Fund For Public Schools

Q. What is mentoring?
A. Mentoring focuses on a young person’s untapped potential and the realization of goals, whether they are academic, career-centered, or related to the development of a specific skill. Everyone who is successful in the world has learned how to access resources and how to work with others to get the answers and the coaching they need. These are skills that students need in order to reach their goals.

By sharing information and life experiences, a caring adult mentor can help a young person to understand the value of education, achieve familiarity with the world of work, resolve problems, and work to accomplish mutually agreed-upon goals. A mentor can help a young person to broaden his or her horizons and learn how to navigate a variety of educational, social, and professional or work-related situations.

Q. Can individuals volunteer for this program?
A. The New York City Mentoring Program is a partnership program that matches groups of volunteers from an organization or company with a specific high school. Only groups of at least 15-20 volunteers, all from the same business or organization, are accepted into the program. (Please feel free to view our NYC Mentoring Program Partnerships 07-08 pdf to see if your company or organization is already involved. If so, you may be eligible to join.)

Individuals or smaller groups may contact the Mentoring Partnership of New York at 212-953-0945 for information about and referrals to other mentoring organizations.

Q. How are mentors selected, screened, and trained?
A. The New York City Mentoring Program administers an application and screening process to the mentors, including a mandatory three-hour initial training session. The New York City Department of Education policy also requires state and federal fingerprinting of all individuals who work directly with students in our schools. Fingerprints are taken at the training session. In addition, the prospective mentor must provide personal and professional references. The Office of Strategic Partnerships, which oversees the New York City Mentoring Program, reviews the mentor’s application form and the school’s and organization’s coordinators carefully match students with mentors. Matches are same-sex, based on shared interests.

Q. What is the time commitment?
A. Once matched, the mentor is expected to make a time commitment of meeting four hours per month, either one hour a week or two hours bi-weekly, with his/her student. The mentor is also asked to commit to participating in the program for at least one school year and to participate in a program assessment process. These requirements are important to ensuring the consistency and continuity that make for a successful mentor-mentee relationship.

The activities that a mentor engages in with a student are determined by the specific nature of the mentoring program that is developed between the mentor’s organization and the school partner. Mentors are encouraged to expose their students to New York City’s vast cultural and social resources, in addition to introducing them to the world of work and helping with academic advisement. Field trips and special events are typically provided for the students, to expand their sense of the world.

Q. What is expected of the mentor’s company or organization?
A. Institutions must recruit 15-20 employees to serve as mentors and designate an in-house liaison to work with the mentors, the school, and the Office of Strategic Partnerships. The company or organization (with which the mentors are affiliated) must also make a donation to The Fund for Public Schools that will be used as a stipend for the school mentoring coordinator.

Every week or every other week, mentors meet with their students after school, during or after work. Companies or organizations are encouraged to be flexible in allowing their employees to participate in this program. If possible, partners are also asked to make space available for mentoring program functions or events.
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Q. What is expected of the public school involved in mentoring?
A. The principal of a public high school involved in mentoring selects a school mentoring coordinator to identify student participants. The school coordinator then attains parental permission and monitors the mentor-mentee relationships by meeting with the students in mentee group meetings for at least two hours per month. The coordinator also works with the liaison from the company or organization to pair the mentors and mentees, plan the program kick-off, organize group activities and events throughout the school year, and serve as a support network for the mentor-mentee relationships. The school coordinator must also submit monthly reports and other documentation as requested to the Office of Strategic Partnerships.

Q. How can a student get involved in this program?
A. If you are a student, or a parent of a student, who is interested in joining this program, please view our list of current Partnerships. In order to join this program, a student must attend one of the public high schools on our current partnerships list and in most cases, be a 10th or 11th grader. If you attend a participating school, find out the name of the mentoring program coordinator at your school by asking school administrators or your guidance counselor. Then contact him/her to see if you meet the program’s eligibility requirements.

If your school is not on our list of current partnerships, you have a couple of options. Contact your school guidance counselor to see if there are any other mentoring programs at your school or contact the Mentoring Partnership of New York at 212-953-0945 for information about and referral to other mentoring organizations.

Q. How can I make a contribution to the New York City Mentoring Program?
A. You may make a contribution to the New York City Mentoring Program by writing a check to The Fund for Public Schools with an accompanying note indicating that the funds should be used for the New York City Mentoring Program. Checks should be sent to the following address: The Fund for Public Schools, 52 Chambers Street, Room 305, New York, NY 10007.

If you have additional questions, please e-mail the New York City Mentoring Program at Mentor@schools.nyc.gov .