Student Success Coach Learning Network Expansion

Youth economic advancement

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

LA County students have faced a seemingly insurmountable number of challenges in the past five years. School closures and extended periods of distance learning caused by COVID 19 disrupted every element of education, further exacerbating the inequities our students and schools face, which has led to unprecedented absenteeism and severe impacts on students’ mental and emotional health.
Recently, the recent LA fires have upended lives–displacing families, disrupting schools, and deepening challenges for CYLA students along with compounded fear and uncertainty from immigration raids, further isolating them from critical services.
Our students need us now more than ever. The focus of the SSCLN is on addressing the long-term impacts within under-resourced LA communities by providing stability, academic support, and emotional care to help our students navigate these crises and stay on track to graduate, which boosts access to education, future employment, and long-term economic mobility.

City Year Los Angeles will expand the Student Success Coach Learning Network (SSCLN), an innovative initiative modeled on City Year’s evidence-based approach, that bridges the gap between what schools are designed to provide and what students need to thrive. CYLA places trained, full-time AmeriCorps members—called Student Success Coaches—in under-resourced schools to support student attendance, academic achievement, and social-emotional development.
In response to the termination of public AmeriCorps funding, which cut nearly 25% of CYLA’s budget, CYLA is redoubling efforts to lead the effort to sustain and expand the SSCLN through strategic partnerships, innovation, and community support. Through the SSCLN, more than 1,100 coaches serving across California (more than half serve throughout LA County) provide daily in-school academic and behavioral interventions, small-group tutoring, and mentorship, while also supporting teachers and school climate efforts.
What makes the SSCLN unique is its dual focus: empowering near-peer coaches from diverse backgrounds to serve, while delivering targeted, data-driven supports that boost student engagement and achievement. As school communities face compounding crises—from fires and displacement to mental health and immigration-related trauma—this grant will help ensure that our proven model continues to deliver high-impact, whole-child support when students need it most.

If successful, our work will lead to higher student attendance, academic gains, and improved school climate in under-resourced schools across L.A. County.
Over the next year, City Year Los Angeles will deepen and expand the Student Success Coach Learning Network to reach more students, teachers, and administrators through new partnerships.
Long-term, we aim to scale this model to serve 76,000 students across 30+ California cities, setting a national example of how coordinated, community-driven support can transform educational outcomes. By embedding trained Student Success Coaches in schools, we will build lasting capacity for whole-child support, reduce opportunity gaps, and empower the next generation of leaders—making L.A. County a place where all students thrive, regardless of zip code.