Communities in Schools is the Leading Program Addressing High School Drop Out Rates in the State of Nevada

Communities In Schools offers link between in need schools and the community

Communities In Schools is a non-profit organization that’s mission is to keep children in school by addressing other distractions in their lives that interfere with their academic performance, causing them to disengage from school and ultimately dropout. These distractions mean, unfortunately, that a child’s basic needs are not being met:

If a child is hungry, he can’t concentrate in school or may have discipline problems.
If a child has no shoes, he can’t walk to school.
If a child has never celebrated a birthday, she will have self worth issues, or can feel unloved.
If a child is sick, then he can’t come to school.

Communities In Schools addresses these needs by identifying community partners to provide services that mitigate these problems.  Partners such as Three Square, The Junior League, UNLV Mental Health Services and the Latin Chamber of Commerce, have helped CIS reach thousands of students in Clark County by helping to fulfill their basic needs.

How it works
Communities in Schools places a clinic in an elementary school to provide medical services to that school as well as adjacent in-need elementary schools. Additionally, services that address the students’ other needs, such as food pantries and clothing closets, are established at individual schools serviced by that clinic.  The services then expand to the middle and high schools in a contiguous area so that services follow the needs of the students. As students’ needs get more complex in the older grades, so do the programs that Communities In Schools offers. 

Currently there are two CIS clinics, one at Cunningham Elementary School, to service a southeast cluster of schools including Whitney, Hinman, Harmon, Bailey and Taylor Elementary Schools. The other clinic is located at Reynaldo Martinez, which services a northeast cluster of schools including McCall, Tom Williams, Squires, Agassi Preparatory and West Preparatory Elementary Schools.  A ground breaking for a third location at Elaine Wynn Elementary School in the Southeast is planned for Fall 2008. Additionally, CIS is in northeastern Nevada and works with Northside Elementary School, Wells Elementary School and the Juvenile Justice Department.

Initiatives Summaries
National research indicates there are identifiable risk factors that indicate whether a student is apt to drop out of high school.  The research conducted by the National Dropout Prevention Center and Communities in Schools identified that if students’ needs were not met in these segments, then they will be at risk for dropping out of school:

The research conducted by the National Dropout Prevention Center and Communities in Schools identified that if a student’s needs were not met in these segments, then he would be at risk for dropping out of school:

Health & Wellness
Basic Welfare
Skills for the Future
Self Esteem & Joy

Based on this research, CIS developed programs addressing each of these segments. 

Service Segment #1 - Health & Wellness
There are many students in Clark County who don’t have access to medical, dental or mental health services.  These students miss school because they do not receive medication they need.  They are suffering from severe dental pain and can’t focus on their school work.  Or they are mentally incapacitated due to unimaginable conditions at home or in the neighborhood.  CIS has created the following programs to address these problems and other related ones:

Medical: Nevada remains above the national average in uninsured persons, and both national research and Nevada state studies show that uninsured children do not get the health care they need. Ample evidence demonstrates that uninsured children have fewer physician visits per year, are less likely to receive adequate preventive services and immunizations, and are less likely to be seen by a physician when they are ill. Given our target population and the demographics of our neighborhoods, this crisis is an everyday reality for our students. Thanks to the generosity of local builders, CIS has been able to respond to this crisis by building medical clinics on the campuses of elementary schools in each of our neighborhoods. CIS partners with Community Outreach Medical Center to provide pediatric medical services out of these clinics. These services are 100% leveraged through community partnerships and donations, and are available to all Las Vegas Valley children ages 0-18 at absolutely no cost to them or their families.

Dental: According to a joint United Way of Southern Nevada and Nevada Community Foundation study, access to dental health services is gravely limited in Las Vegas. Nevada ranks first in surveyed states for the prevalence of tooth decay (67.1%) and untreated decay (38.9%) among third graders; nearly 42% of third graders have not visited a dentist in the past year while 11.2 % have never seen a dentist; and Nevada ranks 49th for annual dental visits. Yet, when children are suffering from toothaches and other dental problems, they are unable to concentrate on their schoolwork, their grades go down, and discipline problems increase. To address this situation, CIS partners with Miles for Smiles, a program of Nevada Health Centers, to bring full dental services (from exams and x-rays to services including crowns and pulpotomies) to our students. Services are available two days per month on Communities In Schools campuses.

