Communities In Schools of Los Angeles

Communities in Schools of Los Angeles (cisla) is an independent affiliate of Communities in Schools (cis), the nation's largest and most effective dropout prevention organization, proven to both increase on-time graduation rates and decrease dropout rates. Cisla partners with Los Angeles unified school district (lausd) in four title 1 high Schools, six title 1 middle Schools, and three title 1 elementary Schools across the district, delivering an evidence-based and data-driven approach to 11,000 students annually. Cisla is opening two new elementary Schools in watts this year. Cisla places site coordinators, extensively trained social service professionals, directly into its partner Schools to be champions for students, supporting both individual student and school-wide needs. (see sch o) at the individual student level, cisla site coordinators partner with school leadership to identify the 5%-10% of students who are most at risk of dropping out and therefore need the most intensive support. Site coordinators provide one-on-one support to these students while also brokering and coordinating community-based resources to ensure that every student's unique needs are met, allowing them to come to school prepared to learn and achieve their goals. At the school-wide level, site coordinators work with school leaders to identify whole-school challenges and articulate the most critical priorities for the year. Cisla site coordinators then develop and implement a site plan, which consists of activities directly tailored to addressing each school'Schools's individual priorities. This includes developing initiatives that address priorities like attendance, college and career readiness, behavior issues and parent engagement. By supporting both individual student and school-wide needs, cisla effectively increases graduation rates, and decreases dropout rates in high-need schools.cisla's presence at its Schools has correlated in all cases to a significant increase in graduation rates since implementing its program, averaging 25% increase at the Schools where they have been for 5+ years. At hamilton high, for example, the whole-school graduation rates have increased by 16% since cisla programming began at both in 2007. At mendez high, the graduation rate in just six years of partnership has increased by 35%.