Citizen Schools is pleased to announce it has received a one-year grant from All Points North Foundation (APNF), a small, private foundation based in Boston, to support Citizen Schools’ growth to serve more students at the Joseph Browne Middle School in Chelsea, Massachusetts in the 2016-2017 school year. The $60,000 grant is the first APNF has provided to Citizen Schools - a national nonprofit focused on enriching the education of middle school students in six states through Expanded Learning Time (ELT) programs held during after school hours. “Citizen Schools is deeply appreciative of this investment from All Points North Foundation,” said Megan Bird, executive director Massachusetts. “APNF’s focus on meaningful invention in the middle grades is directly aligned with Citizen Schools’ work to drive student impact through hands-on, project-based learning in under-served public middle schools.”

“All Points North Foundation is excited to fund Citizen Schools’ apprenticeship program for the entire 7th grade at the Browne Middle School in the 2016-2017 school year,” said Laura Staich, executive director at APNF. “We aim to help close the achievement gap for low-income middle school students in high-need communities like Chelsea, by providing them with access, experiences, and support that will prepare them for success in high school, college, and future careers.”

This new grant will help Citizen Schools continue to grow its apprenticeship program in Chelsea to serve more than 150 students at the Joseph Browne School - the entire 7th grade. Next year, in close partnership with the Chelsea Public School District and Superintendent Mary Bourque, Citizen Schools will serve all students in at the Browne School, and will serve the entire 5th and 6th grade at the Eugene Wright Science and Technology Academy, which amounts to over half of all middle school students in the city. Additionally, Citizen Schools aims to serve all middle school students in Chelsea by 2020.

Media Contact: Whitney Buckley whitneybuckley@citizenschools.org | 617-699-1373

About Citizen Schools Citizen Schools is a national nonprofit organization that partners with middle schools to expand the learning day for children in low-income communities. Citizen Schools mobilizes a team of AmeriCorps educators and volunteer “Citizen Teachers” to teach real-world learning projects and provide academic support in order to help all students discover and achieve their dreams. For more information, please visit http://www.citizenschools.org/

About All Points North Foundation Established in 2011 in Boston, Mass., All Points North Foundation (APNF) is a small, private foundation that supports two distinct priorities in the United States: evidence-based programs that measurably improve public middle school education and teacher training, and projects that promote solar energy awareness and implementation. APNF is dedicated to navigating communities upward. For more information, visit http://www.allpointsnorthfoundation.org