Citizen Schools Hits the Hill

Citizen Schools leaders from across the country convened in Washington, D.C. in June to meet with lawmakers about the importance of expanding the learning day. 

Citizen Schools staff, volunteers, and regional board members visited all the offices of the thirty-six Members of Congress who represent Citizen Schools’ program sites. Citizen Schools leaders also met with U.S. Department of Education officials. They shared data and stories about the student progress and school improvement happening in schools through partnerships with Citizen Schools. They also discussed the need for schools to have more flexibility to use federal programs to implement high-quality expanded learning time and afterschool programs, as well as the need for sustained federal support of national service programs like AmeriCorps to help organizations like Citizen Schools leverage volunteers and work with students in need  in classrooms across the country. 

To cap off the event, Citizen Schools held a reception on Capitol Hill to honor its work and its supporters.  Citizen Schools alumna, Leide Cabral, shared how her experience participating in Citizen Schools as a middle school student in a low-income, low-performing school led her to a path to attend one of Boston’s premiere high schools and to go on to graduate from Hamilton College with a degree in Mathematics.

“Through Citizen Schools, I moved from a very challenging middle school to one of the top high schools in Boston,” said Cabral. “Last year, I graduated from Hamilton College, something I never imagined possible before Citizen Schools.”

In addition, Citizen Schools New Mexico Board Member, Everette Hill, shared his gratitude for the powerful impact Citizen Schools has made in New Mexico communities over four years.