Causes: Children & Youth, Children & Youth Services, Education, Educational Services, Elementary & Secondary Schools, Literacy
Mission: The mission of Communities In Schools (CIS) of Greater Central Texas, Inc. is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
Results: CIS exists to help at-risk students improve in academics, attendance, and/or behavior; and ultimately to stay in school and graduate. Goal 1: Increase student achievement and decrease dropout ratesObjectives:Accomplished
• Provide high quality training for our staff to more effectively reach and serve at-risk youth (ongoing)
• Provide services utilizing the CIS Six Components (ongoing)
• Cultivate relationships with current and potential school districts (ongoing)Not Yet Accomplished
• Expand services (Expansion is always contingent upon district budgets and buy-in) Goal 2: Enhance collaboration Objectives:Accomplished:
• Increased the number of partnerships and collaborations
• Providing training for our Board of Director's on how they can help achieve CIS goals (ongoing)
• Encouraging and training our Board of Director's to initiate new collaborations in local area (ongoing) Not yet accomplished:
• Network with all untapped community resources to generate needed support and partnerships (ongoing)
• Increase program awareness utilizing local media to our satisfaction (ongoing)Goal 3: Improve financial stability Accomplished:
• Pursue grant funding from private and public sources, organizations and agencies (ongoing)
• Increase financial reserve to prepare for unexpected challenges (fluctuates depending on current funding) Not yet accomplished:
• Increase number of committed long-term funding sources (the most challenging obstacle)
• Recruit and maintain influential and community-connected board members (also a challenge)Being a nonprofit agency, we know that funding is always a concern. We may or may not be able to have the desired number of staff to accomplish our goals. Therefore, flexibility is a must. At times, it becomes necessary to reassess goals and strategies and adjust accordingly. In doing so, we are able to accomplish our mission despite the obstacles and challenges we face.
Target demographics: surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
Direct beneficiaries per year: 6,192 students
Geographic areas served: Killeen, Temple, Belton, Copperas Cove, Jarrell and Salado ISDs
Programs: CIS couples academic support with social service coordination to help at-risk youth overcome the most challenging obstacles to their growth and achievement. Our purpose is to improve student achievement, decrease the dropout rate, and increase the graduation rate in the school districts we serve. Students can be referred into the CIS program by teachers, school administrators, CIS staff, and parents. Once a child is referred, the CIS Site Coordinator will conduct a thorough needs assessment on the student and create an intensive individual case management plan designed to address and remove all obstacles which hinder success in school. Additionally, the Site Coordinators work diligently to establish and maintain partnerships with community service providers to coordinate the delivery of needed resources to students and families. These resource providers include social service agencies, health and mental healthcare providers, local food pantries, and vision and dental care providers. The Site Coordinators also provide students with one-on-one support and assistance in academics, social skills and self-esteem development, dealing with bullying, anger management, job search, money management, community involvement, college/career readiness, and enrichment activities. Services to the student include the following six components in the CIS Case Management Model: 1) Supportive Guidance and Counseling - CIS provides individual, group, and family guidance, as well as crisis intervention to address student needs. 2) Academic Support - Long and short term tutoring services as well as other academic support is provided for students experiencing academic difficulty, especially in core subjects. 3) Parent and Family Engagement - One important objective of Communities In Schools is to involve all parents in active participation in program activities. 4) Enrichment Activities - To enhance student development, students are offered opportunities to participate in educational and cultural events, workshops, field trips, and incentive recreational activities. 5) Health and Human Services Coordination - This component addresses health and human services as well as actual referrals to other agencies. These resources are provided at no cost to students and families. 6) College and Career Readiness – Communities In Schools provides job training skills to increase opportunities for getting and keeping a job. CIS also works with businesses and agencies to secure jobs for needy students and even parents. College and career awareness activities begin in elementary grades and continue until graduation to introduce students to as many opportunities as possible. The activities outlined above encourage academic excellence, promote positive self-esteem, stress community involvement, and provide growth opportunities for students and families. In our experience, the students in our communities are struggling to stay in school while dealing with some very adult problems: hunger, poverty, homelessness, and crisis in the home. Once these basic needs are met, students can turn their attention and energy to school. This ultimately leads to academic success and higher achievement in school and in life. CIS, with the support of the community, has worked hard to meet the needs of students and families through the implementation of our case management model. Our program is consistently a huge success, with 5,229 at-risk youth served in 2017-18 with the following outcomes: 94% improved in academics, behavior, and/or attendance, 97% were promoted 99.7% stayed in school 96.6% of eligible high school seniors graduated 97.5% received valuable social services. There are many factors which contribute to our strength, success, and ability to deliver: CIS Core Values, an evidence-based, comprehensive CIS Case Management Model, a well trained and professional staff, Board of Directors who are passionate about our program’s mission and the children we serve, governance by our CIS State Office and the Texas Education Agency (TEA), committed funding sources who know and appreciate the value of CIS, and a wide range of strategic partnerships which strengthen our ability to meet the needs of students and families.
