pre-service AmeriCorps member training at Hunter College; and the first full year of expanding local recruitment efforts with the support of a team of two local recruitment managers. City Year is a national educational nonprofit that partners with NYC Schools, mobilizing teams of young energetic AmeriCorps Members who commit a year to work full-time in the City’s most under-resourced schools. They identify 3rd through 9th grade students who are off-track in three critical areas — attendance, behavior, and performance — and offer tutoring, mentoring and enrichment activities to help these students get back on track toward academic and life-long success.

For continued support of their Alumni Success Manager who is responsible for ensuring that their high school graduates continue to receive differentiated support to matriculate to college, persevere through the myriad challenges they will face as college students, and successfully graduate. Students from low-income families, as 84 percent of their scholars are, often require additional guidance to navigate the obstacles involved with maintaining their financial aid and scholarship compliance, housing, academics, and managing time and relationships. The Alumni Success Manager will oversee college matriculation, stay in touch with their college students, track their progress, and offer academic, emotional, and financial advising and support, providing both immediate and long-term guidance that will increase the Charter School’s graduates’ ultimate college graduation rates. Coney Island Prep is a rigorous college-preparatory charter school located in the Coney Island community of Brooklyn that serves over 1,000

For general operating support as the organization weathers the programmatic and financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the financial ambiguity that comes with decreased state budgets and the effect of uncertain markets on philanthropy, DREAM has also incurred significant, unexpected costs from its COVID-19 response especially as they relate to remote learning and ensuring the health and well-being of their students, families, staff and communities. DREAM currently serves over 800 students in grades Pre-K through 11th grade at four schools, and nearly 2,000

For continued support of the Success Team Manager at their Goddard Riverside Options Center. The Team Manager will help to create and oversee the implementation of the Success Program’s strategies for improving student outcomes. The position is also charged with developing relationships with and serving as primary liaison to their strategic community partners – including career volunteers, college officials, and Options alumni. The Team Manager will work to strengthen support for their college students who transfer from 2-year community colleges to 4-year colleges and universities to earn Bachelor’s degrees, and for students as they to prepare for the transition from college to careers. The Options Center, a Goddard Riverside program, was started in 1985 as one of NYC’s first (and thereafter most impactful) community-based college access centers. It addresses the inequities in college access and completion and supports low-income, first-generation, and other under-represented students to and through college and on to successful careers.

For renewed support of the Director of New Teacher Development, who had laid the foundation for a New Teacher Development program last year. The program will be further implemented this year through a targeted pilot approach in 5 schools, with all 11 KIPP schools in Newark being invited to participate. The goals are to formalize and standardize their new teacher recruiting and development processes across their network, provide new teachers with the programming necessary to become lead teachers within one year, and reduce the pressure on their recruiting team to hire only experienced teachers, which is especially important as they grow from 11 to 14 schools by 2023. In the 2019-2020 school year, their 11 Newark schools were educating over 4,700 students in grades K-12. Ensuring that every classroom has a great teacher is critical to their achieving consistent and high levels of academic performance across their schools and to closing the achievement gap.

To provide continued support for the staffing of their Quality Education program priority. Lawyers Alliance for New York (“LANY”) will provide direct legal representation to over 200 nonprofit organizations seeking to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for low-income youth and other disadvantaged New Yorkers, while serving many more organizations through their educational programs, publications, and Resource Call Hotline. A staff attorney has been designated to develop and apply expertise regarding market trends, funding flows, regulatory issues, and other factors affecting education. Working with staff colleagues and volunteers, the staff attorney will coordinate their outreach, legal services, and trainings aimed at benefiting education nonprofits in NYC. The legal assistance and information will strengthen the programs, finances, and operations of the organizations they serve, better enabling them to deliver upon their respective missions with greater confidence and effectiveness. LANY continues to be the leading provider of business and transactional legal services for nonprofit organizations working to improve the lives of low-income New Yorkers and their neighborhoods.