Mental Health: Research demonstrates that behavioral and mental health-based interventions are essential for at-risk youth, and failure to support their mental health can have serious negative consequences including increased risk for school failure, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, incarceration, unemployment, and poor physical health. Because students are more likely to keep appointments that occur in a familiar setting, are already required to be at school, and teachers who work with students on a regular basis can be trained to recognize warning signs, experts including the U.S. Surgeon General recommend that schools be a primary setting for the recognition and treatment of mental health and behavioral issues in youth and adolescents. The provision of such services has a proven, positive impact on school performance. Unfortunately, schools are chronically short-staffed with mental health professionals and this shortage compromises their ability to provide broad-based mental health and behavioral services. To address this issue, CIS is partnering with the UNLV Department of Counselor Education to pilot a no-cost Mental Health initiative designed to provide short-term individual counseling, group workshops/counseling, and staff/community trainings.

Service Segment #2 - Basic Welfare
Surprisingly, absenteeism is not excessive at the CIS schools.  For many students, the schools represent the students only access to food, these students know that they must go to school or go hungry.  Additionally, schools represent the students’ only access to clothing, shoes and even underwear.  To help give these students their basic needs -- food and clothing -- CIS has created these programs:

WeekEND Hunger: Many Communities In Schools working families live well below the poverty line and thousands are homeless; for the children of these families, hunger is a constant companion. This is significant because the impact of hunger on children is considerable. Research demonstrates that hungry children suffer up to four times as many health problems as non-hungry children; are more likely to be absent from school; and are far more likely to suffer from iron-deficiency anemia, which can cause developmental and behavioral problems that affect children’s ability to learn. Because basic nutrition is essential for every child to be healthy and to be successful in school, CIS established our WeekEND Hunger Initiative. Every Friday, children’s backpacks are filled with ‘child-friendly food’ (food that requires no preparation or adult assistance to eat) and sent home with children who have been identified by their schools as “food fragile.” In many cases this is the only food these children will eat all weekend. By working collaboratively with other organizations currently providing food for the weekend to schoolchildren, our goal is to create one integrated school-based weekend food delivery system throughout the Valley.

Clothing Closet: In order for children to succeed their basic needs must be met, including the need for appropriate clothing. Many of our families cannot afford to maintain clean clothing for their children, let alone to purchase the uniforms required at many of our elementary schools. Our Clothing Closet supplies students in need not only with school uniforms, but also basic clothing items such as coats, shoes, belts and underwear as needed.

Service Segment #3 - Skills for the Future
Many students at the CIS schools don’t have a family member who has graduated from high school.  They have not seen the possibilities that a high school education can provide for them. And many children have families who have never had a career, so they don’t know what a career is, not why training for a career is essential. CIS partners with several different entities to help students realize the opportunities a high school education can bring to them and to inspire and direct them toward a career.

Career Club: Through a partnership with the Latin Chamber of Commerce, our Career Club brings leading community businesses into our schools to emphasize the value of staying in school and to help children struggling to survive day-to-day learn how to dream about their futures. Several times each year, a different career concept is brought to the children in a fun and experiential way. To date, Career Club events have included Teddy Bear Clinics, Fairy-Tale Trials, Mock Hazardous Material Testing, and encounters with the Garbage Gremlin. Prior to these experiences, many of our children did not even know they were supposed to have career goals when they grew up. Following these experiences, however, our youth typically tell us that they want to be a scientist, a judge, or a nurse. Career Clubs provide context for children’s education and consequently help improve their performance on a day-to-day basis in school.

Fellows Academy: Many Clark County middle schools have youth who are overage, but have not yet reached the proficiency level required to pass their required courses and move into high school; evidence shows that youth who don’t enter high school on time (at the start of the school year with their peers) have a Ø% success rate in terms of high school completion. The Fellows Academy is a Middle School Credit Recovery Program in which peer-based cohorts of overage 8th graders, supported by their parents, teachers, and other caring adults, complete the proficiency requirements needed to successfully matriculate into, and complete, high school. Fellows Academy uses a combination of alternative educational programming, intensive case management, career exploration, life skills training and support services in an alternative school setting to effectively address the needs of youth identified as “academically at-risk.”

