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Communities In Schools of Palm Beach County, Inc. [CIS] began in 1984. It was brought to our community by Murray Goodman, President of the Goodman Corporation, who was a Community In Schools National board member. He had moved his corporate offices to this area and wanted to bring a “gift”. After a needs assessment and some discussions with both the business leaders and the school district, CIS began as a school based program at the high school level under the umbrella of Dropout Prevention.
Providing quality service to students for over 35 years.
The pilot program for Palm Beach County, as well as the state, was located at Twin Lakes High School. The model adopted for CIS of Palm Beach County was a Classroom Model. This pilot served 70 students. CIS of Palm Beach County spent a good deal of time with assistance from community partners, to develop a structure, framework and accountability system which reflected the program developed for Palm Beach County. Based on that success, CIS began to expand throughout the schools in the county. Through good funding structures, especially the Children’s Services Council, CIS was able to expand services rapidly in 1989. Through the CIS Florida state office CIS was able to secure legislative line item appropriations as a CIS State allocation. In 1996 CIS was fortunate to partner with Take Stock In Children, a state-wide organization, which selected CIS Palm Beach County to be one of their lead agencies in implementing this scholarship/mentoring program. This program assisted CIS in expanding both services and funding. (In 2003 Take Stock In Children became a stand alone program.)
Communities In School is funded by local individuals that have a heart for education of our youth. Other funding sources include: The Board of County Commission of Palm Beach County, Bank of America, Wachovia, Weight Watchers of Palm Beach County, Inc., and JJ Taylor Companies, Inc.
In the fall of 2000 CIS, in partnership with CIS National, the Simon Youth Foundation, Palm Beach Community College and the School District of Palm Beach County, began an Education Resource Center at the Palm Beach Mall. CIS Board of Directors, in 2003, determined that the agency needed to return to its basics. In December of that year, Take Stock In Children became an independent, self sustaining agency no longer under the umbrella of Communities In Schools of Palm Beach County. Staff was realigned and a return to basics was completed.
At Communities In Schools, everything we do is guided by the “Five Basics.” Developed by our founder Bill Milliken, the Five Basics are a set of essentials that every child needs and deserves: