Our Shared Principles: The Five Basics

Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP): Putting Our Shared Principles into Practice in CIS Organizations

ELDP is a year-long immersive experience designed to prepare a cohort of CIS leaders for the complexity, uncertainty, and challenges nonprofit organizations regularly face.  Participants gather in person multiple times during the year and meet virtually for learning, practice, reflection, and discussion with peers from around the CIS network. The program has been intentionally developed to reflect our shared principles through delivering relevant information—adaptive leadership, managing change, mobilizing others to action—and creating a safe space for relationship-building and dialogue. This combination of content and connection is critical to the success of the program and models how our shared principles can be put into action as leaders take both the experience and the learning back to their own organizations.

When Families Are Equipped, Students Thrive: Launching the Parent Engagement Program

Communities In Schools is partnering with Parents for Public Schools to bring a research-based curriculum to affiliates across the country, a living example of what it means to put our shared principles to work.

Workforce Development Is Our Strategy

What happens to students after they turn the tassel can be even more important than getting them to the graduation stage. Communities In Schools of Jacksonville is evolving to better serve our community with a new focus on preparing students for graduation, and what comes next: college, the military or the workforce.

How High School Attendance Impacts Tennessee's Workforce

The Diploma Is Just the Beginning

Working in more than 3,500 schools nationwide, Communities In Schools connects students with trusted adults, often referred to as site coordinators, who have access to local resources and partners to address local needs. Our coordinators are embedded in the building and in the lives of the school community. They know the students, the families, the teachers. They're the ones who notice when a kid stops coming to school, or starts showing up exhausted, or quietly falls behind. And they're the ones with the community connections to do something about it.

Connection Changes Everything

When John entered Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter School as a junior, everything felt new and overwhelming. After years of online schooling, crowded hallways, full classrooms, and challenging subjects made it difficult for him to connect with peers, teachers, and even his own learning.

Communities In Schools Recognized as a National Model for Advancing Student Success and Economic Mobility

Communities In Schools has been recognized in Results for America’s Economic Mobility Catalog as a national model for advancing student success and long-term economic mobility.

Communities In Schools Celebrates Class of 2026 as New Research Confirms Its Proven Impact on Graduation and Long-Term Success

As graduation season unfolds, Communities In Schools proudly celebrates the Class of 2026 and the students who are boldly stepping into their futures. This year’s milestone is underscored by new research showing that when students are surrounded by trusted adult relationships and the right supports, success follows.

Milestone Moment: CIS-AH Now Serves 115 Schools Across the Appalachian Highlands

When Communities In Schools of Appalachian Highlands (CIS-AH) opened its doors in 2012, it served just two schools in Bristol, Virginia. Today, it proudly stands beside more than 115 schools across 17 districts in Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

Communities In Schools Featured in Premiere Episode of “DREAM ON” Series Exploring the Future of the American Dream

Communities In Schools was featured in the premiere episode of DREAM ON, a new YouTube series dedicated to exploring solutions that improve access to the American Dream. The episode launched on May 5, 2026, and will spotlight the transformative impact of CIS’ work in San Antonio and nationally.

Together in Education: Harris Teeter and Communities In Schools Raise 300K for Students Across the Southeast

The "Together in Education" Round Up Campaign, which ran from July 30 through October 28, 2025, channeled those spare cents into real support through Communities In Schools (CIS), the nation's leading provider of K–12 school-based integrated student supports. Funds also benefited Classroom Central, The Salvation Army, and Alliance for a Healthier Generation, reaching CIS National and 19 affiliates across the Southeast region.

Kharma is Committed to Helping Others

Kharma grew into a confident leader through CIS and plans to pursue a career in psychology to help others.