Hi Family & Friends,

I wanted to reach out and share the heart and connection that David and I have for City Year! We started our volunteer efforts over 15 years ago, serving alongside City Year Boston in our neighborhood and local schools. In 2008, David and Foster were blessed to travel to South Africa on a City Year family service trip, in which they served side by side with City Year South Africa corp members!. This life changing trip influenced Foster to take a gap year after high school to give back to middle school students at the Washington Irving Middle School in Roslindale - his 2018 City Year Graduation photo is my page picture!!

My belief in City Year's vision "At City Year we believe that all students can succeed and that developing the skills and mindsets of children and young adults contributes to strong , vibrant communities- outcomes that benefit us all", has also moved me to serve on the City Year Boston Seven Gens Board for the last 5 years and co-chair for the last two.

I share this invite to Starry Night on May 21st at 8:00pm.  As we are all sheltered in place, I ask that you join David, Foster, Leighton and I to celebrate all that City Year Boston and the 2019-2020 City Year AmeriCorp members have done to support and encourage students, teachers and administrators across the BPS system this year!

During this time of school closures corp members have continued to serve by giving meals at school sites, calling students for wellness checks and academic support. During the event you will hear from City Year Boston AmeriCorp members and from Boston Public School Superintendent Brenda Cassellius. 

With Love & Gratitude,

Alison

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.