Career CLUE

New York City can be an exciting laboratory for learning over the summer. CareerCLUE (Community Learning, Understanding & Experience) provides students with opportunities to learn inside and outside of the classroom, maximizing their growth over the summer and deepening their love of learning.

Launched in 2016, CareerCLUE is an enrichment opportunity for younger high school students that enables them to receive academic credit, explore careers, and engage in paid work-based learning. With private support facilitated in partnership with the Mayor’s Fund, the Fund for Public Schools collaborates with the NYC Department of Education’s Offices of Community Schools and Career and Technical Education, the Center for Youth Employment, and the Department of Youth and Community Development, as part of a whole City effort to support and broaden students’ college and career aspirations. 

CareerCLUE combines STEM and Arts-based classroom experiences with hands-on work and explorations through field trips to businesses and service learning opportunities. Throughout, students develop essential college and career readiness skills like collaboration, critical thinking, presentation, as well as norms and expectations of the workplace. 

Students have performed an energy audit on their school, made recommendations for improvements to their school’s recycling program, and shadowed contractors performing energy audits in City-owned buildings. Students have also worked in community gardens and built solar composts, learning new skills while engaging in relevant projects that directly benefit their communities. Participating students earn more than knowledge and hands-on experience: they can earn academic credit and a stipend of $700 for successfully completing the program. 

Since its launch in 2016 serving three schools and 81 students, CareerCLUE has grown year by year, increasing the number of students reached in Community Schools and Career and Technical Education high schools across the City. Now, in 2019, the program is operating in 19 schools, reaching over 560 participants with ten partner organizations supporting programs in sustainability, coding, web development, mobile app development, digital media, and more.

The Fund for Public Schools is committed to partnering with the DOE to scale successful practices and solutions across all schools. The CareerCLUE model -- blending academics with career exploration, service learning, and personal development -- has been essential in informing a larger shift in how New York City offers summer employment experiences for youth.