About Communities In Schools
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Overview of Strategy
Our Mission:
To Champion the connection of needed community resources with schools to help young people successfully learn, stay in school, and prepare for life.
Our Vision:
Every child in Spokane County graduates from high school prepared for future education, work and life.
Background:
Communities in Schools (CIS) is the nation's largest dropout prevention organization. CIS of Spokane County is a local affiliate founded in 2007. We connect local resources to students in need; from food for the weekend and after-school programs to mentors.
In Spokane County, 1 in 3 students do not graduate high school on time. This document explains our strategy to help our local youth graduate on time and be prepared for life.
Our Values:
- Collaboration: we promote inclusive dialogue to ensure the sustainable involvement and commitment of all stakeholders.
- Dedication: we expect personal investment at the highest level.
- Innovation: we encourage bold creative solutions to meet current and emerging needs of youth and community.
- Outcomes for Youth: we use resources efficiently and effectively to achieve, measure and report desired outcomes for youth.
- Respect: we recognize and respect the individual needs and concerns of the community that we serve and those who support us.
- Integrity: we act with integrity in everything we do to engender the community's trust.
CISSC Support Focus:
- Basic Needs - Food, Health Care referrals, on-site dental care.
- Academic Support - Homework help centers at each site 4 days per week.
- Business Involvement - Career focus weeks with workplace tours.
- Parental Involvement - Literacy night, family nights and research-based Strengthening Families Program.
- After School Programming - Enrichment programs offered by partners 4 days per week.
Key Tactics We Will Use to Realize Our Values
Collaboration.
- CISSC creates relationships with businesses. This will lead to children better prepared for the workforce.
- CISSC will partner with community organizations that represent a wide swath of society. This inclusive collaboration will allow for organizational growth.
Dedication.
- CISSC is dedicated to developing a diversified funding stream. This includes funding from individuals, businesses, government, schools, in-kind donations and public and private foundations.
- CISSC is dedicated to expanding our services to serve children efficiently and expansively.
Innovation.
- CISSC is innovative, we receive a third of our revenue from in-kind donations.
- CISSC is an outcome based-solutions. We utilize a nationwide tracking system to guarantee that each child receives the right services at the right time.
Outcomes for Youth.
- CISSC is committed to continue deep relationships with each school. CIS will ensure that each school has an assessment and plan before moving forward with service delivery.
- CISSC will ensure that the number of students receiving interventions each year will increase.
- CISSC will work to increase attendance, increase grades, increase graduation rates and decrease behavioral interventions with the students that we serve.
Respect.
- CISSC respects students, educators and parents by providing best-practices programs to students in the schools.
- CISSC will show respect to its partners by developing community recognition and participation programs.
Integrity.
- CISSC will utilize reliable data in the work we do while educating the community about dropout rates and the work that CIS does in the community.
Our Partners in the Community:
| 2nd Harvest Food Bank | American Red Cross Inland Northwest Chapter |
Boys Scouts Inland Northwest Chapter
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| Chase Youth Commission | College Bound | EWU STARS Mentoring for Hispanic Youth |
| Girl Scouts Eastern Washington & Northern Idaho | Gonzaga University Athletes Mentoring for Excellence GAME | Greater Spokane Incorporated |
| Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council | Health for All, Community Minded Enterprises | Hoopfest |
| Inland Northwest Mentoring Partnership INWMP | Junior Achievement | KnowHow2Go |
| LEAP/NBS Sports Camps | Mentoring Children of Promise, Goodwill of the Inland Northwest | Odyssey Youth Center |
| Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest | PONYTALES Youth Center | Ready*Corps VISTA |
| Regional Health District | SNAP Spokane Cash Coalition | Spokane County Community Services/ Department of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention |
| Teen-Aid, Inc | Women's Sports Foundation | WSU Food $ense |
| Youth for Christ |