CitySquash demands a lot of our students academically. Our goal is to instill in our students a love of learning and help them get – or stay – on track to attend college. The focus is primarily homework help, reading and writing. Team members participate in Book Club, have vocabulary quizzes and regular writing assignments.

Academic staff members check in with teachers and parents regarding our students' academic progress. CitySquash receives our students' report cards each quarter and has a carrots and sticks system that rewards students for high grades and punishes those with low grades. In the summer, nearly every team member is enrolled in an academic course, either at CitySquash or with a partner organization. For the 2008-2009 academic year, the academic average of our middle school team was 84%.

Elementary School
Our fourth and fifth grade students meet once a week in the CitySquash Learning Center for Book Club to read and discuss a book, build reading and writing skills, and learn new vocabulary.  On the weekends, they spend an hour and a half of focused study time working on homework with a tutor.

Middle School
Our middle school students attend two academic sessions a week at which they spend an hour of focused study time working on homework with a tutor.  Middle school students are not permitted to play squash if they are missing homework assignments.  Through Book Club, they read eight books a year; each week they discuss the books in groups of ten or less students.

High School
Our high school students attend two academic sessions a week at which they spend an hour of focused study time working on homework with a tutor.  Eleventh and twelfth graders also have a weekly SAT prep session, and twelfth graders attend an additional college prep session to work on applications. 

Learning Center
Located near Fordham University and CitySquash's partner schools M.S. 45 and P.S. 205, the Learning Center has computer terminals, study carrels, a reading corner and a seminar room.  CitySquashers use the Learning Center after school and on the weekends to receive additional academic tutoring and homework help, for internet access for school projects and to utilize our computers and printers for homework.  On Friday evenings, the Learning Center hosts Movie Night.

Books read this past year during Book Club included:

• Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
• Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons, Ann Rinald
• Maus I & II, Art Spiegleman
• The Crucible, Arther Miller
• Night, Elie Wiesel
• 1984, George Orwell
• Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
• Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
• A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L. Engle
• Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
• Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, Mildred Taylor
• The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien