There are many reasons that prevent students from regularly attending school ranging from transportation, mental or physical health, access to clean clothes, or food insecurity. CIS site coordinators are physically present inside schools, working hand-in hand with administrators and families to provide essential resources for student success.
Help us show up for more kids…because being present matters!
Please note: Gifts made on this site support the National Office of Communities In Schools.
To make a gift to a local affiliate, please use our network directory.
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.
Read more of Connection Changes Everything
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.
Read more of Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP): Putting Our Shared Principles into Practice in CIS Organizations
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.
Read more of When Families Are Equipped, Students Thrive: Launching the Parent Engagement Program
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.
Read more of Milestone Moment: CIS-AH Now Serves 115 Schools Across the Appalachian Highlands
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.
Read more of Together in Education: Harris Teeter and Communities In Schools Raise 300K for Students Across the Southeast
Kharma grew into a confident leader through CIS and plans to pursue a career in psychology to help others.
Read more of Kharma is Committed to Helping Others
Learn how CIS changed Leanna’s path, fueling her journey to leadership and community impact.
Read more of A Chance Encounter Changed Leanna's Life
With CIS support, Eliza found her voice, built confidence, and chose a path true to herself.
Read more of How CIS Helped Eliza Find Herself
Learn how CIS helped Jose grow into a confident student and leader.
Read more of How Jose Found His Confidence
With CIS support, Morgan overcame challenges, stayed present, and is now on track to graduate.
Read more of Morgan is Finishing Strong with CIS
Written in his own words, Leland found support through CIS and will pursue his dreams at SNU.
Read more of How CIS Helped Shape Leland's Future
Learn how CIS helped Joab believe in himself and keep going.
Read more of Joab Found Hope Through CIS
Wednesday, February 18, marked an unforgettable evening at Creative Artists Agency's (CAA) offices in Los Angeles. Communities In Schools (CIS), the nation’s leading provider in integrated student supports, gathered its community — educators, alumni, advocates, board members, funders, and champions — to celebrate five decades of impact and to look ahead toward the next 50 years with renewed commitment and purpose.
Read more of Bringing the Band Back Together: Communities In Schools Legacy Event in Partnership with Creative Artists Agency
With support from CIS, Kiana overcame the challenges of young parenthood and is now preparing for college.
Read more of Kiana's Balancing Act
Learn about our licensed partnership with Montgomery Public Schools and dive into the impact happening at Southlawn Middle School.
Read more of Investing in Students and Strengthening Families: CIS and Montgomery Public Schools in Action
For three days in early March, more than 20 leaders from the Communities In Schools (CIS) network converged on Washington, D.C., for the organization's annual Capitol Hill Days. From March 2–4, affiliate leaders walked the halls of Congress with a powerful message: integrated student supports work—and the evidence now proves it.
Read more of The CIS Effect Takes on Capitol Hill
Last fall, as the federal shutdown disrupted essential services and paychecks, Communities In Schools responded with urgency and compassion.
Read more of Showing Up In Times of Uncertainty: CIS Launches Emergency Fund to Support Students and Families
When Communities In Schools launched the Being Present Matters Campaign in 2024, the goal was clear: raise awareness about chronic absenteeism and remind students, families, and communities why showing up to school matters. Now, in the campaign's second year, CIS has taken that message even further with the Pledge to Be Present initiative—a creative, high-impact way to engage students and build a culture of accountability around school attendance.
Read more of Pledge to Be Present: Inspiring Students to Show Up This School Year
At Communities In Schools, our Site Coordinators are on the front lines every day, helping students navigate challenges, build skills, and thrive in school. For Shelby Clements, a Site Coordinator at CIS of the Dallas Region, every day is a balance of flexibility, support, and relationship-building.
Read more of A Day in the Life of a CIS Site Coordinator: Shelby Clements
At Communities In Schools, student success is built on strong, intentional partnerships. CIS Site Coordinators are embedded on school campuses, working alongside teachers, administrators, and staff to remove barriers to learning and ensure students receive the support they need—when they need it.
Read more of How Communities In Schools Partners with Schools to Support Students
This holiday season, Communities In Schools affiliates and licensed partners across the country are demonstrating what it means to be driven to give. As the need for shoes, clothing, food and essential items grows (according to national reports and confirmed by those in the communities we serve) our network is stepping up with unwavering generosity, hosting drives and changing lives.
Read more of Driven to Give: CIS Network Delivers Warmth and Essential Support This Holiday Season
With stops in Houston, Nashville, Jacksonville and Charlotte, the “Ready, Set, Learn” Back-to-School Tour aimed to remove barriers to learning, address chronic absenteeism and ensure students and families started the school year with the resources they needed.
Read more of Ready, Set, Learn Back-to-School Tour Full of Surprises, Supplies and Memorable Moments
Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County recently celebrated the opening of its new Center for Student Support. A longtime dream of the organization, the new center is expected to transform the community and improve the lives of students and families, offering various resources and services to the community, including a training center, a mental health counseling center, and a fresh food pantry.
Read more of CIS of Greater Tarrant County Is Present for More Students and Families with New Center for Student Support
The true highlight of the back-to-school season at CIS of Cape Fear is their annual Stuff the Bus event, the region’s oldest and largest school supply drive. In its 25th year, the event has evolved into a community engagement opportunity, inviting local businesses, corporations, civic organizations, and churches to collect essential back-to-school items for students in public schools across New Hanover and Pender counties.
Read more of Investing in Back-to-School Readiness at All LevelsSign up to receive our newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest happenings at CIS National and across our network.
