JobsFirstNYC and New Visions for Public Schools are launching a new initiative to transform the school-to-work transition for a set of NYC’s Transfer High School students. Through this initiative, we aim to leverage current and new resources to design and pilot a career pathway strategy leading to degree and credential attainment and employment for NYC Transfer High School students within the New Visions for Public Schools network.

Consider the following:

• Too many over-age, under-credited high school students off-track to graduate in New York City are at risk of becoming part of the out-of-school, out-of-work population, and even those who complete high school and enroll in postsecondary programs have difficulty completing their education and experience limited success in attaching to the labor market.
• The NYC Transfer High School design, with an embedded Learning to Work partner, provides a unique opportunity to enhance and enrich student experiences with a sequence of high-quality career development activities. Each Transfer High School has approximately 200 students and is organized by progress toward credit accumulation rather than by age or grade. 
• Employers are ready to get involved. There are one million open jobs in New York City that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree, but 46 percent of New Yorkers lack the skills to fill them. By 2020, 65 percent of all jobs will require some postsecondary education or training after high school but will not require a four-year college degree. In addition, employers report that they are having significant challenges find skilled talent. 
• Transfer High Schools are currently not best equipped to integrate career readiness into their curricula, have limited capacity to work with employers, and face challenges in creating structural on-ramps to career-focused education and training at the postsecondary level. 
• These schools can’t do the job alone. They need workforce partners.

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Through the approach described in this document, JobsFirstNYC and New Visions for Public Schools will work with Transfer High School principals, Learning to Work leadership, workforce development providers, and private sector partners to “reimagine” the transition from school to work for NYC’s Transfer High School students.