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New York

All of New York City's 1 million students have the potential to be the leaders our city needs. Teach For America New York corps members, alumni, schools, and partners are working together to make sure all children in NYC have the opportunity to attend great neighborhood schools that support, inspire, and challenge them to become those leaders.
TFA NY teachers and students
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About Us

Since our founding in 1990, Teach For America New York has played a leading role in NYC’s movement for educational equity. We have introduced close to 6,000 promising leaders to New York City schools. With incoming corps sizes ranging from 100 to 500+, TFA corps members have helped to meet critical needs for diverse talent in hard-to-staff areas—special education, STEM, and early childhood education—in low-income neighborhoods that have difficulty attracting and retaining qualified teachers.

Our corps members and alumni are among the group of bold leaders who have helped to change the prevailing ideology about what is possible for kids of color from low-income backgrounds. Their classrooms and schools serve as proof points, demonstrating that with high expectations, clear vision and goals, solid plans and strong execution, all students can achieve at high levels.

Today, Teach For America is striving to reach a bold goal: By 2030, twice as many children in communities where we work will reach key educational milestones indicating they are on a path to economic mobility and co-creating a future filled with possibility.

The work towards educational equity is more critical than ever. Will you join us?

It Takes A City

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Let's support, inspire, and challenge students to be the next generation of leaders that New York City needs.
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Our Impact in New York

Our Impact in New York

New York City has made significant progress in education. Over the past decade, we have seen record-level high school graduation rates, as well as gains in college and career readiness among New York City students. New York City’s promise of universal pre-kindergarten has resulted in an increase in the number of 4-year-olds enrolled in pre-K from 20,000 in 2014 to more than 70,000 in 2017, setting future generations up with a strong foundation in their early education.

Teach For America New York’s almost 6,000 corps members and alumni are among the countless educators, activists, parents, and community leaders who have pushed to raise the bar for educational excellence in our city, and remain committed to supporting the work of making educational equity a reality in New York.

Teach For America members standing in front of a brightly colored mural.

Addressing NY Student Needs

TFA NY focuses its presence in low-income schools, hard-to-staff subjects, and neighborhoods where the need is greatest. We deliver data-driven, culturally responsive programming that provides corps members with the skills they need to understand community context and immediately impact student success. Together, they are meeting critical needs in NYC:

  • Corps members teach in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, or Queens at one of more than 100 partner schools. Partner schools include a mix of district and charter schools, as well as community-based organizations. 
  • Close to 50% of corps members, including all pre-K teachers, are dual certified in special education. The number of students with disabilities in NYC is larger than the entire population of most school districts around the country.
  • 35% of corps members teach science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
  • 8% of corps members teach our youngest learners in the community-based organizations that make it possible for NYC to provide universal full day pre-K.

Lead Today, Change Tomorrow

English teacher Iliana Mendez (N.Y. ’19) reminds us of the lifelong impact great teachers have on their students, both inside and outside of schools.

Get in Touch

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“I chose TFA NY because diversity is the most valuable aspect of culture to me and New York embodies that in its core. As a former student of the education system here, it is a personal duty of mine to support the students who are in the shoes that I once walked in.”

Randy Cornish

New York Corps Member 2019

Inspiring NYC’s Students to Be Leaders in STEM

Jericsson Pichardo (N.Y. ’16) has introduced students to a world of science and tech-based opportunities, from LEGO competitions to 3D printing. And that’s just the beginning.

Local Leadership

Teach For America New Jersey Executive Director Tia Morris

Tia Morris

New York '98

Executive Director

Teach For America New York

Since starting her career here in NYC as a 1998 corps member, Tia has dedicated more than two decades to improving educational opportunities for young people. The former Executive Director for Teach For America New Jersey considers herself a warrior for social justice, and began leading the New York region in June 2020.

Run With Team Teach For America

Run With Team Teach For America

We are excited to announce that Teach For America has been named an official Charity Partner for the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon.

Alt text: Marathon runners in NYC
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Support Our Work

Your gifts help our effort to find, support, and develop a network of leaders to ensure all students in New York City have the opportunity to attend great neighborhood schools.