By Darcie Fisher

Citizen Schools, a national nonprofit that partners with public schools to provide academic enrichment in underserved communities in four states, announced on Tuesday a major financial investment of $500,000 from Google.org, bringing the company’s total support of Citizen Schools to over $4.5 million.

Google.org first partnered with Citizen Schools in 2006 when Google employees began volunteering as “Citizen Teachers,” teaching after-school apprenticeships to middle school students in Northern California. In Greater Boston, 153 Googlers have donated 6,120 volunteer hours and directly impacted the lives of 868 students since then.

“I have personally witnessed the impact volunteering has had, not only on the students we’ve been honored to serve through Citizen Schools, but also on Google employees here in Cambridge,” Liz Schwab, Head of External Affairs, New England & PA at Google. “Our employees are extremely dedicated to the program, and I’m excited to be able to continue this partnership.”

Launched in Boston in 1996, Citizen Schools is a national leader for project-based learning aimed at middle school students in high-need, public school districts. Its mission is to help kids develop mastery of critical 21st century skills, like collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking so they can bridge the opportunity gap which exists between them and their peers from more affluent school districts. Students who participate in Citizen Schools programs have better attendance rates, greater math and science proficiency and are more likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college and pursue a degree in a STEM field.

With this latest investment, Google.org will be supporting STEM programming through apprenticeships in Android App Design, Lego Robotics and Web Design, alongside Google employee volunteers for the next three years. Googlers have already been teaching apprenticeships in robotics, video game programming, mobile app development and design thinking, and this funding will help Citizen Schools reach even more students in years to come.

“As a pioneer in Ed Tech, Google is making it possible for students to imagine themselves as tomorrow’s engineers, computer programmers and thought leaders,” said Citizen Schools CEO Emily McCann. “We share their vision and thank them for providing financial support as well as volunteers who add tremendous value to our classrooms.”

For more information about Citizen Schools, visit https://www.citizenschools.org.