I spent 5 years at City Year, where I worked alongside some of the most wonderful people throughout the Boston community from Boston Public School students and administrations, community center leaders, corporate partners, and City Year corps and staff.

The reason I gave so much time, and continue to support City Year as an Alumni Board member, is because the City Year program provides human and material resources to Boston Public Schools while developing its corps members to be thoughtful, active citizens ready to be service-minded in the future careers.  

This year, I will give a dollar for every school I was able to work with during my time at City Year through the BCE team: 84 different schools. 

Please consider the schools that built you and and donate to City Year Boston to help keep supporting Boston Public School students. Thank you for anything you are able to contribute at this time.

In March, Boston Public Schools (BPS) announced the closure of all 125 schools citywide. These school closures left 50,000 Boston students without access to in-person schooling.  City Year Boston is working closely with BPS to provide innovative distance learning opportunities to students, adapting our Whole School Whole Child program model to suit virtual spaces.

While teachers continue to provide whole-class instruction using platforms like Google Classroom or Zoom, City Year’s AmeriCorps members are providing academic supports in English language arts/literacy and math by facilitating breakout groups, answering questions, and leading enrichment activities.  Our corps members are assisting teachers in planning lessons and reviewing students’ assignments and holding office hours to provide one-on-one and small-group tutoring.  Importantly, our AmeriCorps members are also supporting students’ social-emotional health and placing phone calls home to students and their families as a way to build connectedness, troubleshoot, and communicate updates. 

City Year Boston is one of the only partners to support Boston Public School students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic

City Year’s support of virtual classrooms is a pivotal step in preventing learning loss and generating opportunities for new learning, as well as ensuring greater equity of experience among families who may not otherwise have the ability to facilitate in-home instruction.  Beyond this school year, City Year will continue to engage in the virtual space to support BPS students and will be in schools next year to support students when they will need more than ever.