11/01/2012
Citizens Bank Foundation provides $10,000 grant to City Year’s “Whole School Whole Child” program in Manchester, N.H.
Manchester, N.H. – To help young children stay in school and on track to graduate successfully, the Citizens Bank Foundation announced it has provided a $10,000 grant to City Year’s “Whole School Whole Child” program currently underway in six elementary schools in Manchester. This grant will help support teams of City Year corps members in providing teacher-directed support to third- through fifth-grade students in select Manchester schools. City Year New Hampshire is a member of the AmeriCorps program.
“Students who are most likely to drop out of school can be identified by third grade using a set of early-warning indicators,” said Pawn Nitichan, executive director of City Year. “By putting young adults in classrooms to work directly with students, we can help improve academic performance and attendance. The students become more capable,committed and confident learners, and ultimately stay on track to graduate.”
City Year's approach to long-term school success is organized around a research-based service model. Through this model, diverse teams of full-time corps members serve in schools to help improve students’ ABCs – Attendance, Behavior, and Course performance in math and English, which research confirms are indicators of a student’s likelihood of graduating from high school.
As near-peers who begin their service before the first bell rings and stay until the last child leaves the after-school program, corps members address the academic and socio-emotional needs of individual students who are falling off-track in their ABCs. Serving full time, corps members also work to improve the whole school environment by leading activities and events that foster a strong connection among students, parents and the school community. One corps member is assigned to every 10 off-track students to provide direct intervention for those students as well as whole-class support.
“City Year members are making a difference in Manchester schools by improving young students’ active engagement in learning at a time when they are still forming their study habits,” said Joe Carelli, President, Citizens Bank, New Hampshire. “Keeping students in school through graduation is critically important not only for their future, but also for our future workforce and economy.”
According to City Year, the grant will help corps members meet the following goals:
- Eighty percent of the off-track students who work closely with City Year members will demonstrate improved academic performance.
- City Year’s support of third- through fifth-grade classrooms in partner schools will positively impact 1,000 students.
- Whole school initiatives will support overall attendance, behavior and coursework in math and literacy, positively impacting nearly 2,700 students.
About the Citizens Bank Foundation
Citizens Bank Foundation is a subsidiary of the Citizens Charitable Foundation, which is a charitable contributions vehicle of RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc., RBS Citizens, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. The foundation’s support is focused on human services, affordable housing and economic development. RBSCFG’s website is citizensbank.com.
