For support of a Senior Career Success Manager who will provide college persistence and career access support for 150 3rd- and 4th-year college students, while also providing up to 75 match supervisions for students taking part in one of five Career Pathways programs. Career Pathways matches up to 75 students one-to-one with career mentors who are working professionals, ideally within the students’ fields of interest, who will support them in developing a career path, engaging in professional and career development opportunities, and expanding their networks of professionals who may connect them to internships, fellowships, and job opportunities. The Senior Career Success Manager will seek to ensure the mentoring matches develop strong relationships, and encourage students to complete once-monthly career success curriculum activities. The Manager will also build partnerships with businesses to create future internship and job opportunities and refine the agency’s career success curriculum.

To support a Case Manager for their Middle School Transitions Initiative Road Map project, who will work with middle school youths aged 11 to 15 and their caregivers to better help these youths to begin mapping their career paths as they transition from middle school to high school. The Case Manager will provide: one-on-one counseling; workshops; resource materials; and referrals related to the selection of a high school major – and the high schools which offer coursework in that major. Help with the completion of high school applications will also be provided following in-person and virtual visits to high school campuses and high school fairs. She will help each youth and their caregivers to develop a long-term plan to map a path from middle school to the beginning of his or her prime working years. Youths and caregivers will better understand the importance of long-term career planning, how to use reference materials to support their planning, and the much-increased lifelong earnings potential, and improved job satisfaction, that may result.

For support of a Social Worker at their new elementary school who will support their newest scholars as they learn to manage the emotions associated with transitioning into school while also dealing with the stress, anxiety and other social and emotional and mental health challenges brought on by the impact of COVID-19. A key goal for CQA in opening their elementary school was to reach their scholars at the start of their academic experience, not only reducing the amount of remediation necessary by the time they reach middle school, but also preparing them for much more rigorous elementary school coursework. The Social Worker will initially serve 100 scholars in Kindergarten and 1st grade (the grades offered by CQA during the first school year), before then growing each year to eventually become a K-8 school. Their mission is to prepare students for eventual success in college, the workforce, and the community through a school that integrates literacy, high standards-based academics, and culturally responsive supportive services.

To support DREAM’s accelerated learning model across its network of schools and out-of-school time (afternoon, Saturday, and summer) programs in response to the COVID pandemic. Multiple well-documented studies have shown that low-income students in particular will need extra help to excel academically in light of COVID-related learning losses. Funds will support DREAM’s: co-teaching model; intellectual preparation and professional development; high quality curriculum development; and research-based interventions. Through focusing upon these four areas, DREAM is committed to achieving accelerated learning to help students rebound from the pandemic. DREAM invests in their students’ physical, emotional, and academic potentials by blending rigorous academics with enriching extended learning opportunities and family supports. DREAM currently has five schools and is expanding to seven schools which will ultimately serve over 2,500 young learners.

For support targeted towards their college and career readiness programs which annually serve 5,000 vulnerable, at-risk youths aged 16-24, helping them to break out of the cycle of poverty and build a future which includes employment which pays a living wage. These programs include high school programs which support students through high school graduation and college enrollments, and their Post-Secondary Pathways program which adds other post-secondary options to create alternative productive pathways for those of their high school graduates who may wish to at least initially pursue good-paying careers that do not require college degrees. ESH provides youths with quality academic, college and career readiness, and supportive services which lead to high school graduation and post-secondary placement – accomplishments that, without ESH services, might not have been achieved. East Side House is a settlement house which serves the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx, providing residents with the education and technology skills they need to create economic and civic opportunities for themselves, their families and the community.

To help expand the AmeriCorps Assistant Program Director position to full-time so as to further improve their out-of-school academic support program for youths from low-income communities in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. They will provide 150 youths in grades 1-3 with out-of-school literacy and educational support at 13 Grand Street out-of-school sites to increase literacy and help to close the pandemic-related reading gaps for low-income public school students. Thirty-eight AmeriCorps members will be trained as youth development professionals, using evidence-based practices to provide individualized and small group academic support that will increase students’ comprehensive reading skills and vocabulary. Grand Street Settlement provides educational programs and social services to people of all ages residing on the Lower East Side in Manhattan, and in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg and Bushwick neighborhoods.

For continued support of the full-time grade K-8 Education Specialist within their afterschool Youth Services Program, who works to improve the Program’s educational quality by building their staff’s capacity. The Education Specialist will support students through: the development of enhanced instructional programming, particularly around literacy; the implementation of student assessments; and the delivery of enhanced professional development for staff. Overall, the Education Specialist provides consistent support to their K–8 Youth Services participants who need additional assistance to attain better indications of academic success, including performing well on Math and English Language Arts (“ELA”) exams and advancing to — and being prepared for — the next grade level on time. Hudson Guild is a settlement house providing comprehensive programs and services to families in the Chelsea neighborhood and on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, many of whom reside in public housing.

