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- EIN 13-6119036
- (212) 643-0225
- 520 Eighth Ave. 2nd floor New York NY 10018 USA
- www.chessintheschools.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Children & Youth, Education, Recreation & Sports, Recreational Clubs, Sports, Youth Development
Mission:
Mission and Vision: Chess in the Schools is a not-for-profit educational organization dedicated to improving academic performance and building self-esteem among inner-city public school children.
Chess is a powerful teaching tool that can break through barriers to help the most disadvantaged students learn skills that translate into academic and lifelong success. Over the past two decades, we have seen how an effective chess education curriculum can change lives. But, learning chess is just the first step. Chess in the Schools envisions a future with a continuum of educational programming that works with students from third grade through college to ensure academic achievement and upward mobility.
The Problem We Address
Reports of high school graduation rates in New York City vary from 38% to 60%, but no one will dispute that the numbers are unsatisfactory. This appallingly low statistic is even lower for minority students and those who live in poverty. Many education experts agree that increasing the high school graduation rate starts with early intervention. Chess in the Schools believes that elementary school students need to develop basic analytical skills that lead to academic success throughout their school career. To develop these skills, Chess in the Schools teaches the complex game of chess to thousands of New York City public school children every year.
The academic benefits of learning chess are extensive. There are a number of studies that support the belief that chess enhances memory, boosts spatial and numerical skills, increases problem-solving capabilities, and strengthens logical thinking. (Dullea 1982; Margulies 1991; Liptrap 1998; Ferguson 2000)
Students who learn chess through the Chess in the Schools are using the skills acquired through chess to achieve academic success, more likely to attend school on a regular basis, and creating lasting friendships during chess tournaments and after-school clubs.
Programs: The School Program:
The School Program brings chess with its academic benefits into Title Ielementary and middle school classrooms and provides an after-school chess clubfor students. During the 2009-2010 school year 51 elementary and middle schoolsparticipated in the School Program. That means 13,000 students learned to playchess this past school year.
- Classroom Instruction: Each classroom in the program is assigned aChess-in-the-Schools trained instructor. The instructor teaches an hour-longchess lesson once a week in five classrooms during the school day in the fallsemester, and in five different classrooms in the spring semester. Eachinstructor teaches 250 to 300 students in each school during the year. Theprogram includes the instructor and all the materials needed to learn and playchess.
- After-School Clubs: Chess-in-the-Schools organizes and manages anafter-school program at each school in the School Program. The After-SchoolChess Clubs are open to all students at each school. The club meets once a weekfor two hours throughout the academic year. At the Club, students areintroduced to advanced chess concepts and receive individualized attention.Clubs range in size from 20 to more than 60 students.
During the summer, Chess in the Schools organizes and runschess champs in several New York City public schools. Camps are open to all students who participate in the SchoolProgram.
The Scholastic Tournament Program:
The Scholastic Tournament Program offers competitive chess tournaments in NewYork City during the academic year. Weekend and school holiday events drawbetween 250 and 600 players (depending on venue size) from kindergarten throughhigh school. Chess-in-the-Schools organizes and directs these events ensuringthat students are challenged and encouraged throughout the tournament. Ourtournaments are offered free of charge to competitors and are open to allchildren in New York City.
In addition to our tournaments, we sponsor school teams in our program toattend and compete in national tournaments. Schools receive grants based ontheir team's participation and performance in The Scholastic Tournament Programduring the school year. The grants are used by the schools for travel, hotel,food and tournament entry fees. Chess-in-the-Schools instructors also attendNational Tournaments to coach their school teams.
The College Bound Program:
The College Bound Program provides comprehensive college preparatory servicesto help our high school students graduate on time and attend college.Programming includes academic skills enrichment (workshops, tutoring), collegeprep (college application assistance, college tours, college fairs), socialdevelopment (cultural events, life skills seminars, employment), and chess(weekly lessons, tournaments).
Project Chess:
Project Chess aims to increase the number of public school educators in NewYork City who can effectively teach chess to their students during the schoolday and in after-school chess clubs. Project Chess provides workshops, chessmaterials, and support to help classroom teachers implement and grow acomprehensive chess program in their schools. To date, almost 1,000 New YorkCity public school teachers have attended the workshops.