The mission of Communities In Schools of North Texas is to provide and coordinate community based solutions that equip at-risk students to overcome barriers, succeed in school and prepare for life.

Communities In Schools of North Texas Announces Dropout Prevention Programs Closing

August 21, 2008 CDT

As the new school year begins for seven north Texas schools, students who are at-risk of dropping out of school will not have the support they received from their community last year. Communities In Schools of North Texas (CISNT), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, has closed dropout prevention programs at seven schools due to financial constraints.

CISNT programs have been discontinued at Griffin Middle School and Hedrick Middle School in Lewisville ISD; Brent Intermediate School, Powell Intermediate School and Lakeside Junior High School in Little Elm ISD; Prairie View Elementary School and Chisholm Trail Middle School in Northwest ISD. School administrators were notified of the potential for program closures earlier this year.

"Closing dropout prevention programs at these schools was a very difficult decision for us to make", states CISNT CEO Gary Henderson. "We explored every possible avenue to secure the financial support needed to continue these programs but it simply wasn’t there. The school district superintendents have been very supportive, but needless to say we are all very disappointed to not be there for the students we supported last year."

CISNT currently plans to operate 21 campus programs across Denton and Wise counties during the 2008-09 school year. In spite of these program closings, CISNT will serve a record number of students this school year. Last year, over 1,000 CISNT volunteer mentors donated more than 14,000 hours helping at-risk students. CISNT and their partners will increase the number of mentors for at-risk students again this school year. In total, CISNT staff and volunteers delivered over 137,000 dropout prevention services last year.

To learn more about Communities In Schools of North Texas, visit www.CISNT.org or call (972) 436-6377. The mission of CISNT is to coordinate and provide community-based solutions that challenge students at-risk of dropping out of school to overcome barriers, succeed in school and prepare for life.

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