Urban Corps of San Diego County is a certified local conservation corps and charter school whose mission is to provide young adults with a high school education combined with job training and community service in the fields of conservation and recycling, which assist youth in becoming more employable while protecting San Diego’s natural resources and instilling the importance of community service.
Urban Corps has given thousands of underserved, low-income young adults ages 18-26 the opportunity to improve themselves while improving their own communities. Urban Corps’ unique work-learn program allows youth to finish high school while earning a paycheck, learning real-world job skills, and giving back to the community through professional services. We provide a second chance at a high school education and paid job training designed to encourage civic engagement, responsibility, and self-sufficiency.
Corpsmembers attend school two days per week and work in the field three days per week. Through their participation in the program, Corpsmembers receive a paycheck on job training projects such as environmental services, fire fuel reduction, community improvement services, tree planting, habitat restoration, graffiti removal, landscaping, green building construction and recycling. In the process, youth work to earn a high school diploma at our onsite WASC-accredited charter high school offering an accelerated, needs-based, technology-rich academic structure and a low teacher-to-student ratio.
