Dropout prevention campaign will enhance S.C.'s future

I am pleased to inform your readers that last month South Carolina joined a national dropout prevention campaign by holding its first summit in Columbia, which was focused on increasing on-time graduation rates.

In most states, there is a significant variation between state, federal and independent reports of graduation rates. Yet everyone is in agreement that too many of our young people are not finishing high school, which creates a growing economic challenge as these dropouts seek stable employment.

During the summit in Columbia, State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex told the audience, "The United States is the only industrialized country in the world whose children are now less likely to graduate from high school than their parents."

There is a solution to this startling dilemma. Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area, Inc., an affiliate of the 31-year-old national Communities In Schools organization, was created in 1989 to help address the dropout issue in the Lowcountry. Compared to evidence-based dropout prevention programs listed in the Department of Education's What Works Clearinghouse program, the Communities In Schools model is one of a very few in the United States that is proven to keep students in school.

It is the only dropout prevention program in the nation that has been proven to increase graduation rates.Currently, your local Communities In Schools organization is providing services in 16 schools in Charleston and Berkeley counties.

CIS was founded on the concept that students can and will achieve academic success when resources to address their academic and social-service needs are individually tailored, professionally coordinated and readily accessible.

Communities In Schools provides services for students inside schools with resources that most often already exist within the community. Whether a student needs eyeglasses, help with homework, a nutritious meal, life-skills instruction or anger management, Communities In Schools will locate the resources and deliver them inside the schools, where students spend much of their time. Through the efforts of a single point of contact, which is our student support specialist placed at the school, we can assess a student's needs and make research-based connections between the student and select community resources.

We are very proud of our student support specialists, and we know how deeply they care about the children they serve. They are professionals trained to help students break the dropout cycle. Over the past eight years, the promotion rate for students involved with Communities In Schools has averaged 91 percent, and the graduation rate of our seniors has averaged 95 percent.

As you can see, the answer is the combination of providing basic needs and implementing proven, effective strategies such as mentoring, tutoring, service-learning and life-skills instruction, implemented by trained adults who truly care.

As Communities In Schools looks ahead this year — our 20th anniversary — we are grateful to the community for its support, and we recognize that our successes would not have been possible without the generous support of our friends.

We want to thank the Lowcountry for recognizing how Communities In Schools is improving our community today and will make a positive impact on our economy in the future, by providing an educated workforce.

If you would like to learn more about Communities In Schools or would like to join our success story by serving as a mentor or tutor, we would love to hear from you.

I invite you to visit our Web site at cischarleston.org, or call (843) 740-6793 for more information. Together, we can make a difference.

JANE G. RILEY
Executive Director
Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area, Inc.

WINNIE N. CROWDER
Director of Development
Communities In Schools
E. Montague Avenue
North Charleston