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The nation’s largest school system should prepare children to take on tomorrow’s challenges. Join us in improving our schools. Download a PDF of this page.
Parent Power
Parent Power
The Trust helped make culturally inclusive education a priority for the state and city. Photo by Coalition for Educational Justice
ADVOCATE FOR BETTER SCHOOLS

Our schools should work for all students, including children with disabilities and those learning English as a second language. We’ve helped:

  • Win billions in additional State funding for city schools.
  • Use policy research, advocacy, and organizing to push for better public schools for all New York City children.
  • Nurture innovative programs for recently arrived immigrant students and students with disabilities.
Literacy
Literacy
We're improving reading scores of public school students through programs like CAMBA's Ready Readers. Photo courtesy of CAMBA
IMPROVE LITERACY

Reading instruction requires knowledge, research, planning, and thinking on your feet. We’ve helped:

  • Bring after-school programs together to improve literacy instruction.
  • Put photography, theater, and other creative tools to work boosting reading and writing skills.
  • Train teachers to tailor reading instruction to students’ individual needs.
Intrepid Girls
Intrepid Girls
Using an aircraft carrier as a classroom, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum ran a STEM summer camp for girls with our support. Photo by Amy Wolf for The Trust
PROMOTE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH (STEM)

Tomorrow’s workers need the right skills. We’ve helped:

  • Bring volunteer programmers from tech firms to teach coding in high schools.
  • Expand science and video game production classes for girls, who are traditionally underrepresented in science and technology.
ESL
ESL
On a 2014 visit to one of the Internationals Network schools in Queens, program director Shawn Morehead listens to a student discuss how the program helped her learn English and make friends from a range of countries.
MAKE SCHOOLS BETTER FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Hundreds of thousands of students don’t speak English at home. We’ve helped:

  • Create immersive high schools for immigrant teens learning English as a second language.
  • Promote the use of photography, theater, and other arts to engage children in learning English.
  • Advocate for immigrant parents’ rights to access their children’s schools.
College Ready
College Ready
With our help, Graduate Center for CUNY helped create college access programs in high schools that focused on helping students who are the first in their families to go to college.
PREP FOR COLLEGE SUCCESS

First-generation college students often struggle, as do those who work to pay the family bills. We’ve helped:

  • Take kids on college overnights, provide mentors, and help them prepare for exams.
  • Provide peer support and tutoring to help young adults get into college.