Teach for America corps members make a real difference in low-income and at-risk students' lives

“Over the course of its first school year, LEAP Academy, the Spanish magnet school in North Fairmount, grew from 46 to 245 students. ‘Every time I open my office door, I see five new faces I've never met before,’ Principal Priya Sonty said. Most of the students' families qualify as low-income. Some parents don't speak English well or at all. New staff members come along with the new students, and the school also provides community outreach outside of classroom time. Guiding the new, growing bilingual school is a challenge Sonty said she was able to take on in part because of her experience with Teach For America.”