MEMPHIS AFFILIATE OF COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF TENNESSEE ANNOUNCES INDEPENDENT STATUS
September 20, 2018
MEMPHIS AFFILIATE OF COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF TENNESSEE ANNOUNCES INDEPENDENT STATUS
Nonprofit to Increase Capacity, Resources, Support For Local Students
Memphis, TN - After operating for four years under the Tennessee umbrella, Communities In Schools of Memphis (CIS of Memphis) will now operate as its own independent nonprofit organization. Maintaining its affiliate position in the national Communities In Schools network, the change in structure will allow the organization to intensify ongoing efforts to improve attendance, behavior, and course performance outcomes for local students and expand the level of direct and wrap-around support services provided to local schools.
Starting this fall, CIS of Memphis is expanding operations to serve 16 local partner schools, adding more in-school staff, and beginning development of a three year plan to create additional supports and interventions needed for students to matriculate through post-secondary education and training. The organization is advancing its work to remove non-academic barriers to student success and building a localized model [for CIS] to respond to unique challenges that students face in the mid-south that can potentially be replicated in urban communities across the country.
Leaders say that staggering statistics and disparities in poverty, academic achievement, high-school graduation, and college attainment rates in Memphis prompted the change in organizational structure and decision to focus specifically on serving local students. Memphis currently has the highest rate of opportunity youth (age 18-24 not in school or working) in the nation.
“In a community where 34.5 percent of children live in poverty and an average of 13,300 students dropout of school every year, the need to increase support for student success is apparent,” said Sonji Branch, chief executive officer of CIS of Memphis.
“We are excited about the opportunity we have now to better respond to that need and to do more to address inequities. We are hopeful that by directly contributing to and helping to advance collective impact efforts locally, we can begin to reverse trends and position more students for success.”
To help students succeed, Communities In Schools uses an evidence-based model, implemented by trained site coordinators and student support specialists who work within partner schools to connect students and their families to critical educational and community based resources. In its first four years as part of the CIS of Tennessee network, the Memphis affiliate served 2,422 students and significantly improved outcomes.
In the 2016-2017 school year, the organization reduced school-wide chronic absenteeism in its network of schools by 24 percent. Last year, among students case-managed by the Memphis affiliate, 95 percent of students stayed in school, 91 percent of seniors graduated, and 79 percent improved attendance.
“As we shift towards fully integrating restorative practices here at Kirby Middle School, our partnership with Communities In Schools of Memphis has been invaluable. Our student support specialist, Ms. Keisha Adams, has been an irreplaceable value add to our team, and has been instrumental in making our school feel like a family,” said Marian R. Williams, principal of Kirby Middle School.
“The strong relationships and connections she’s been able to establish with students and other stakeholders has helped decrease our chronic absenteeism and raise our average daily attendance dramatically already this year. As a school leader, I don’t know what I’d do without her and I’m so grateful that we have CIS of Memphis as a partner in this work as we prepare students for success in college, leadership, and life.”
As an independent affiliate, Communities In Schools of Memphis will maintain the same national mission, core values, policies, and standards to ensure student improvement and growth, but will have local governance of operations, and more autonomy needed to maximize resources and strengthen support for Memphis students. By 2021, CIS of Memphis intends to serve 24,000 students in 60 local partner schools (25% of the SCS/ASD student population) and will provide case management services for approximately 2,400 students per school year. The organization will also continue to collaborate with affiliates in the state of Tennessee and across the country to share best practices and advocate for changes in education policy and new legislation to improve academic outcomes.
“We are now positioned to broaden our impact, and leverage and strengthen local relationships with school administrators, parents, and community members to more effectively serve and meet the needs of our youth,” Branch stated.
“We look forward to what the future holds for CIS of Memphis and our broader community.”
To learn more go to www.cismemphis.org.
# # #
ABOUT COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS
Communities In Schools (CIS) is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to empowering at-risk students to stay in school and on a path to a brighter future. Working directly inside more than 2,300 schools across the country, we connect kids to caring adults and community resources designed to help them succeed. We do whatever it takes to ensure that all kids—regardless of the challenges they may face—have what they need to realize their potential.
*Please see media kit for additional information. To arrange for interviews, contact Tarrin McGhee at 901-517-2870 or email tarrin@piquepr.com.
Contact:
Tarrin McGhee, Principal | Pique Public Relations
tarrin@piquepr.com, 901-402-9984
