Citizen Schools, an innovator in education reform, is pleased to announce an exciting new national partnership with an innovator in technology – Cisco Systems. Cisco has been a steadfast supporter of Citizen Schools in California since 2009 and recently expanded its support to our regions across the country.   “Cisco is thrilled to continue our work with Citizen Schools and expand our efforts to other regions around the country,” said Sandra Wheatley, Cisco’s Director of Global Community Relations. “We know from the experts that helping middle school students make the connection between school and the ‘real world’ can have a tremendous impact on their long-term success. Cisco is pleased to collaborate with Citizen Schools to expose students to potential future education opportunities and help set them on a path to success.”

This semester alone, nearly twenty Cisco employees taught Citizen Schools apprenticeships on topics ranging from robotics to investing to computer programming. Cisco employees also piloted two Cisco-created apprenticeship curricula on documentary filmmaking and mergers and acquisitions. Apprenticeships in California culminated in a packed event at Cisco’s offices in San Jose, which was featured on the local NBC station and included in a powerful column in the San Jose Mercury News.

“From the in-kind donation of Citizen Schools’ entire telephone infrastructure to crucial financial and volunteer investment in our program, our relationship with Cisco has been a boon to our impact and our students’ academic success,” said Eric Schwarz, Co-founder and CEO of Citizen Schools. “Both of our organizations care deeply about young people’s education opportunities and the implications for our future workforce, and are laser focused on measuring outcomes toward improving both.”