Independent research, funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, demonstrates that Communities In Schools is one of a very few organizations proven to keep students in school and the only one to document that it increases graduation rates. The same study also shows that a higher percentage of students served by CIS have higher 4th and 8th grade reading and math scores.
An independent non-profit entity, associated with but distinct from the Kalamazoo Public Schools and The Kalamazoo Promise®, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo fully adopted the CIS Integrated Student Services Model in 2010. CIS is a critical component of the "cradle to career" infrastructure that is required to assure that children with significant socio-economic disadvantage receive the necessary continuum of support to become self-sufficient, contributing young adults.