City Year's pathways into teaching

City Year is your gateway into education

• Are you considering a career in teaching?
• Wondering how serving with City Year might give you valuable experience and a jump start on becoming a classroom teacher?
• Do you want access to affordable and high-quality teacher training programs?

City Year is a valuable pre-teacher pathway, uniquely positioned to address two of the biggest challenges facing education today: lack of diverse teachers entering the profession and high teacher turnover from our most under-resourced schools.

We build off your formative year of school-based service and aim to increase retention and teacher tenure though an extended on-ramp into teaching that allows you to continue to serve as a returning corps member while receiving teacher training and certification.

Our AmeriCorps members acquire valuable and transferrable skills during their year or two of service as student success coaches in public schools, including mastering student engagement strategies, deepening their cultural awareness and fostering a lifelong commitment to educational equity.

Most of all, City Year AmeriCorps members and alums share a steadfast belief in the talent, voice and potential of all students. City Year has become more strategic about providing pathways for our corps and alums into the teaching profession.

How City Year teacher pipeline programs work

The main goal of City Year’s Teacher Pathway Strategy is to meet the growing social, emotional and academic demands that students face, particularly those from systemically underserved and under-resourced communities.

The organization participates in several different kinds of teacher pathway programs across the country. One program is City Year’s Teacher Fellowship, modeled after a medical residency program. Over the course of three years, as a City Year Teaching Fellow, you’ll deepen your skills and gain valuable experience while earning a certification to teach.

Additional AmeriCorps-to-teaching pathways

Across City Year’s network, sites partner with local teacher preparation programs to build a locally relevant AmeriCorps member-to-teacher pipeline tailored to their needs and goals.

City Year sites continue to expand local partnerships to support AmeriCorps members and alums entering the teaching profession. Most recently, City Year Jacksonville, City Year Miami and City Year Memphis have developed innovative strategies by collaborating with local community-based partners to provide City Year AmeriCorps members the opportunity to start teaching where they first served.

Both school partners and districts provide tailored learning and training opportunities for corps members to transition into teaching positions. Support is provided in areas such as interviewing, resume development, PRAXIS test preparation and classroom pedagogy.

City Year has also long been one of the largest talent providers for Teach for America, with 70+ alumni joining TFA every year.

What makes City Year’s pathways into teacher training different from other programs?

Accessibility and affordability

In addition to the Segal Education Award that City Year AmeriCorps members receive at the completion of their year of service, Teaching Fellows can earn a graduate degree, teaching license and living stipend while paying considerably less for their teacher preparation program.

What are the teacher pipeline program requirements?

A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited university with an average undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above. If you have below a 3.0 GPA please provide an academic explanation.

Depending on state requirements, a bachelor’s degree may need to align with content area for licensure. For example, if an AmeriCorps member is interested in earning a secondary science teaching license, a bachelor’s degree in a science related field may be required. Our university partners will conduct a transcript audit to ensure eligibility.

At least one year of City Year AmeriCorps member service and U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status are required. There is no age limit for City Year’s Teaching Fellowship.

Learn more about our Teacher Pathways Strategy

Learn more