WHO is Communities In Schools (CIS)?

We are 5,000 professionals and 65,000 volunteers, working in more than 3,200 K-12 public schools, in the most challenging communities, serving nearly 1.4 million young people and their families every year.

WHAT does Communities In Schools (CIS) do?

CIS brings hands in need together with hands that can help. CIS is a process that connects community resources with students and their families at the school site to ensure that youth stay in school, learn needed skills, and are prepared to enter the world of work.

WHY do we need CIS?

Every year, 1.2 million students drop out of school. What that means is every nine seconds, a student in America loses his or her path to a better future. Too many young people are failing in our public schools today, and, consequently, leave school without the skills needed to succeed in life. In North Carolina during the 2002-2003 school year, over 19,834 students dropped out of public schools. 85% of juveniles in court today are school dropouts. 82% of prison inmates are school dropouts. Schools alone cannot solve the complex and diverse problems faced by today's youth. By empowering students to achieve in school and life, we are building a stronger America, where every person is capable of reaching his or her greatest potential.

HOW does CIS work?

CIS supports the development of collaborative community strategies for improving the way existing programs and services serve students and families. Students' school failure is the result of multiple stresses, most often from factors outside of school. The CIS process enlists, coordinates and facilitates the delivery of already existing community resources to the school site. Within a school, CIS works with repositioned service providers (from many agencies and organizations) and school personnel so that they function together as a team to deliver their services in a personable and accountable manner. In this way, they effectively and efficiently meet the needs of students and their families.