A still relatively new organization is now expanding to help impact the lives of local students at both the elementary and high school levels.
Communities in Schools, a non-profit organization which provides support services for at-risk K-12 students came to Emporia in the fall of 2017 and established their services at Logan Avenue and Walnut Elementary schools. The organization is represented by site coordinators located at each of the schools.
The main mission of the organization is to help break down barriers for students to help them succeed in the classroom. Victoria Partridge of Communities in Schools explains what those barriers may entail.
In order to properly serve students, the organization performs a base needs assessment at each school at the beginning of the school year. Site coordinators also pull base data for individual 1 on 1 case management services which they use to help track the progress of students in their care as the year goes on.
Partridge explains how students come to be in their services.
According to Partridge greater than 80 percent of students in their case management services see improvement.
With the success of the programs at local elementary schools, the USD 253 Board of Education granted Communities in Schools to expand their services to Emporia High School in November. Partridge explains as the needs assessment is ongoing it is uncertain exactly what specific services will be needed at EHS, however, she says there will be some differences between the high school and elementary programs.
The site coordinator for Emporia High began their first day on last Wednesday.
Partridge and Camille Abdel-Jawad also tell KVOE News volunteers are needed at both the high school and elementary schools. According to Abdel-Jawad, this includes tutors and lunch buddies, individuals who serve as mentors and share lunch with individual students to check in with them on a regular basis.
To volunteer with Communities in Schools contact Camille Abdel-Jawad by calling 913-314-2854. For more information on Communities in Schools visit www.communitiesinschools.org.
