New York City Community and Title 1 Schools: Helping Disadvantaged Children Find Inspiration and Hope

Schools offer a range of services—from after-school activities to tutoring to healthcare—that create additional opportunities for unhoused and low-income students.

By Paul Bennett, Volunteer Blog Writer at Mentor a Promise

Photo by Roman Tiraspolsky

As any parent in New York City knows, navigating the public school system can prove difficult. My son attended a middle school in South Slope, several stops away from us on the train. It received additional federal funding under Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the landmark 1965 federal education law. Title 1 funding is specifically aimed at schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families, with the goal of closing the achievement gap between these disadvantaged students and their peers in other schools.

Though we’re not a low-income family, this worked to my son’s benefit because the school had remarkable programs, of which all of its students could take advantage. For example, a local artist came in after school several days a week to teach kids how to draw and paint. At the end of the year, he framed their work, and it was shown in a gallery in Williamsburg. The principal and staff were deeply focused on educational enrichment and opportunities, which fostered an empowering environment for all students.

 
This strategy for going the extra mile is also the foundation of NYC Community Schools (NYC-CS), which follows a similar approach and often overlaps with Title 1 schools. Each targets high-poverty communities, but Title 1 is a federal funding initiative, while New York’s Community Schools Initiative is a broader whole-school strategy that layers many additional services—including medical, dental, and vision care; mental health and family support; and clothing—on top of academic help.

 
Community schools are funded through a mix of city, state, and federal dollars. New York City’s Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 included about $500 million for education programs and services, including Community Schools, that had previously been covered by COVID funding.

Community schools are built around four key pillars:

• Collaborative Leadership and Practice: School administrators and other community school stakeholders work together to implement the community school strategy through collaborative planning and data-driven strategies for improvement.

• Family and Community Engagement: Parents and the community help design and plan the community school according to its strengths and needs, and parents and caregivers are real and active partners in their children's education. Adult education programs and social services provide parents and caregivers with skills and resources to improve their lives.

• Wellness and Integrated Student Supports: This approach includes a range of initiatives such as providing access to nutritious meals, dental and vision care, promoting physical activity, offering mental health services such as individual and group counseling, and fostering a positive and inclusive school culture. Many NYC community schools have school-based mental health clinics that provide timely services to students and families.

• Expanded Learning Time (ELT): NYC community schools provide expanded learning time before, during, and after school and during the summer. Many also provide ELT during evenings, weekends, and school holidays. ELT programs include classroom push-ins, individualized academic support, project-based learning, and enrichment activities. They also provide opportunities to explore interests and creativity, build leadership skills, and connect learning to the real world through field trips.

Each of these would create an impact as standalone efforts, but the combination of collaboration, family engagement, wellness, and expanded learning opportunities generates a powerful system to help students, their families, and by extension their communities.

Numerous studies support the work that community schools carry out. A RAND Corporation impact study found that students in NYC community schools are more likely to graduate on time, miss fewer days of school, have improved math scores, and feel safer and more supported than in regular schools.

A 2019 New York State Community Schools Network study found, among other benefits, positive and significant effects on on-time grade progression for elementary/middle students and on high school students' graduation rates in two of the three years. The analysis also suggests that the NYC-CS led to a reduction in disciplinary incidents for elementary and middle school students.

These studies show that community schools have higher graduation rates and lower dropout rates, higher student attendance, higher reading and math scores, improved school climate, including teacher morale and student behavior, greater parent engagement, and lower rates of disciplinary incidents. All of which helps them give their students a leg up.

Mentor a Promise began working with partners—including Columbia University Teachers College, New York University, and Fordham University—at a New York City community school in the East Village at the start of this school year, and we will resume our efforts there in the fall. We see immense potential in every student and want to provide the resources and opportunities they need to succeed. Working with community schools gives us the opportunity to serve the greatest number of students facing challenges such as homelessness, which can hamper academic success. Learn more about our work at mentorapromise.org or @mentorapromise.