The Initiative, led in partnership with the NYC Department of Education, will support up to 50 NYC public schools in using Crew to build stronger, more inclusive communities centered around belonging.
Tomorrow, 48 NYC public schools will begin their journey as part of NYC Outward Bound Schools’ 2022 Crew Initiative cohort – a New York City Council initiative led by Speaker Corey Johnson and Education Committee Chair Mark Treyger and adopted by the de Blasio Administration in their FY22 city budget. With the support of a $1.575 million grant, NYC Outward Bound Schools will help up to 50 new schools implement Crew, a powerful advisory program and school culture framework. Working with NYC Outward Bound school coaches, this cohort of schools will be given the training and tools necessary to implement Crew at their schools. Participating schools were identified and recruited with the support of the NYC Department of Education’s Office of the First Deputy Chancellor.
NYC Outward Bound Schools runs a five-borough network of 14 public schools in partnership with the NYC Department of Education (NYC DOE). Each of these schools, along with several others who contract with NYC Outward Bound Schools and the schools within our national partner EL Education’s network, utilize Crew as both an advisory structure and a vehicle for catalyzing a whole school culture of support and belonging. Crews as a structure are made up of 10-16 students led by an adult Crew Advisor and meet 3-5 days a week. Many stay intact throughout a student’s middle or high school career. Crews support students’ academic and social-emotional development and create an equitable space where each students’ unique ideas and needs are heard and addressed.
“NYC Outward Bound Schools is a crucial partner in building strong school cultures that nurture and enrich our young people,” said First Deputy Chancellor Donald Conyers. “NYC Outward Bound Crews provide students with a consistent support network with critical academic and social-emotional supports. We are truly lucky we can expand this program.”
Mark Treyger, NYC Council Member & Chair of the Education Committee, shared, “Students respond best to relationships. To the credit of NYC Outward Bound, relationship building is centered on advancing positive academic and social outcomes. ‘We are in this together’ is not just a slogan — it is an applied practice each day in classrooms in Outward Bound schools, which is why I’m proud to have worked with Speaker Johnson in advancing a major budget victory to expand the program to more NYC schools.”
.
Why Crew?
In a multi-year study conducted by Metis Associates, Crew had a statistically significant impact on student attendance. Chronic absentee rates at NYC schools that participated in the study were less than half that of comparison schools. During the pandemic, Crew served as a social-emotional lifeline for students during an incredibly challenging and isolating year. As highlighted in the findings of America’s Promise Alliance and Research for Action 2021 national survey, students in high school are struggling with a decreased sense of wellbeing — reporting declines in mental health and concerning levels of disconnection from peers and adults. Now that students have returned to the classroom, there is a critical need for structures like Crew to re-engage students, rebuild relationships with new and returning members of the community, and help foster school cultures where every student is well-known and well cared for.
“This initiative is a great opportunity for us to bring this powerful work to more schools and enhance our ability to do what our tagline promises,” stated Gifford Miller, NYC Outward Bound Schools Board Chair. “Transform schools and change lives.”
Participating Schools
Abraham Lincoln High School, Brooklyn
Academy for Conservation and the Environment, Brooklyn
Academy for Scholarship and Entrepreneurship: A College Board School, Bronx
Academy of Medical Technology: A College Board School, Queens
Aspirations Diploma Plus High School, Brooklyn
The Boerum Hill School for International Studies, Brooklyn
Bronx Collaborative High School, Bronx
Bronx International High School, Bronx
The Brooklyn Academy of Global Finance, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Bridge Academy, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Community High School for Excellence & Equity, Brooklyn
Brooklyn International High School, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Studio Secondary School, Brooklyn
Claremont International High School, Bronx
Corona Arts & Sciences Academy, Queens
Eagle Academy for Young Men III, Queens
East Williamsburg Scholars Academy, Brookyn
Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School, Manhattan
Ella Baker School, Manhattan
Explorations Academy High School, Bronx
Forsyth Satellite Academy, Manhattan
Harvest Collegiate High School, Manhattan
Health Opportunities High School, Bronx
High School M560 – City As School, Manhattan
I.S. 204 Oliver W. Holmes, Queens
Institute for Collaborative Education, Manhattan
John Adams High School, Queens
John Ericsson Middle School 126, Brooklyn
Joseph F. Quinn Intermediate School 77, Queens
Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy International High School (Kappa), Bronx
Landmark High School, Manhattan
Lower East Side Preparatory High School, Manhattan
Lyons Community School, Brooklyn
Metropolitan Diploma Plus High School, Brooklyn
Mott Hall High School, Manhattan
M.S. 035 Stephen Decatur, Brooklyn
Murray Hill Academy, Manhattan
N.Y.C. Lab School for Collaborative Studies, Manhattan
Pathways to Graduation, Staten Island
P.S. 149 Sojourner Truth, Manhattan
P.S. K753 – School for Career Development, Brooklyn
Robert H. Goddard High School of Communication Arts and Technology, Queens
The School for Human Rights, Brooklyn
South Bronx International Middle School, Bronx
South Brooklyn Community High School, Brooklyn
Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change, Manhattan
The Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction, Manhattan
Vanguard High School, Manhattan
Vista Academy, Brooklyn
William E. Grady Career and Technical Education High School, Brooklyn