Public education across the country is in a state of crisis and for the last four years we have answered the call to support our students in Washington, DC. What began as a program to expand high-impact tutoring has grown into a broader, deeper effort to improve schools and classrooms by implementing and scaling research-based interventions.
We’re excited to share some big news:
CityTutor DC is now CitySchools Collaborative.
Our new name reflects how far we’ve come, and how far we’ll go. When CityTutor DC launched in 2021, our aim was bold: to reach 10,000 students with high-impact tutoring (HIT). I was frequently asked, “Where will we find all the tutors?” Our answer then is still our answer now—and it’s what makes this moment meaningful. We found trusted adults in and around our schools and made them a part of the instructional team: afterschool staff, paraprofessionals, AmeriCorps members, college students, and community leaders. We trained and mobilized them as a new workforce, built coalitions with national and local partners, and embedded evidence-based tutoring into the school day.
To date, we’ve reached more than 25,000 students, helping drive one of the fastest academic recoveries in the country. And tutoring was just the beginning.
In classrooms across DC, we helped restructure staffing and team meetings so each student receives small-group reading or math lessons. Tutors, counselors, and paraprofessionals worked alongside teachers—sharing the load and giving new flexibility to lead teachers. That model led us into Strategic Staffing, a program to reimagine school staffing and schedules by teaming up specialists, counselors, and support personnel with teachers in new ways, leveraging technology when appropriate.
At the same time, we saw tutors grow into something more: future educators. We created our Tutor-to-Teacher program to accelerate their development, investing in mentorship and skill-building workshops for tutors to become the teachers our schools urgently need.
CityTutor DC started as a recovery initiative and has become something more. Today, our work spans new programs, partnerships, and states—all focused on helping schools implement what works for students.
As CitySchools Collaborative, we remain committed to our mission, with a wider lens and deeper partnerships. Our core initiatives include:
- CityTutor, our flagship program expanding access to high-impact tutoring;
- Strategic Staffing and the Tutor-to-Teacher Pipeline, co-designing sustainable staffing solutions and developing future educator talent;
- a citywide effort to transform core math instruction and achievement; and
- new school partnerships launching this year in Virginia and Maryland.
At every level—classroom, school, and system—we’re helping leaders implement research-backed strategies that are scalable, effective, and student-centered. We combine data, design, and collaboration to make those strategies stick for the longer term.
We are proud of the trust, results, and shared vision that brought us to this moment. Thank you for being part of our journey and for continuing to see what’s possible for our students and schools.
We have exciting work ahead and students need us now more than ever. Stay tuned!
In partnership,
Cat Peretti