Annual
Report
2021

Student Supports Managers provided ongoing support to 803 students in the 2020-21 school year. During remote learning, Student Supports Managers provided virtual support, meeting with students individually, leading groups, facilitating lunch hour activities, and more on Google platforms. They continued connecting their school communities with programs and resources, and they made sure that families had support.

Student Supports Managers made themselves available to parents via a TeleSupport line, and thanks to grants from A Better Chicago and Jackson Financial, they provided families with emergency fund relief. Student Supports Managers also shared lists of community resources with families, including contacts for food distribution, legal aid, mental health support, telehealth, and COVID-19 testing.

During hybrid learning, Student Supports Managers returned to the school. They helped students and families navigate trauma from the pandemic and readjust to in-person learning. Of the 803 students who received ongoing, tailored support in 2020-21, 99 percent either graduated or were promoted to the next grade. Fewer than 1 percent dropped out.

“The stressors that youth have faced throughout the COVID pandemic are both familiar and new at the same time. Familiar challenges like making friends became extremely difficult, but new challenges cropped up in remote learning, like possessing adequate technology. Added to these, however, are significant traumas like the death of a family member, financial strain, and a higher degree of anxiety,” said Allison Brown, Associate Director of Integrated Student Supports. “The Intensive Program helped provide students with a measure of predictability and consistency amidst ongoing changes in their world.”

In 2020, CIS of Chicago also launched an initiative called Freshmen Rising. The initiative pairs ninth graders who received CIS services in elementary school with a dedicated Freshmen Rising Coordinator. Our Freshmen Rising Coordinator supports students with monthly check-ins, a weekly student group, structured lessons around social-emotional learning, and resources for their support systems. Research shows that if students are on track in their ninth-grade year, their odds of graduating improve significantly.

“Freshmen On Track Indicators are proven as key indicators of successful high school completion,” said Paul Fagen, Field Supervisor. “By providing group supports and individual check-ins to discuss these Indicators, our Freshmen Rising Coordinator supports these students as they make this most important shift from eighth grade to high school.”