SCHOOL TIES

Communities In Schools of Tennessee’s raison d’être aligns perfectly with the adage, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Founded locally in 2012 under the umbrella of the national Communities In Schools office, the organization works to solve some of the biggest hurdles to successful education by offering community-driven solutions.

CIS has subsidiaries in 25 states, in which focuses vary depending on the key issues affecting students in those communities. Locally, according to the State of Tennessee Department of Education, the 2017 to 2018 rate of chronic absenteeism was 13.3 percent. With myriad