City Charter High School

City Charter High School was founded in September 2002 as a technology infused public school, whose mission is to graduate students who are academically, technologically, personally and socially prepared to succeed in post-secondary education, training, or employment. Using a team approach, City High cultivates a safe, supportive and academically rigorous environment by recognizing and nurturing individual talents, needs and skills. City Charter High School has developed an enviable track record in educating the youth of their community. It has been recognized as one of the best-performing charter schools in the city of Pittsburgh, as demonstrated by our graduation rates, Pittsburgh Promise scholarship eligibility and PVAAS data.

Student capacity for the school is capped at 180 students in 9th and 10th grades. New students are added to 9th and 10th grades to account for attrition up the admissions deadline of January 31st. Over the past five years, the school has seen lower than normal enrollment numbers (no waiting list), and this has only been exacerbated by the pandemic effect in the 2020-21 school year. Their vision for expansion includes three areas of impact - a more robust marketing campaign, increased community engagement, and a focus on student enrollment and retention. These three areas will help the school reach greater numbers of students in the Pittsburgh area, particularly those in underserved communities who may not be familiar with our school or who lack a consistent support network to help them get enrolled. As their track record indicates, City High has proven itself as achieving academic success for all students, especially students of color and students with disabilities.

City Charter High School has three major goals for grant. The main goal is to increase 9th grade enrollment and retention so that they have a consistent waiting list each year. Grant funding will help with marketing/recruiting efforts and support the Enrollment/Admissions team. They also want to enhance their community engagement efforts to local nonprofits and organizations that work with current and prospective students. Funding will help establish a Community Engagement Specialist who will lead outreach efforts and also guide retention efforts with the 9th grade team. It will also support additional support staff and curriculum resources. Finally, they want to improve their ability to use data to create enrollment and marketing strategies. Funding will help revamp their student information system (SIS) and replace it with a more user-friendly system that allows real-time data analysis. Funding will also support data collection and analysis by their independent assessment consultant.