Celebrating 30 years of Learning Together, Citizen Schools is proud to be a leader in transforming education, one classroom at a time. The Power of Community has always been at the heart of our mission, and as we look forward to our next chapter, we are more committed than ever to building meaningful connections that address the challenges facing today's students and teachers. For three decades, we’ve held true to the belief that hands-on, experience-based learning is the best way to engage students. We also know that schools can't do it alone and that there is a vast, untapped resource of adult citizens eager to get involved. Our 30th Anniversary is a celebration of this enduring vision and a new direction for the future.

At a time when student disengagement and loneliness are at a national crisis level, we are taking our proven model and bringing it directly into the school day. We've evolved our program to focus on supporting the primary lever for student success: classroom instruction. By blending our evidence-based, Experience-Based Learning (EBL) approach with dedicated educator training and support, we are empowering teachers to make their classrooms come alive. The result is a vibrant space of collaboration, creativity, and community, where students are at the center of their own learning journey.

What truly makes our model special is the inclusion of the surrounding community. We know that teachers are strained and under-resourced, and the post-pandemic landscape has only exacerbated this reality. Citizen Schools acts as a bridge, connecting classrooms with the outside expertise and resources they desperately need. Our program matches educators with trained community volunteers—career mentors from a wide range of industries, from engineering to biotech to the arts. These dedicated adults step away from the divisiveness that pervades our culture and step toward an opportunity to come together and help children prepare for their futures. They become an integral part of the school community, showing students that there is a network of caring citizens who want them to succeed.

The Power of Community is the antidote to isolation. Our whole-school model is a testament to what is possible when we work together. A classroom becomes a microcosm of the real world, where a teacher and a career mentor collaborate to create projects with immediate, real-world application. Students are not just learning facts from a textbook; they are building confidence, exploring potential career paths, and forging relationships with caring adults who can provide guidance and support. This collaborative approach fosters a sense of belonging and purpose, addressing the disengagement crisis head-on and showing students that their education is a shared experience.

As we look ahead, we are excited to increase our impact, creating a new generation of teachers, career mentors, and, most importantly, students who are engaged, prepared, and connected to their communities. We believe that by working together—teachers, students, and citizens—we can create an educational system that is not only effective but also deeply human. To learn more about the Citizen Schools’ 30th Anniversary and how we are building on 30 years of success to create a brighter future click here.