School Partnerships

CIS of Chicago’s School Partnership Team collaborates with school leaders, including principals and guidance counselors, to understand the types of supports their students need to succeed. Once the priorities of each school are identified, the School Partnership Team coordinates with an extensive network of community partners to link a range of support programs and services, as well as essential resources.

The programming that CIS of Chicago connects to schools fits into four main categories: arts enrichment, behavioral and mental health, college and career readiness, and physical health and wellness. All programming is provided at no cost to schools or students. These connections have a direct, positive impact on students’ academic performance in reading and math, as documented by a 2015 gold-standard evaluation of the Partnership Program.

During the 2019-20 academic year, CIS of Chicago partnered with 175 Chicago Public Schools and 165 community partners, positively impacting the lives of more than 59,254 students.

Supporting our school partners and their communities was top of mind for the School Partnership Team. We worked with the Community Partnership Team on a COVID-19 Resource Guide, presented new resources available to school communities and families in a Monday Memo, and made calls to principals to understand their needs. The School Partnership Team wanted to maintain the same level of care and connection with school partners that existed pre-pandemic.