Welcome

Empowering students for a lifetime of success - this is what Communities In Schools is all about.

The mission of Communities In Schools is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.  By partnering with schools to address children's unmet needs, CIS provides the link between educators and the community.  The result:  teachers are free to teach, and students - many in jeopardy of dropping out - have the opportunity to focus on learning.

Who we are

Communities In Schools of Pittsburgh-Allegheny County (CIS) is a private, non-profit dropout prevention organization that is an affiliate of the nation's largest stay-in-school network. Through our In-school programs, After-school programs, and Alternative Learning Academies, Communities In Schools connects students and their families to critical community resources, tailored to individual needs.

Partnering with school districts throughout Allegheny County, Communities In Schools serves nearly 2000 young people and their families every year.  Nationally, Communities In Schools has become our country's leading dropout prevention organization, and the only one proven to significantly decrease dropout rates, increase graduation rates, and increase math and literacy proficiency.

Please click here to view a video about our organization and click here to read about a five-year longitudinal study being conducted by ICF International.

Success Stories

Shreen grew up in foster care after having lost her mother when she was 9 years
old. Shreen, a young mother of four, spent several years in our program striving to earn her
high school diploma after dropping out of a local high school. CIS was able to be flexible with her schedule
so that she could be a responsible mother while completing her high school education. Of
course, this took a lot of time, but Shreen remained focused and completed all of her required
coursework. While she was a student, she attended our week long BIZ CAMP, where she
competed in a business plan competition. She shared first place, for developing an innovative
plan to create a housing program for young mothers and fathers. After completing our program,
she successfully completed Job Corps certification program for registered nursing assistants;
at the Job Corps graduation, Shreen was selected as the one student speaker on behalf
of her class of over 50 students. She is now working as a nursing assistant and is enrolled in
Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) with an ultimate goal of becoming a registered
nurse.

Please click here for more success stories.