Florida Congressman Visits Communities In Schools of Leon County Site
Tallahassee, Fla. (PRWEB) April 26, 2014 -- Today, Rep. Steve Southerland, II (R-FL) will visit R. Frank Nims Middle School, a Communities In Schools (CIS) of Leon County site in Tallahassee, to learn more about the integrated student supports CIS provides to address barriers to learning both inside and outside the classroom. Rep. Southerland will spend the afternoon taking a tour of the site and meeting with school leadership, site coordinators and CIS of Leon County students. CIS, the nation’s leading dropout prevention program, serves nearly 50,000 students and their families in Florida with a network of 11 local affiliates in the state.
“A quality education and bright future begins by addressing the gap between schools and communities,” said Rep. Southerland. “Communities In Schools has been essential in mobilizing community resources to meet the needs of thousands of at-risk Florida students so they can stay in school and achieve in life.”
“We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to share our local success stories today,” said Lois Gracey, State Director of Communities In Schools of Florida. “We are excited about our student’s futures and with the support of local elected officials like Congressman Southerland, we can continue to provide integrated student supports to empower our nation’s students to stay in school and achieve in life.”
The CIS model has demonstrated 99% retention of potential dropouts, propelled 96% of eligible seniors to graduation, and successfully helped 97% of our students continue to the next grade. Student success also extends outward to their communities, with every dollar invested in CIS creating $11.60 in economic benefit for the community. Amongst all existing fully scaled dropout prevention programs in the U.S., CIS has demonstrated the strongest reduction in dropout rates.
About Communities In Schools
Working with both schools and their surrounding communities, Communities In Schools does whatever it takes to help kids stay in school and succeed in life. Based directly inside schools throughout the country, Communities In Schools connects students and their families to basic and critical educational and community-based resources, tailored to each student's specific needs. Operating in more than 2,200 schools in the most challenged communities of 26 states and the District of Columbia, Communities In Schools serves 1.3 million young people and their families every year. As the nation's leading dropout prevention organization, Communities In Schools is the only one proven to both decrease dropout rates and increase graduation rates.
Visit our website at http://www.communitiesinschools.org.
Dan Fuller, Vice President, Legislative Affairs, Communities In Schools, +1 (703) 615-5417, [email protected]
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