For support of the Chief Academic Officer (“CAO”) position, a new role responsible for the effective development, implementation, and execution of their instructional vision to ensure their grades K-12 student growth and life-long achievement. As KIPP NYC has grown to a current network of 18 schools educating 7,150 children in grades K-12, they require a full time CAO to develop and drive the K-12 academic vision for all KIPP NYC schools. The CAO will oversee the Student Support team that supports social emotional learning, special education and remediation and intervention services, and their Teaching and Learning team. In collaboration with regional leaders, the CAO will identify opportunities to improve upon current instructional practices, using rigorous student growth and achievement data, to better support student growth and achievement. KIPP NYC is part of a national network of exemplary college-preparatory public charter schools that prepare students in underserved communities for success in college and in life.

For support of their Teen Campus programs which focus upon academic success by preparing teens for high school graduation, college matriculation, and careers, in addition to helping them to build critical leadership and social skills. The teen population is a major focus for Madison Square because adolescence is such a pivotal time in a young person’s life, when even small good or bad decisions can lead to big and lasting consequences. They want to continue to better support teens, using their feedback to help design and implement programs that keep them academically interested and engaged so that they will stay motivated to graduate with individualized plans for the future. They seek to serve 700 teens across all 6 club sites through these programs, which operate daily after school and during the summer months. Madison Square serves children and teens in some of New York City’s most neglected neighborhoods located in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx, by providing comprehensive afterschool and summer programs.

To provide support as they both strengthen and significantly scale their work this year, with their student and educator programs expected to reach 100 NYC public schools and 35,000 students – up from just 31 NYC public schools and 16,000 students served last year. These efforts include: a network of high-performing public schools which they support with a comprehensive suite of services for teachers, school leaders, college counselors, and students; a range of programs for the students and alumni of these schools that are aimed at postsecondary planning and success; their citywide “Crew Initiative” which is bringing their distinctive student advisory and support structure to another 50 public schools this year; and their student and educator programs rooted in their strongest practices, such as teambuilding, project-based learning, and student-engaged assessments. NYC Outward Bound Schools transforms schools and changes students’ lives by bringing their unique educational approach to NYC’s young people and their public schools, with a focus upon serving students from historically underserved communities.

To help support staffing at the Oasis After-School Academy which provides remedial academic assistance and social-emotional support to low-income Paterson, NJ children in grades K-7 who have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic and its resulting school closures. Oasis offers some 150 children with academic interventions on weekdays after school, supplementing grade-level instruction with two math tutors and one reading specialist who work with children individually and in small groups, to intervene as needed. They will offer a supplemental Saturday program, providing 90-minute reading intervention sessions to students whose scores are the lowest. A dedicated full-time Youth Social Worker, a licensed MSW, provides psychosocial support for the after-school children and their parents/guardians. Located in Paterson, NJ, Oasis offers a holistic pathway out of poverty through educational and vocational training programs. It assists women to enter and better succeed in the workforce, and it helps children to better flourish academically, and stay in school.

For ongoing support of the Associate Director (“AD”) of Programs, who supports a team of Program Managers in their execution of PENCIL’s college and career readiness programs, particularly the School Partnership Program. This position better enables the organization to increase its impact by ensuring that Program Managers are more fully equipped with the resources they need to deliver high-quality programming consistently and efficiently, better troubleshooting challenges as they arise during the delivery of partnership programs. Their hands-on programs – including largely corporate in-school partnerships, mentoring, internships, and Principal for a Day opportunities – create targeted opportunities for corporate professionals, educators, and students to work together in schools and in the workplace. Moving forward, the AD will seek to ensure that their program growth matches their program delivery capacities. New partners and future program staff need to be on-boarded through clear and consistent communications and processes.

For the Director of Early Learning, who provides leadership with regard to rigorous and developmentally appropriate Pre-K-2 instruction, early learning initiatives, and Pre-K-2 extended learning opportunities throughout the Public Preparatory Network. This position is deemed important to their organizational goals as they seek to better ensure that all scholars are reading on grade level (or higher) by the end of second grade. The Director integrates early literacy and foundational reading, mathematics, social-emotional wellness and learning to provide a cohesive experience for school leaders and teachers. The Director is an important member of their network-wide academic team, helping to ensure that close to 1,000 scholars are on a predictive pathway to and through college. They support a team of early learning coaches who work with teachers to achieve strong academic results and build the capacity of young teachers who are yet in the beginning stages of their careers. Public Prep supports a network of four single-sex public charter schools across five campuses, all of which are located in low-income communities within the South Bronx and the Lower East Side of Manhattan, collectively educating over 2,000 boys and girls in grades Pre-K-8.