To provide support for two social workers carrying out The Center’s health and education services for youth during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The Center’s youth program provides Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (“LGBTQ”) youth, ages 12-21, with a comprehensive range of individual and group counseling support, peer support groups, leadership development programming, and academic and workforce readiness opportunities. New York City’s Lesbian, Gay Bisexual & Transgender Community Center provides programs and services to help LGBTQ people to lead healthy, successful lives, celebrating their diversity, with increased justice and opportunity.

To help fund a full-time coach to support the expansion of their College Advising Pilot (“CAP”) to work with school counselors to define and standardize college enrollment milestones across 21 schools in their core network. CAP aims to significantly increase the college enrollment and persistence rate across participating schools, and to ensure that all graduating seniors have a clear and supported postsecondary transition plan by standardizing the schools’ approaches to college counseling and utilizing the New Visions Data Portal. The program is comprised of six advising cycles aligned to major milestones in the college application, enrollment, and transition processes accompanied by whole-cohort convenings and in-school coachings. Using the Data Portal, which provides student data like progress towards graduation, counselors can better track the postsecondary decision-making process to help ensure that no student falls through the cracks and that every student is prepared to pursue the postsecondary path of their choice. New Visions for Public Schools serves as a laboratory of innovation within NYC’s public-school reform efforts, creating and refining helpful new approaches to systemic challenges.

To help continue the roll out of a new tier of their To & Through College program, Crew Mentors. Over the past few years, they have successfully piloted and implemented College Crew, in which staff provides intensive supports to their most vulnerable high school graduates in college. Through Crew Mentors, a refinement of College Crew, they instead select, train, and support a group of their high school graduates currently enrolled in college to provide peer-mentoring support to a broader universe of students just beginning their post-secondary careers. They believe that this effort is an important and scalable endeavor through which they can better provide direct supports to many more of their alumni than they currently serve – supports that they believe will translate to higher college completion rates for their alumni. They will grow the program from two Crew Mentors with 25 students each to four Crew Mentors this year. NYC Outward Bound Schools has a network of 13 expeditionary learning schools throughout NYC’s five Boroughs which they operate in partnership with the Department of Education.

For ongoing support of the Associate Director (“AD”) of Programs, whose primary responsibility is to support a team of Program Managers in their execution of PENCIL’s college and career readiness programs, particularly the School Partnership Program. The AD enables the organization to increase its impact by ensuring that their Program Managers are equipped with the full resources they need to deliver high-quality programming consistently and efficiently, and can better troubleshoot challenges in the delivery of partnership programs. Their hands-on programs, including in-school partnerships, mentoring, internships, and Principal for a Day, create targeted opportunities for business professionals, educators, and students to work together – in schools and the workplace. Last year, PENCIL served over 7,000

Support of general operating expenses of the Public Prep Network, the Nation’s first charter network that exclusively develops exceptional Pre-K and single-sex elementary and middle public schools. Given the unprecedented circumstances due to the current global pandemic, the stakes are high as they ensure the safety and wellness of their community, create a clear communication stream for all stakeholders, and deliver academic engagement during school closures. Their unique approach places equal emphasis on character development, college knowledge, family engagement, organizational stability, and academic excellence through an integrated curriculum to better ensure that all of their students are on a path to college completion and beyond. They pursue excellence through continuous learning and data-driven instruction. Public Prep supports 4 single-sex public charter schools across five campuses located in low-income communities in the South Bronx and the Lower East Side of Manhattan that educate over 2,000

To support the continued development of the ReadWorks digital platform to improve teacher instruction and student achievement in reading comprehension. This phase of development will be driven by continued data analysis efforts and ongoing consultation of cognitive science research and educator feedback. The grant will provide support for the Manager of Data Analytics who is in charge of ReadWorks’ data analysis efforts. ReadWorks seeks to improve teacher effectiveness and raise student achievement in reading comprehension through research-based, classroom-proven instructional practices and curriculum, and through free, open-access online technology. Given the online nature of their work, ReadWorks is uniquely positioned to support the ongoing education of children around the country during this unprecedented pandemic, helping to ensure that they do not fall behind on their learning.

