Our corps members
Placement regions
Corps and Alumni
New York
The New York City public school system serves over 1.1 million students taught in approximately 1,500 schools, making it the largest school system in the United States. Thanks in part to the many reform changes in recent years, the high school graduation rate has steadily climbed by 29 percent since 2002, with 66 percent of students graduating in 2008. This still leaves behind 34 percent of New York City’s students, demonstrating a real need for corps members in New York to lead their students to significant academic achievements in all grade levels and content areas. While the vast majority of New York corps members teach in New York City schools, we also now have a small number of corps members making a positive impact on students from low-income backgrounds in the Greenburgh-Graham Union Free District, directly north of the city.
| Quick Stats |
|---|
| Site Since: 1990 |
| Corps Size: 820 |
| Average summer temperature: 74 ° Average winter temperature: 34 ° |
| Car: Access to a car is not necessary (An average of 7,126,950 New Yorkers ride the subway daily.) |
| Beginning teacher's salary: $45,530-51,425 |
Life
New York City has long been hailed as one of the greatest cities in the world. It’s home to over eight million people and is comprised of five boroughs, within which there are hundreds of communities - each with a unique history and culture that offers something for everyone. Harlem, Washington Heights, and communities in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn - where New York corps members currently teach and where many live - are some of the most vibrant parts of the city. We are also excited to have a small group of corps members teaching in a low-income setting in Westchester county for the first time during the 2009-2010 school year. New York hosts a wide and diverse range of cultural and social activities, including neighborhood street fairs, sporting events, parades, and the region serves as a world center for the arts. New York City’s public transportation system runs 24 hours a day, making it convenient to travel across the five boroughs and beyond.
Corps Culture
New York is home to Teach For America’s largest corps, with over 800 corps members. Despite living in the country's largest city, many of our corps members live in the same apartment buildings or neighborhoods and frequently run into each other at the gym, on the subway, and in the city's countless restaurants and clubs. Corps members also come to our midtown office to attend professional development workshops, make photocopies, meet with their program directors, or to utilize our corps member space, an open area with resources designed specifically for our corps. Some examples of community-building and professional development events include the following:
- Targeted workshops for specific grade and content areas
- Group dinners
- Alumni networking events
- Panel discussions with principals and school leaders
- Several long-standing events:
- Ice Skating in the Park, in which corps members take their students ice skating in Central and Prospect Parks
Project Cicero, a book drive where corps members fill up a suitcase of free books to take back to their classrooms
The “What's Next” series, events designed to help corps members think through their post-commitment career plans
The Corps Celebration and Alumni Induction events to celebrate the achievements of the exiting corps and welcome them to the alumni movement
Annual Holiday Party
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