Mission: The mission of Communities In Schools (CIS) of Greater Central Texas, Inc. is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
Results: CIS exists to help at-risk students improve in academics, attendance, and/or behavior; and ultimately to stay in school and graduate. Goal 1: Increase student achievement and decrease dropout ratesObjectives:Accomplished
• Provide high quality training for our staff to more effectively reach and serve at-risk youth (ongoing)
• Provide services utilizing the CIS Six Components (ongoing)
• Cultivate relationships with current and potential school districts (ongoing)Not Yet Accomplished
• Expand services (Expansion is always contingent upon district budgets and buy-in) Goal 2: Enhance collaboration Objectives:Accomplished:
• Increased the number of partnerships and collaborations
• Providing training for our Board of Director's on how they can help achieve CIS goals (ongoing)
• Encouraging and training our Board of Director's to initiate new collaborations in local area (ongoing) Not yet accomplished:
• Network with all untapped community resources to generate needed support and partnerships (ongoing)
• Increase program awareness utilizing local media to our satisfaction (ongoing)Goal 3: Improve financial stability Accomplished:
• Pursue grant funding from private and public sources, organizations and agencies (ongoing)
• Increase financial reserve to prepare for unexpected challenges (fluctuates depending on current funding) Not yet accomplished:
• Increase number of committed long-term funding sources (the most challenging obstacle)
• Recruit and maintain influential and community-connected board members (also a challenge)Being a nonprofit agency, we know that funding is always a concern. We may or may not be able to have the desired number of staff to accomplish our goals. Therefore, flexibility is a must. At times, it becomes necessary to reassess goals and strategies and adjust accordingly. In doing so, we are able to accomplish our mission despite the obstacles and challenges we face.
Target demographics: surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
Direct beneficiaries per year: 6,192 students
Geographic areas served: Killeen, Temple, Belton, Copperas Cove, Jarrell and Salado ISDs
Programs: CIS couples academic support with social service coordination to help at-risk youth overcome the most challenging obstacles to their growth and achievement. Our purpose is to improve student achievement, decrease the dropout rate, and increase the graduation rate in the school districts we serve. Students can be referred into the CIS program by teachers, school administrators, CIS staff, and parents. Once a child is referred, the CIS Site Coordinator will conduct a thorough needs assessment on the student and create an intensive individual case management plan designed to address and remove all obstacles which hinder success in school. Additionally, the Site Coordinators work diligently to establish and maintain partnerships with community service providers to coordinate the delivery of needed resources to students and families. These resource providers include social service agencies, health and mental healthcare providers, local food pantries, and vision and dental care providers. The Site Coordinators also provide students with one-on-one support and assistance in academics, social skills and self-esteem development, dealing with bullying, anger management, job search, money management, community involvement, college/career readiness, and enrichment activities. Services to the student include the following six components in the CIS Case Management Model: 1) Supportive Guidance and Counseling - CIS provides individual, group, and family guidance, as well as crisis intervention to address student needs. 2) Academic Support - Long and short term tutoring services as well as other academic support is provided for students experiencing academic difficulty, especially in core subjects. 3) Parent and Family Engagement - One important objective of Communities In Schools is to involve all parents in active participation in program activities. 4) Enrichment Activities - To enhance student development, students are offered opportunities to participate in educational and cultural events, workshops, field trips, and incentive recreational activities. 5) Health and Human Services Coordination - This component addresses health and human services as well as actual referrals to other agencies. These resources are provided at no cost to students and families. 6) College and Career Readiness – Communities In Schools provides job training skills to increase opportunities for getting and keeping a job. CIS also works with businesses and agencies to secure jobs for needy students and even parents. College and career awareness activities begin in elementary grades and continue until graduation to introduce students to as many opportunities as possible. The activities outlined above encourage academic excellence, promote positive self-esteem, stress community involvement, and provide growth opportunities for students and families. In our experience, the students in our communities are struggling to stay in school while dealing with some very adult problems: hunger, poverty, homelessness, and crisis in the home. Once these basic needs are met, students can turn their attention and energy to school. This ultimately leads to academic success and higher achievement in school and in life. CIS, with the support of the community, has worked hard to meet the needs of students and families through the implementation of our case management model. Our program is consistently a huge success, with 5,229 at-risk youth served in 2017-18 with the following outcomes: 94% improved in academics, behavior, and/or attendance, 97% were promoted 99.7% stayed in school 96.6% of eligible high school seniors graduated 97.5% received valuable social services. There are many factors which contribute to our strength, success, and ability to deliver: CIS Core Values, an evidence-based, comprehensive CIS Case Management Model, a well trained and professional staff, Board of Directors who are passionate about our program’s mission and the children we serve, governance by our CIS State Office and the Texas Education Agency (TEA), committed funding sources who know and appreciate the value of CIS, and a wide range of strategic partnerships which strengthen our ability to meet the needs of students and families.
info@cis-tx.org
4520 East Central Texas Expressway Suite 106, Killeen, TX 76543
254-554-2132
Children & Youth
Killeen
