Excitement in Everett

We are so excited that this year we are not only partnering with Boston Public Schools, but also expanding to Everett Public School District! Formerly City Year Boston, City Year Greater Boston will partner with George Keverian, Madeline English, Lafayette, Albert N. Parlin, and Whittier schools in the Everett district, and an additional 15 schools in Boston Public Schools. Our AmeriCorps members will be dispersed throughout the city of Boston and Everett to serve as student success coaches, mentors, and friends to the students in these Greater Boston Area communities.

This past week, members of City Year Greater Boston staff attended the Everett Public School committee meeting to introduce our service model to the Everett families and address any questions.  

EPS committee member Samantha Lambert asked, “How has your plan and your model changed as we come back from COVID, in a year where so many of our students were entirely remote?”

Impact Director Marika Azocar, who oversees the school teams with colleague and fellow alum Courtney Lynn Dailey, provided more insight into their strategy to working with the administration to provide the most effective and tailored approach to each school partnership. “We are also telling our AmeriCorps members that recognizing where students are at is going to be key. In terms of changing our model, we realized that we need to be more collaborative than ever with our partners. We’re asking very strategic questions such as where do you want our corps members to be serving? Which classrooms are the best classrooms for them to be in right now? And how can we meet the needs for what your overarching goals are for this year?”

Nancy Jones, Managing Director of Communications and Development, added, “There is data that shows that having an AmeriCorps member in the classroom, and building those strong relationships, is equivalent to making one year of academic gains, and so [we are all] working on relationships between students and corps.” The case study cited in the presentation can be found here. 

City Year and Everett Public Schools share a unique approach. City Year’s focus on holistic supports to help students build skills and mindsets critical for their success not just in school, but beyond as well. This approach focuses on the relationship between our students and AmeriCorps members. AmeriCorps members are mature enough to offer guidance and support, yet young enough to be relatable to students. This allows them to create a unique relationship to help our students understand more of who they are, develop critical skills that can range anywhere between learning how to work in a team setting, how to cope with stress, or even learning how to divide fractions. These skills will not only help them in a school setting but in life as well. Learn more about our approach. 

“I just want to say that I’m excited to have you (all) in the city… Mentorship is something our students definitely need in their life.”- Carlos Demaria, Mayor of Everett

Everett Public Schools began their school year on August 31st where students were greeted by enthusiastic AmeriCorps members, ready and eager to get to know school staff and students. 

Our staff and AmeriCorps members could not be more excited about this partnership! Follow our school team accounts to get to know our AmeriCorps members: 

George Keverian  

Madeline English 

Lafayette  

Albert N. Parlin 

Whittier schools 

 

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