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City Year launches first Norristown-area school partnership and seeks local recruits
Summary
City Year Greater Philadelphia announced its first partnership outside Philadelphia with Norristown Area School District this school year, serving two Norristown campuses and urging local young adults to apply for AmeriCorps service.
City Year Greater Philadelphia representatives updated Norristown Borough Council on May 6 about the nonprofit's new partnership with the Norristown Area School District and asked council and community leaders to help recruit local AmeriCorps members.
Daryl (last name not stated) told council City Year is an education nonprofit and AmeriCorps program that places 18- to 25-year-olds as "student success coaches" in schools to provide tutoring, mentoring and whole-school supports. Senior director Marjorie Lacuna Morris said this is City Year's first partnership outside Philadelphia and that the program is serving both Norristown High School and the Roosevelt campus this year.
Morris said the organization sought to staff six core members at each school but did not reach that goal and noted that the current members serving in Norristown do not live in Norristown. She asked the council to help encourage "Norristown graduates and Norristown young adult residents to consider serving with us for the coming years." Morris outlined member benefits including a living stipend, health benefits and a ~ $7,300 AmeriCorps educational award that can be applied to student loans or tuition.
Administrative context: City Year said its program uses research-based interventions — attendance monitoring, tutoring in math and English, behavioral supports and schoolwide events — and reported district-level outcomes elsewhere in its network (not Norristown-specific) such as maintenance of grades for students who began the year with a C or better and improvements for some students who were behind.
Application details: City Year representatives said applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis; they had printed flyers at the meeting and said they can share application information electronically, with interviews followed by responses in roughly two to three weeks.
Ending: City Year asked the council to support local outreach to recruit Norristown residents to serve as AmeriCorps members; councilmembers asked logistical questions about applications and outreach.
