Citizen Schools New Jersey

Citizen Schools is a non-profit organization which partners with low-income middle schools to expand the learning day for students across the country. At Citizen Schools, students develop the skills, knowledge and beliefs they need to succeed in middle school, advance towards college, and become leaders in their careers and communities. We operate apprenticeship programs that connect middle school students with adult volunteers in hands-on learning. We currently enroll 4,400 middle-school students and engage 4,000 volunteers at 37 school campus sites nationwide. In New Jersey, we serve 3 Newark middle school campuses – Ivy Hill, First Avenue and Dr. MLK Elementary.

Although our students come from diverse backgrounds; our students all attend low income schools. Over 70% of our students are eligible for free or reduced price lunches. Sixty two percent of our students are African American, 30% are Latino, and 23% of our students have a first language other than English.