For continued support of the Manager of Data Analytics who helps ReadWorks to make much improved, data-driven decisions that then timely better inform all of their work to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement in reading comprehension. They will continue exploring the many different ways by which educators use their content and features with students – whether at school in the classroom, remotely with teacher guidance, and/or at home with parents/guardians/etc. – and to use their findings to determine how to best give research-supported guidance to each of these cohorts. Given the online nature of their work, ReadWorks is uniquely positioned to support the ongoing education of children in New York City and, indeed, around the country, during this unprecedented pandemic, helping to ensure that they do not fall behind in their learning. ReadWorks seeks to improve teacher effectiveness and raise student achievement in reading comprehension through research-based, classroom-proven instructional practices and curricula, and through free, open-access online technology.

To support the new Director,Talent responsible for the hiring, placement, and partnership strategy for their 1st- and 2nd-year TFA corps members, and for creating the strategies needed to develop a cohesive and impactful talent pipeline for better placing their impressive cadre of TFA alumni. Building upon one of Teach For America’s strengths as a leadership development pipeline for equity-oriented, diverse education leaders, the Director will support their 1,700 alumni in their evolving career trajectories, develop alumni talent pipelines, and build meaningful relationships with partners and talent agencies to fill high-need, high-impact roles across the education sector in Newark and New Jersey. The Director will also develop a strong process for onboarding and confirming corps members to start their two-year teaching commitments, and curate a suite of experiences and opportunities for corps members and alumni in their individual career development, creating a system of enhanced access and support to attain career goals.

For continued support of the Director of Program Design and Implementation who leads their efforts in adapting and designing their corps member leadership development programming so as to more successfully help to set the stage for their students’ dramatic learning in the year ahead, no matter what the learning format. This position works in partnership with key internal and external stakeholders to build cohesive, year-round programming that is responsive to the emerging needs of their students. The key goals are to: design and execute leadership development programming for corps members during their two-year commitment; create and deliver training programming, tools, and learning experiences for the staff so as to more effectively deliver their corps members’ leadership development curriculum; and partner with internal and external stakeholders to secure strong, cohesive, and innovative learning opportunities for their corps members’ leadership development. Teach For America’s diverse corps of outstanding leaders who make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools continue to become lifelong key local, state, regional, and national leaders in efforts to end educational inequities.

For continued support of the Director of Student and Family Services and the agency’s expanding service delivery efforts to families and students as the GO Project’s students resume learning in person at their Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn program sites. The Director oversees the GO Families team comprised of: 6 Success Coaches (who are trained social workers) who provide ongoing high-touch case management services to families and develop holistic Social-Emotional Learning (“SEL”) programming; 1 Coordinator of Student and Family Services; and 9 Family Engagement Associates who provide multi-lingual connections to families, and who serve as a critical resource connecting families to their public schools, GO programs, and other community services. By creating a holistic team collaborative that leverages community resources, GO increases parent engagement rates, strengthens student transitions into the 6th and 9th grades, implements high-touch case management that is responsive to student and family needs, and positively impacts upon student academic and behavioral growth. The GO Project provides year-round educational and family support services to over 700 academically struggling public school children in grades K-8 in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

For support of their Senior Director of Curriculum and Assessment K-8 who is helping to lead their efforts to close COVID-related skill gaps through the creation of just-in-time instructional materials. When their students returned to their schools in-person in the Fall 2021, they launched a learning “acceleration” (not mere “remediation”) initiative that adapts their core school model to create more time in the schedule for targeted accelerated instruction to address areas in which students are struggling. This intensive effort requires them to reallocate the time of multiple positions on their central Curriculum and Assessment Team, including their Senior Director, to develop instructional resources in literacy, math, and other subjects to address learning needs that surface in their teachers’ review of weekly student performance data. This initiative, implemented hand-in-hand with their social-emotional learning (“SEL”) initiative, is demonstrably helping the academic recovery of the more than 15,200 elementary and middle school students across their network of 54 schools, including 10,600 students specifically in 47 NYC and Newark schools. Uncommon Schools starts, and then manages, outstanding urban public schools that close the achievement gap and prepare low-income students to eventually graduate from college.