DurhamCares

2012 Total Operating Budget: $20.1 million

What

Citizen Schools’ mission is to change the life trajectories of low-income middle school students. Citizen Schools taps the reservoir of out-of-school time, the power of hands-on learning, the passion of aspiring educators, and the talents of adult volunteers to advance students’ learning and leadership. They help students succeed in middle and high school, advance to college and become leaders in their careers and their communities. Citizen Schools also seeks to strengthen and grow the after-school sector locally and nationally.

Why

Citizen Schools seeks to change the lives of children beyond the bounds of our program by leading the nation to re-imagine after-school learning, believing that high-quality after-school programs can and should become full partners with families and schools. Although it is currently fragmented, under-resourced, and beset by low aspirations, the after-school sector can become the example our nation desperately needs - a place where communities come together to advance the learning of young people and to celebrate their contributions.

In North Carolina, Citizen Schools operates in Charlotte (Eastway and Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle Schools), Durham (Lowe’s Grove Middle School), and Henderson (Henderson Middle School). In each city, we partner with the school district and high-need middle schools to serve, in total, serving nearly 600 students and engage nearly 350 volunteers. Citizen Schools also receives significant support from the North Carolina Dept. of Public Instruction to align its program with the initiatives to increase high school graduation rates and ensure that students are prepared for college and employment. Its 30-week learning program creates a powerful culture of achievement as we fill the after-school hours with hands-on learning, apprenticeships, homework support, school navigation assistance, college visits and community service.

An independent study has indicated that Citizen Schools’ graduates are significantly outperforming a matched comparison group in both grades and rates of promotion and were significantly more likely than the comparison group to graduate from high school in four years.

Citizen Schools programs enroll students for the school year (approximately 400 hours), and offer an integrated program of skill-building, leadership, teamwork, and fun. Our programs are led by dynamic professional educators who effectively link in-school and out-of-school learning.

• We teach academic and leadership skills through hands-on projects;
• We engage volunteers from all walks of life to teach apprenticeship courses;
• We develop deep, long-term relationships with students and their families;
• We build bridges to civic and cultural institutions and teach students to access them; and
• We instill and celebrate the values of pride, joy, respect, motivation, and teamwork.

Citizen Schools’ core strategy, which links directly to its program model, is to provide more time for learning, more relevant learning activities, and more caring adults to students displaying risk factors across the country-factors that include low grades, low attendance rates, and discipline problems.

To achieve its goals, Citizen Schools’ program includes three primary components:

• 60-90 minutes of daily academic support with an emphasis on developing study and critical thinking skills,

• Four 11-week apprenticeship courses, that enlist community volunteers as Citizen Teachers to lead hands-on learning activities in a wide variety of professional fields and enrichment areas, with a focus on developing 21st Century skills such as leadership, oral communication, data analysis, and team cooperation, and

• College, career, and community explorations that enable students to explore their interests and make connections between current learning and future opportunities. Students are organized in teams of 10-14 students, each led and supported by one Citizen Schools educator.

Citizen Schools strives to help students who have low grades to improve by extending the learning day to provide an additional 400 hours of learning time per year. Students enrolled in the Citizen Schools program participate in after-school activities approximately three hours per day for four afternoons each week. For 60-90 minutes at the start of each program day, students receive academic support and coaching during AIM time (AIM stands for Aspire, Invest, Make the Grade). Staff members check students’ assignments in their school agendas and obtain-and incorporate into AIM time-feedback from their teachers about how students are doing in class. Staff members meet individually with students several times each year for Grades & Goals conferences that help students focus on areas where they want to improve and specific steps they can take to progress. Staff members also help students develop strategies to organize and complete their assignments and to enhance their study skills.

To provide students with a clearer understanding of the relevance of their academic studies to life beyond the classroom, and to increase their awareness-and the educational and skill requirements-of career options available to them, students participate in 90-minute apprenticeships courses two afternoons each week. Apprenticeships are hands-on learning projects led by volunteers from the community, called Citizen Teachers. These hands-on learning projects emphasize the broad set of skills necessary for success in the modern economy, e.g., leadership, teamwork, oral communication, data analysis, and technology. Each apprenticeship culminates in a WOW!-a product, performance, or presentation produced by the students and publicly taught back to the community. Apprenticeships are popular and motivational for our students. They help to increase school attendance rates, since any student who does not attend class during the school day cannot attend the Citizen Schools program that afternoon.

Jerri Fatticci

Executive Director of North Carolina for Citizen Schools

Jerri leads the development of the Citizen Schools network in the state. Jerri has primary responsibility for ensuring quality of Citizen Schools programming including the engagement of students, families, school partners, and volunteers from corporations and community organizations. She also builds partnerships with individuals and institutions from diverse sectors in order to build support and secure the sustainability of Citizen Schools in North Carolina. Prior to joining Citizen Schools, Jerri had a successful career in the financial services sector. At Bank of America she served as a financial advisor and worked closely with clients to develop financial plans and portfolio strategies to meet their long-term goals. Her experience in building deep relationships, managing for clear measurable outcomes, and working with clients and companies across the city provides a strong foundation for her work at Citizen Schools. While at Bank of America, Jerri served as a chairperson for the Women’s Impact Fund Education Grants Committee, served as a Community Advisory Board Member for Junior League, served on the board of the Financial Planning Association of Charlotte and served on the Citizen Schools Council of Champions. She is also, a member of the Partners in Out of School Time steering committee, a member of the Children’s Alliance, a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is currently serving on the evaluation committee of the Women’s Impact Fund. Jerri has a B.S. in Business Administration with a minor in Economics from Campbell University and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP). Jerri attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University for the first Community Problem Solving forum and earned a Certificate in Non Profit Management from Duke University in 2008.

Erik Turner

Program Director

Erik previously served as Campus Director at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Charlotte for two years prior to promotion to his current position. While at MLK Middle School, Erik implemented a successful Math Pilot as well as a stellar 8GA program at his campus. Erik received his Bachelor’s Degree from North Carolina Central University in History & Master’s Degree from Gonzaga University in Organizational Leadership. After completing undergraduate school Erik taught middle school in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System for several years, he later served his community as a Fire Fighter with the Charlotte Fire Department. In addition to his regular duties as a Fireman, Erik coordinated and led the Fire Safety classes for elementary schools and community organizations within his station’s territory. Later, Erik left the Charlotte Fire Department to found and manage his own non-profit organization, The Nile Academy of Male Development and Accountability. This organization provided summer and after-school programs for disadvantaged inner-city youth in the greater Charlotte area. Most recently before joining Citizen Schools, Erik worked with Communities In Schools of Charlotte as the Program Director for their Workforce Development Initiative. Erik also has excelled at community building, evidenced by the strong relationships he fostered between Citizen Schools, Junior Achievement, and Samaritan’s Feet.

Jill Ullman

Development Director

Jill spearheads the region’s development and fundraising strategies and solicits operational and program support from corporate, foundation, individual, and public sources. Jill came to Citizen Schools from All Kinds of Minds, a national nonprofit focused on understanding, supporting, and managing the different ways that K-12 students learn, where she directed a $.5M annual giving campaign. A native Durhamite, Jill received her undergraduate degree from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Citizen_Schools_1Q_Report.pdf

Citizen_Schools_2Q Report.pdf

Citizen_Schools_4Q Report.pdf