Communities In Schools of New Jersey

The mission of Communities In Schools of New Jersey is to champion the connection of needed community resources with schools to help students successfully learn, stay in school, and prepare for life. CISNJ believes that every student needs and deserves:  A personal one-on-one relationship with a caring adult  A safe place to learn and grow  A healthy start and a healthy future  A marketable skill through effective education  A chance to give back to peers and community

Communities In Schools of New Jersey, Inc. (CISNJ) is the statewide affiliate of Communities In Schools, Inc. (CIS), founded in 1977. CIS, Inc. is the nation’s leading community based organization helping students to stay in school and prepare for life. CISNJ uses a holistic approach to address the causes and circumstances that result in students dropping out. This means involving families, community members, school staff and other caring adults and peers to provide a network of support for students at risk. At CIS we believe that all students are at risk at some point in their lives and deserve the safety net that we can provide. Resources show that students who are disadvantaged by poverty, lack of family stability and other environmental risk factors are in greater jeopardy of experiencing failure and dropping out. CIS rallies community partners to bring resources such as mentors, tutors, counseling and other health services, academic enrichment activities, substance abuse and teen pregnancy prevention education programs, arts programming, and many other services and volunteers into schools for students in need.

For eighteen years, Communities In Schools has been working with New Jersey Public Schools. The results from the 2006-2007 school year demonstrate the impact of CISNJ education programs in New Jersey schools:  90 % of CIS students tracked for poor academic performance improved their grades;  92 % of CIS students tracked for poor attendance improved their attendance from prior year;  86 % of CIS students tracked for disciplinary incidents decrease the number of behavior incidents;  99% of students tracked for promotion were promoted to next grade. Through community based, integrated student services, CISNJ provides services aimed at improving student achievement by connecting community resources with both the academic and social-service needs of students.