Communities in Schools
From Service-Learning Wiki
| This program was profiled in Growing to Greatness 2004. |
community. The intended result is that teachers are free to teach, and students — many in jeopardy of dropping out — have the opportunity to focus on learning.
Since 1977, CIS has grown from a small local operation to a national organization, including approximately 2,600 schools and alternative education sites in 200 local programs in 31 states. CIS reaches over 1.9 million students and their families. All CIS local programs and state offices are independent, community-based nonprofit organizations that share a common dedication to bringing the CIS Five Basics to young people. These “basics” are directly parallel to the America’s Promise five promises, and include:
- A One-on-One Relationship with a Caring Adult;
- A Safe Place to Learn and Grow;
- A Healthy Start and a Healthy Future;
- A Marketable Skill to Use upon Graduation; and
- A Chance to Give Back to Peers and Community.
Local CIS affiliates work with public schools to garner support from businesses, government, social service providers and volunteer groups to identify needs and assets.They then bring a broad range of stakeholders together to support the Five Basics. In some cases, local CIS programs provide a hands-on “case management” approach to ensure that youth receive the Five Basics.
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Service-Learning in Communities In Schools
Community service and related service-learning opportunities lie at the heart of the fifth basic objective of CIS, and relate to all of its programming. Thus, the vast majority of CIS local programs have engaged in service-learning and/or community service. In Central Texas, CIS AmeriCorps members lead community service-learning projects with public school students.
In 2003, the CIS Academy at the Century III Mall in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, was one of 150 organizations that received a “State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grant” award administered by Youth Service America. In addition to its locally initiated efforts, CIS National and some of its state offices promote service-learning throughout the CIS system. For example CIS National recently received a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to support the development of sustainable service-learning at ten CIS local programs. (The ten sites are in North Carolina (3), South Carolina (2), Pennsylvania (1), Michigan (1), Texas (1), Georgia (1), and Indiana (1).) These ten sites are developing a range of service-learning initiatives.
Scope of Service-Learning
During the 2001-2002 school year, 82 percent of CIS local programs offered students service-learning and/or community service opportunities.
Intended Outcomes
CIS recently completed the planning phase of a national evaluation of all of its efforts that should produce more precise information about the extent of service-learning and the effects of CIS service-learning.
