City Charter High School

Why City Charter High School was nominated

City High has been a model of innovation in public education for over a decade in Pittsburgh. It's graduation rate in 2019 was 96%. It's 6 year college or trade school completion rate according to the school in 2019 was 59%. And its chronic absence rate was only 2% compared to an average of 46% chronic absence in Pittsburgh Public Schools in 2019-2020. The school focuses on a few things well, and graduates scholars at a high rate. Key to its model are: 1. 4 year looping - all students stay with the same cohort of teachers all four years so that strong relationships are built 2. Real world skills training - the school prepares all students by providing each with a laptop of their own, certifications in all Microsoft Office applications, and financial literacy training in each year 3. Internships - all students participate in internships in a career area of curiosity and the school has built an impressive set of relationships with community partners, and 4. Investments in supports - the school does not maintain a library or have sports teams, instead it leverages the assets of the City's resources for students to access extracurricular activities with nonprofits and research at local libraries and colleges. This trade off allows the school to invest more deeply in counseling and supports for students. You can read more about City High here: https://www.ourschoolspittsburgh.org/rising-up-city-high, The school is designed to prioritize strong student-adult relationships and interdisciplinary collaboration. Grade-level teacher teams loop with students through all four years of high school., This school creates a learning environment that is engaging, effective, and empowering for all students.