Adult Mentoring/Role Models in the Classroom: Adult Mentors and Role Models not only help young people improve their school skills, but also provide the meaningful relationship with a caring adult that so many of our children are lacking. Our mentor volunteers are trained and provided with teaching tools and support throughout their mentoring experience. Mentor volunteers meet with groups of two to four middle school-age students at their school several times per month.

Service Segment #4 - Self Esteem & Joy
It’s hard to imagine a child who doesn’t know when her birthday is.  This child never has a day when she is singled out and told that she is special.  Unfortunately that exists in our community.  One of the leading risk factors to dropping out of school is the lack of a loving or caring adult.  CIS works with its partners to give these students a birthday party in their birthday month.  Additionally, students receive peer and mentoring tutoring where their talents are recognized and they are allowed to use those talents to help give back to their community and help others in need. These programs help students build their self esteem and feel like valued members of the community.

Birthday Parties: Birthdays are no different than any other day for many children in Las Vegas: no one sends them a card or wishes them a special day, there are no parties to plan, no presents to request. Many children in our Valley don’t even know their birth dates. In response, CIS partners with the Junior League of Las Vegas to develop the Birthday Closet Program. The program ensures that all children at Martinez Elementary School receive a birthday party, a present, and a chance to connect with a caring adult in their birth month. The children are treated to cake, punch, games, crafts and a visit to the present area where they have a huge selection of toys to choose from. For a moment, these kids can just be kids and forget about the problems that they face at home. This Initiative has been so successful that it has become a signature project for the Junior League; they are committed to its proliferation by empowering other organizations to follow in their footsteps.

Service Learning, Peer Mentoring & Tutoring: Children who succeed are those we allow to feel part of and give back to their community. By connecting students with others who are in need, our Service Learning, Peer Mentoring and Tutoring Initiatives create an environment in which students’ gifts are nurtured and service to others is expected and rewarded.

Service Segment #5 - Family/Community Strengthening
The families that CIS serves at its schools are the working poor. They are not unemployed or homeless seeking handouts. Unable to speak English and low education achievements make it difficult for many parents to get jobs that would help them better support their families.  CIS partners with entities that offer parent education opportunities and childcare cooperatives to help these families.  Additionally CIS recognizes that gangs may be a factor in these students’ lives.  CIS partners with the Gang Task Force in gang deterrence and education.

Parent/Parenting Education: Many of our students’ home environments would be significantly improved if their parents had the opportunity to do some learning of their own. Lack of English language proficiency and low educational achievement are a barrier for many parents to getting adequate paying employment. Also, a lack of parent engagement and parenting skills can have a serious effect on the behavior and achievement of their children. That is why CIS partners with CCSD’s Adult Education and Wrap Around Services (Social Work) Departments to develop and provide ongoing parent education opportunities at our school-sites.

Gang Education: Gang presence is a fact of life for many of the children living in our neighborhoods. Empowering our kids to resist gangs from the time they are young is our number one priority, but CIS also recognizes that many of our students are already involved in gangs and that this affiliation may seem to them to be a necessary part of surviving life in their neighborhoods. To address this issue, CIS partners with the Gang Task Force to bring educational opportunities to children with the aim of deterring gang activity. The program also teaches parents and teachers to identify and address gang involvement among their children.

Child Care Cooperative: A lack of quality childcare is pervasive throughout the Valley. This deficiency is exacerbated in our CIS neighborhoods by the low socioeconomic status of our families. The few affordable childcare options are typically overflowing and any additional opportunities are beyond financial reach or are too far for families limited to public transportation and walking. For this reason, CIS is looking at seeding a collaborative initiative to help build the capacity of our community and of appropriate agencies to fulfill this currently unmet need.

The efforts of CIS are working. In the first year of operations in Southern Nevada, Communities In Schools has:
Created a significant drop in the number of required parent-teacher conferences at Reynaldo Martinez Elementary School during the first six months of operation
Reading proficiency scores improved by 1.7% for the year
Math proficiency scores climbed over 12%
The transient rate of Martinez Elementary School was historically 75% per year. In our first year that percentage was reduced to 65%.

CIS hopes to expand its services and programs to more students in Nevada. And to do that, it will need additional support as the organization is funded through grants and the generosity of the community.  For more information on CIS and how to support CIS, visit http://cisnevada.org/.