Saturday, February 15, 2025

Communities In Schools: Changing lives one student at a time in Brunswick County

SOUTHPORT — Not many people or organizations can say they help change the paths of students’ lives. However, Communities In Schools of Brunswick County (CIS) has been doing just that for 22 years for students and families in Brunswick County. CIS lives its mission every day to “surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.”

Currently, CIS provides the Action for Success dropout prevention program in all five middle schools, incorporating success coaches, community volunteers and club and business partnerships at each school to support student achievement. CIS uses evidence-based interventions to help students remain focused on learning, with the goal of promotion to the next grade level and eventually high school graduation.

Students involved in Communities in Schools of Brunswick County.
Communities in Schools of Brunswick County’s Action for Success is an evidence-based Dropout Prevention Program that works by building relationships that remove the barriers to learning and improve ways our community responds to needs of at-risk students and their families. (Courtesy of CIS Brunswick County)

CIS was founded on the belief that “it’s relationships, not programs that change children.” As such, CIS brings together skilled professional staff and dedicated community volunteers to provide multi-tiered interventions that address student needs in a comprehensive manner.

In the 2015-2016 school year, CIS programs resulted in more than 3,500 students receiving vital supports and learning opportunities including academic tutoring, social enrichment, STEM project-based learning, and other intervention services that reach far beyond the classroom.

The Action for Success Program worked with 284 individual case-managed students to provide the supports and services they needed, resulting in 99 percent of those students being promoted to the next grade level. As CIS moves forward, it will continue to focus its efforts on reducing the dropout rate and ensuring that all students have an equal opportunity to learn and be successful.

Students involved in Brunswick County's Communities In Schools (CIS) Before and After School Programs.
CIS of Brunswick County, in partnership with Brunswick County Schools, operates Before and After School Programs for children in select elementary school sites around the county. The mission of our Before and After School Programs is to enrich the lives of children academically, socially, culturally, emotionally and physically while providing a safe and caring environment. (Courtesy of CIS of Brunswick County)

As chairwomen of the Board of Directors of CIS of Brunswick County, Dr. Susanne Adams notes “it is a privilege to be involved with an organization that has such an outstanding history in helping students achieve their goals. Thank you, Brunswick County, for your continued support of and investment in the success of our county’s future in students.”

-Content provided by Dr. Susanne Adams, Board of Directors Chair, CIS

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