About Us

Our mission

is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.

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2020-2021 School Year

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16

counties

1 urban | 15 rural

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1,017

case managed students

444 urban | 573 rural

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40

partner schools

17 urban | 23 rural

Organization Timeline

2012-13

2013-14

2015-16

2014-15

  • CIS-TN is established 

  • 3 schools in Nashville

  • 4 schools in Nashville

  • Memphis added to the CIS-TN network

  • 5 schools in Nashville

  • 2 schools in Memphis

  • 7 schools in Nashville

  • 13 schools in Memphis

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

  • 6 schools in Nashville

  • 19 schools in Memphis

  • 6 schools in Nashville

  • 21 schools in Memphis

  • 17 schools in Nashville

  • 16 schools in Memphis

  • 18 schools in Nashville

  • CIS-TN launches a three-year pilot program in
    23 rural high schools

Founding Task Force

 

The following community members came together to begin the work of CIS in the state of Tennessee.

Alene Arnold 

Executive Director | Tech Plus Tennessee

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Hal Cato 

CEO | Thistle Farms

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Alice Chapman

Managing Partner | MP&F Communications

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Lonnell Matthews

Director | Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods & Community Engagement

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Sean McCray

Manager | HCA

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Candice McQueen

Commissioner | Tennessee Department of Education

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Danielle Mezera

Education Consultant

Kathryn Kubiak-Rizzone

Physical Therapist

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Julie Simone

Lipscomb University

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Jim Shulman

Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability

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Ronnie Stenie

Councilman-At-Large

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Kaki Friskics-Warren

Executive Director | Dan & Margaret Maddox Charitable Fund

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Jeff Yarbo

Tennessee State Senator

National Network

The story of CIS began in the 1970s, when Founder Bill Milliken, then a youth advocate in New York City, came up with the idea of bringing community resources inside public schools – where they are accessible, coordinated, and accountable.  Operating in more than 2,300 schools in the most challenged communities of 25 states and the District of Columbia, CIS serves 1.5 million young people and their families each year.

It’s relationships, not programs, that change children. A great program simply creates the environment for healthy relationships to form between adults and children. Young people thrive when adults care about them on a one-to-one level, and when they also have a sense of belonging to a caring community.

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– Bill Milliken, Founder & Vice Chairman of Communities In Schools, Inc.