What We Do
This effort begins with Site Coordinators who serve as advocates for our CIS students. Site Coordinators help identify students in need of assistance and connect those students—and family members—to community resources that can help remove obstacles to student success.
The 2014-15 school year began with a single coordinator at East Coweta High School. With your help, more Site Coordinators will be added to the program, expanding CIS outreach and offering services to more students.
How we do it
Student needs can go far beyond the classroom. CIS of Coweta County assistance includes:
- Non-academic services: Poverty prevents many of our students from reaching their full potential. CIS of Coweta County addresses this problem by providing students and families with assistance in housing, health care, nutrition and even purchasing basic school supplies.
- Personal mentoring: Studies show that the guidance and support supplied by a caring, responsible adult helps any child realize the value of an education and believe that they are capable of achieving success, in the classroom and beyond.
- Tutoring: Provide assistance to students who work best in a non-traditional classroom setting.
- Family assistance and parent engagement: Troubles at home often lead to troubles at school. These personal problems are often beyond the control of the student. CIS of Coweta County will work to see that both children and parents receive the support and counseling they need to improve troubled domestic situations.
- Beyond the classroom: CIS of Coweta County will work to connect students with out-of-school enrichment programs, career training and college prep activities.
A Single Objective
Our objective is clear. The 2012 four-year graduation rate in Coweta County was 79.7%. CIS of Coweta County’s goal is to improve that graduation rate, giving even more students a chance to achieve success in a well-paying job or by continuing their education in trade school or college.
Goals we can measure and meet.
By hiring Denise Buchanan to work at East Coweta High, we achieved our first goal: placing a Site Coordinator in a local high school to help at-risk students with their academic and non-academic needs.
We are now working to achieve our next two goals:
- Recruiting mentors and tutors for at-risk students
- Providing programs targeted to the needs of the community
The pursuit of our goals is guided by the national CIS model, a tested and proven program that defines how schools participating in the CIS program can develop, implement and support locally-defined, comprehensive education programs.
This graphic illustrates how the CIS model works:
A partner with a record of success
While CIS of Coweta County provides staff and administration for the local program and coordinates community fundraising efforts, our partnership with the state program—Communities in Schools of Georgia—is crucial to success.
Communities In Schools of Georgia provides technical assistance, training, program evaluation, fundraising support, advocacy and communications services to local affiliates.
State-level programs are vital in assisting CIS of Coweta County to succeed with efforts in mentoring, parent engagement, literacy, youth leadership and after-school programs.
A team effort
You already know the value of a good education. Together, we can pass that knowledge along to others, and in the process, change lives forever.