Communities In Schools of the Dallas Region is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded locally in 1985. The Communities In Schools intervention is a series of evidence-based best practices within the community school model, placing trained staff on campuses to provide daily intervention to high-need students and families. The four main components of service delivery include academics, behavior/mental health, social services, and attendance. Once these barriers to success are addressed, Communities In Schools is able to re-direct these K–12 children towards improved outcomes in a coordinated, caring, and individualized way.
In partnership with fourteen area school districts, Communities In Schools of the Dallas Region is housed on a total of 113 Elementary, Middle and High School campuses to address the issues that place a child on the Texas Education Agency’s statewide “at-risk” list. These indicators measure a student’s potential academic success based on a series of key points in the child’s history (failed standardized test, failed core subjects, limited English proficiency, etc). Many of these markers are beyond the students’ control (foster care, family crisis, etc), but based on TEA metrics, it places them at a higher risk of dropping out of school, retention, and failure to complete high school in four years.