Only 73% of the Seattle Public School students graduate from high school (2011, OSPI). This markedly low graduation rate carries with it severe consequences for the future of Seattle’s youth and community. City Year recognizes that the inherent problems experienced by high school students have arisen earlier in the education pipeline, making it essential to improve the proficiency of the elementary and middle schools students as well as high school students in order to increase graduation rates.
City Year Seattle/King County has been operating in the Seattle Public School System for 15 years. Through our school-based efforts, City Year incorporates 67 corps members into six partner schools: Roxhill Elementary School, Highland Park Elementary School, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, Emerson Elementary School, Aki Kurose Middle School, and Denny International Middle School.
These schools were selected as partners based on students’ test scores, the number of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, and because they feed into high schools that have a high number of dropouts. Currently, at the schools we serve, only 34% of students test at the proficient level in math on state tests, 51% in writing and just 39% in science; without support, many of these students will not graduate (2011, OSPI).
You can change the course of these children’s lives by joining City Year Seattle/King County. As a tutor and mentor, you will work in high-need neighborhoods, where you will become a powerful role model to youth by working as tutors, mentors, and role-models each day from 8am to 6pm.