Our mission is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
Providing Holistic Support
Chicago’s public-school students and their families have endured unprecedented challenges since the start of the decade. A global pandemic, increased violence, and rising economic insecurity have taken a significant toll on our schools. The U.S. Surgeon General recently named mental health as an area of serious concern for today’s youth and issued a call to action for all caring adults.
Communities In Schools (CIS) of Chicago responds to these challenges by ensuring that students have access to the supports they need to strengthen their mental health and overall wellbeing. Our team does this by providing direct services to individual students, as well as coordinating the supports provided by community partners, to bolster entire school communities. Through all this work, CIS of Chicago empowers students to feel safe and secure, unlock their potential, and ultimately achieve in school and life.
Impact In Our Community
Chicago Public Schools students benefited from programs and services provided by or connected through CIS of Chicago.*
students in grades K-12 were served by Student Supports Managers. Together, they created a plan to develop the skills and access the resources these students need to reach their full potential.*
schools were served by CIS team members, who linked community partner programming that addressed student and school needs.*
*Data from the 2021-22 school year
Latest News
Mental Health In Schools
With the pandemic changing how students have been taught in schools the past few years, mental health has become a big point of emphasis with
Chicago Sun-Times: Students of All Ages Need Hands-On Experiences in Career Education
Schools and students are eager to explore career opportunities. In our latest thought piece, our CEO Jane Mentzinger reflects on the importance of providing these
Newsradio WBBM: Non-profit provides basic supplies to CPS students
“We have many many willing partners that are in this space working with people across the region to source items that families need.” CIS of
Shoutout to our longtime partner @imaginationtheater_chicago for coming out to Rowe E.S. today and providing one of their social issues assemblies to students.
In their multi-decade collaboration with our organization, Imagination Theater has helped dozens of CIS network schools to create safe spaces for young people to learn about important topics like safe touch, self esteem , and building + relationships.
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The dynamic duo - aka Robin and Shipra, our Senior Directors of Partnerships and Integrated Student Supports - visited @chipubschools Office of Faith Based Initiatives this week to learn more about its Save Havens program and explore collaboration opportunities.
Thanks @cps for hosting us!
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Happy International Social Emotional Learning Day!
Whether it’s working cooperatively to problem solve to complete a puzzle, like these primary school students at one of our Little Village school partners, learning coping skills, or practicing self-care techniques, SEL is integral to a strong education.
For that reason, our team at CIS of Chicago is committed to providing schools with a wealth of SEL supports - from the direct work our school-based staff offer individual students to the resources our community partner network provide at no cost for entire classrooms and grade levels.
In fact, SEL is a core to our mission of surrounding students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieving life.
#internationalselday
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This week Jeanette, our Students Supports Mgr at Eberhart E.S., launched the All Things Social Group. For the first meeting, students created an “All About Me” collage, and then shared it with their peers.
This activity helped the students build self-awareness and self-pride while also helping build positions relationships with their classmates. Nice job, y’all!
#allinforkids
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International Social Emotional Learning Day is Friday. So the rest of the week we’ll be sharing examples of how our Program team promotes SEL in their work with students.
Here a 6th grade student at Hefferan E.S. in West Garfield Park reads to kindergarten students. For the 6th grader, reading to younger students helps her to develop leadership, patience, and problem-solving skills. For the kindergartners, it’s an opportunity for someone they look up to - literally! - to reinforce the importance of a lifelong skill.
#internationalselday
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Thanks to @argonne_education , @zurichna , @mwdh2o , and #chicagoareahealtheducation for coming out to @mariasaucedoscholasticacademy for 8th Grade Career STEM Day, sponsored by @siemens_usa
The students had fun and learned a ton!
#stemeducation
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For our latest Inspiring Futures sessions, students from @ellisonlions in Auburn-Gresham participated in an awesome workplace mentoring event, with members of the Midwest Division of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Associate Board.
The event was hosted at the Loop offices of CNA Insurance, and provided the Ellison students opportunities to participate in team-building activities with the Associate Board members, learn more about careers in the insurance industry, and tour a corporate office setting.
Thanks to our partners at the Midwest Division of @iicf for making this great visit possible for our students!
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Happy Women’s History Month!
We are inspired this month, and every month, by the countless contributions women have made to advancing educational equity in Chicago and across the USA!
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Our teammates at CIS of Chicago work hard and play hard. Last week, when school was out, Jessica’s team had a blast at a team-building event at our partner @escape.artistry
They solved the famous Rail Car Challenge and avoided being nabbed by a Gotham City-level sinister villain. That’s what you call an adventurous day at work. 🛤🦹♀️
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Check out our CEO’s op-ed today in the
Sun-Times about the importance of career education across the K-12 space.
You can access the story here!:
tinyurl.com/yc6p8wn8
#careereducation
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We are honored to be one of many dedicated organizations in Chicago awarded a Cook County Gun Violence Prevention and Reduction Grant.
Yesterday our CEO Jane joined our long-time partner @kwoe at a press conference announcing the new awardee cycle. Thank you to @cookcountygov for the opportunity to be part of this important work in the county in which all our school partners are located.
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This weekend, Katia (left) and Clare (right), both members of our Partnership Program team, attended “Chlorine Sky” at our arts partner @steppenwolfthtr
The play, based on a young adult novel by Mahogany L. Browne, is part of the theater’s nationally recognized Young Adults series, which is focused on creating professional dramatic productions for teens and family audiences.
We’re thankful for Rae Taylor (center), who as manager of educational partnerships at Steppenwolf, has helped us to offer this opportunity to our network high schools!
#artseducation
#yaliterature
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