To support a Program Manager responsible for developing and administering their new Teacher Led Programs (“TLP”) in New York City, which will teach the fundamentals of coding to students in 6 classes in 4 under-resourced high schools. In the TLP model, Code Nation provides ongoing, in-person training to classroom teachers who teach their Intro to Web Development curriculum. They provide classroom teachers with a full curriculum including: lesson plans, guided notes, activities, and homework; weekly check-ins with a Code Nation Program Manager; biweekly classroom observations; weekly volunteer support; and field trips to tech companies. A cohort of 6-8 volunteers will commit to coming to classes on a bi-monthly basis. They will alternate so that there will be a volunteer in the classroom every week to provide feedback and guidance on technical projects, and to form personal relationships and a link to the tech industry.

To help fund the salary of a Manager of Data and Evaluation for SEO High School Scholars, a new position which is important to their expansion efforts in New York City. The Manager will lead all data analysis, reporting, internal research and evaluation efforts for its High School Scholars program. The position defines program-wide policies and procedures around database design, and will better ensure consistent, efficient, and accurate data management across the program. The position also works with various teams to define research questions, design evaluative processes, and perform data analyses, and makes recommendations on follow-up steps and future direction. SEO works to create a more equitable society by closing the academic and career opportunity gap for motivated young people living in underserved and/or underrepresented communities. Through 4 distinct programs including SEO Scholars, they served approximately 1,000

For renewed support of program improvements of Early Reading Matters (“ERM”), their outcomes-oriented professional learning program for teachers to develop early reading instructional expertise critical for improving student literacy in grades K-2 in high-poverty area NYC schools. Last year they piloted a revised approach to the program in order to accelerate reading gains in Kindergarten and First Grade classrooms. While there were impressive gains in Kindergarten, the gains in First Grade were not as dramatic. This year they will focus on First Grade, making additional program adjustments to increase the quality and pace of instruction in order to boost gains in student proficiency, with the ultimate goal of better preparing these youngsters for Second Grade and beyond. However, in March 2020, as a result of their COVID-19 response, the organization temporarily shifted program focus away from ERM to develop K-2 curriculum to support the New York City Department of Education transition to remote instruction. The pivot resulted in the creation of seven weeks of customizable content, which was available nationwide for free. Teaching Matters is a nationally recognized professional learning organization dedicated to increasing teacher effectiveness, one of the most critical factors regarding student success.

For general support of their college readiness programming, especially during this critical time when learning and in‐person access to school resources have been disrupted. College Readiness programming has two goals: 1) to ensure that 100% of Eagle seniors have an actionable post‐secondary plan; and 2) to create and implement a virtual infrastructure for their college counselors and students. The grant will direct services to not only seniors at the Academies, but to all students, by establishing a robust college‐going culture at each school. The mission of The Eagle Academy Foundation is to develop and support a network of all‐male, grades 6 through 12 college‐preparatory public schools strategically located in challenged urban communities that educate and mentor young men into future leaders committed to excellence in character, scholastic achievement, and community service. EAF supports the network of six Eagle Academies, comprised of 3,000

For continued support of the Director of 5-12 Science, a senior instructional leadership position within the Uncommon Schools network. The Director will build on previous accomplishments which include the creation of their first shared curricula and shared assessments for all middle and high school science classrooms across the Uncommon Schools network, and the implementation of professional development for all 5-12 science teachers network-wide. The Director will lead Uncommon’s transition to remote middle and high school science instruction in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the development of key experiences for science lab learning across all Uncommon schools, and the creation of a non-Advanced Placement Physics curriculum and assessments for high school students. This initiative will help to improve student achievement and better teacher retention during a period of rapid growth. Uncommon Schools starts and then manages outstanding urban public schools that close the achievement gap and prepare low-income students to graduate from college. They operate 54 schools serving more than 20,000