KPS salutes Communities In Schools and all those who work with it on a regular basis to partner with our schools. Together, we can make a stronger community, one that fully supports our children, particularly those who have been born and live under the most challenging circumstances and who need our greatest efforts the very most.
The community has given rise to so much philanthropy over many decades, most notably The Kalamazoo Promise®, continues to give to those in need. In its collaboration with the district, the community, its volunteers, and its partner organizations, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo is an example of the spirit of giving for which Kalamazoo is known.
This spirit of giving is paying off. In each of the last five years, KPS has had rising enrollment. In each of the last four years, KPS has generated higher reading and math state test results at the elementary and middle school levels. In the last three years, 130% more students have taken high school Advanced Placement (AP) tests and 174% more AP courses have been taken. During the same period, numbers of African-American, economically disadvantaged, and Hispanic students taking AP courses have increased by 311%, 298%, and 750%, respectively. We are working hard in Kalamazoo to create a literacy community and a college-going culture.
Every day, the Kalamazoo Public Schools educate 12,400 students with the support of a caring, progressive community. Though our challenges are substantial in a district with 69% of the children eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, we are fortunate to have significant means and good will at our disposal at the same time.
Michael F. Rice, Ph.D., Superintendent, Kalamazoo Public Schools
www.kalamazoopublicschools.com
The Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce recently celebrated 108 years as an organization. Our history is embedded with a clear recognition that education and economic vitality are interdependent. Our founding of Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo in 2003, along with the City of Kalamazoo and the Kalamazoo Public Schools, is a reflection of that recognition. The Chamber and its members are vitally interested in the educational success of every student so that they are prepared to contribute to the continued prosperity of the region—as members of an educated workforce, as business owners, as inventors and entrepreneurs, and as the business leaders of tomorrow.
The Chamber and its members have made a commitment to Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo because it provides a vehicle for the community to participate in assuring the success of students and the schools overall. There is an efficiency in having a single coordinated system for bringing the resources of the community to bear on students and schools which have greater needs for multiple kinds of interventions to assure greater success.
Businesses considering relocation or expansion want strong, effective schools. CIS contributes to the strength of the schools and its students by allowing area employees to mentor and tutor students and the Chamber has encouraged businesses to consider policies that support this effort. CIS measures its results and reports its impact to its funders and donors—its "shareholders," if you will. In an independent evaluation, the Communities In Schools Model of Integrated Student Services that is used here in Kalamazoo, has been demonstrated to achieve significantly better results in 4th and 8th grade reading and math scores, in reducing drop-out rates, and in improving on-time graduation rates.
The Chamber celebrated its 108th birthday by affirming its commitment to business support of education. Part of that commitment is to continue its support of Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo as a vital part of the strategy for business to demonstrate its investment in the success of our young people.
Steward Sandstrom, President and CEO, Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce
www.kazoochamber.com
The City of Kalamazoo has long understood the relationship of school success with community vitality, quality of life, and economic development. In 1998, the City leadership first approached the Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Trustees with this idea of "Communities In Schools" as a way for the community and its resources to systematically support students, individual schools, and the School District in removing barriers and achieving greater success.
The City has reaffirmed its commitment to this public-private partnership each and every year since, and in 2003 joined with the School District and the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce to formalize a strong three-way agreement among K-12 education, the business community, and city government. This three-legged stool—education, parents, and the broader community—continues to be recognized by the City of Kalamazoo as a critical investment in the next generation of leaders, of workers, of parents, of entrepreneurs, of civic-minded citizens and volunteers which are the essential ingredients for the future of this place we love so much.
As the home of The Kalamazoo Promise®, we claim ourselves as "the education community." And we recognize in that declaration, the responsibility to do our part in ensuring that all of our children have the support that they need to succeed in school and in the world. The City of Kalamazoo once again reaffirms its commitment to Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo and to the hundreds of individuals and organizations in the CIS partnership who mentor, tutor, counsel, feed, soothe, clothe, develop, heal, and educate our kids.
Bobby Hopewell, Mayor, City of Kalamazoo
www.kalamazoocity.org
Back Home