A Look Back….
Having almost doubled in size since 2019, Communities In Schools of the Dallas Region was in high demand at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year. The year was full of new and exciting challenges, punctuated by the return to full-time in-person learning on our campuses. Site coordinators began the fall semester still somewhat unaware of what the impact would be on their students after more than a year of COVID-19 disruption. It soon became apparent that students were struggling to find motivation to return to school, complete assignments, connect with peers, or even get out of bed every day. Additionally, learning loss as a result of virtual schooling was top-of-mind for school administrators, along with concerning attendance records. Luckily, addressing attendance and behavior alongside academics and social services are the core components of CIS.
CIS Dallas served on 148 public school campuses in the 2021-22 school year, spanning across 16 independent school districts in 9 North Texas counties (Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Greyson, Hunt, Kaufman, Tarrant, and Rains).
- Early Learning Centers – 3
- Elementary Schools – 68
- Middle Schools – 42
- High Schools – 35
Overall, 10,483 unduplicated students were served through individualized case management services. This number represents a diverse constituency of 46% male and 54% female students. The racial/ethnic breakdown was as follows:
- 46% Hispanic/LatinX
- 36% Black/African American
- 14% White
- 3% Asian
- 1% Other
Of those 10,483 students, 83% improved in academics, 69% improved in school attendance, and 61% improved in behavioral issues. Additionally, 89% of eligible high school seniors graduated on-time, 99% promoted to the next grade, and 99.8% remained in school for the entire year.
Site coordinators provide a variety of services to students based on their unique needs. Some students may be referred for seemingly simple reasons, like missing homework assignments or late arrivals. However, when the site coordinator gets to know the student and considers all aspects of their situation, deeper reasons for the issues often present themselves. For example, approximately 54% of students that CIS served last year self-identified as experiencing a mental health challenge. Our model of support identifies and addresses each challenge in a holistic, personalized way.
Throughout the year, CIS staff provided 101,185 unique services to students across all campuses and conducted 1,828 home visits. To aid in treatment, CIS partnered with 63 nonprofits and community organizations to provide referrals, basic need services, healthcare, and donations to students and their families.
A Look Into the Future…
In the 2022-23 school year, CIS Dallas will be present on 134 public school campuses, spread across 14 independent school districts in 7 different counties. Our goals for the year include:
- Serving 10,400 students through individualized case-management
- 85% improving in academics, 70% improving in school attendance, and 85% improving in behavioral issues
- Offering clinical/psychoeducational groups facilitated by licensed CIS clinicians
- Training 500 individuals in Youth Mental Health First Aid
Communities In Schools of the Dallas Regions remain, above all, committed to the health and safety of our students and staff. We are hopeful the new school year will bring life-changing interventions to students across our region who need them the most. To support the ongoing services provided by CIS Dallas, please click the “donate” button located at the top righthand corner of this page.
*Outputs of service are preliminary and undergo an audit process in partnership with the Texas Education Agency. We anticipate these results will not change, but will have finalized all numbers by December 2022.