ANNUAL REPORT 2018-2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS I | OUR MISSION II | FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO III | WHO WE SERVE IV | WHERE WE SERVE V | OUR WORK VI | EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACT VII | OUR COMMITMENT VIII | PARTNERS IX | FINANCIALS X | MAJOR DONORS XI | 40TH ANNIVERSARY XII | TIMELINE XIII | BOARD OF DIRECTORS XIV | TRIBUTE TO CYNTHIA CLAY BRIGGS OUR MISSION The mission of Communities In Schools of Houston is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. At Communities In Schools of Houston, we amplify the power of each student’s potential by connecting them to caring adults and community resources designed to help them succeed. We’re by their side every day, supporting them in ways that go beyond the classroom, such as providing one-on-one guidance and counseling and facilitating support groups. If additional support is needed, CIS knits together a powerful network of partners—including volunteers, social service agencies, mental health providers, and educators—that help students stay focused, so they can go further tomorrow. 4 40TH ANNIVERSARY LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT This year is Communities In Schools of drive CIS’s growth and evolution as the future unfolds. We could Houston’s 40th year of serving the students not be more excited to have Lisa leading us moving forward. of the greater Houston area. It is a year for A milestone like our 40th year is also a great time to think about celebration of achievements accomplished, the future. Communities In Schools of Houston is approaching our next 40 years in a very strong position. Our evidence-based and a year of excitement and optimism model, which is rigorously measured and tested, is adaptable to about our next 40 years. the needs of each student. Built on the power of creating one-on- one relationships between our campus-based Student Support First, I must start with a heartfelt thanks and a huge job well done Specialists and students, our program is driving amazing results to Cynthia Clay Briggs, our amazing Chief Executive Officer who and heartwarming individual success stories. All our school retired at the end of this year after being with us throughout our children deserve a chance to succeed in life and CIS lends a entire 40 years of existence. Bob Gower, our President Emeritus, critical hand to help them achieve. was there with Cynthia from the start and added: “In my long career working with many very capable and accomplished people, So, our future is bright. Communities In Schools of Houston is Cynthia is among the very best I have collaborated with”. I can achieving remarkable results (99% of our case-managed students only add that having worked closely with Cynthia through the stayed in school) and we are helping unlock incredible potential in last 5 years of my Presidency, I have an unending respect for her our students. The demand for our services is strong and more and dedication, talents and ability to bring people together and solve more schools are reaching out to partner with CIS to provide our the most difficult of problems. Thank you, Cynthia, for everything program to their students in need. We will continue to need your you have done of us, and we wish you a most fulfilling retirement. help to meet this demand. All of what CIS accomplishes is only made possible due to your generous support. As CIS grows, we One of Cynthia’s lasting contributions to CIS is how well hope you will grow your generous support of our very functioning and effective she left the program. With the financial needed services. downturn in our local economy over the prior few years, CIS continued delivering its vital services while carefully managing our I thank you again for all that you do for Communities In School of resources. Our bounce back in fund raising last year and this year Houston, and it is only through your continued support that we has allowed us to replenish the prior short years and continue to can deliver life changing services to our Houston area students in grow our presence on school campuses. We were able to serve in need. We thank you for your ongoing trust. 159 campuses this year, up from 140 the prior year, and we expect Thank you, continued growth due to the demand for our critical services. We are also very strong organizationally. CIS has reliable DAVID SAMBROOKS processes and procedures, and excellent bench strength. After President of the Board conducting a wide search for our next Chief Executive Officer, the Board was very pleased to determine that the best candidate to carry us forward was Lisa Descant, CIS’s Chief Operating Officer. Lisa brings the combination of a deep understanding of how CIS works and what makes us so effective, along with a passion to “All our school children deserve a chance to succeed in life and CIS lends a critical hand to help them achieve.” CIS ANNUAL REPORT 2018-2019 5 LETTER FROM THE CEO 40 years ago a collaborative effort focused What was a dream in 1979, is now a systemic force for progress on keeping students in school and on in the Houston region. Whether a student needs mental health counseling, tutoring, a trip to the dentist, school supplies, a path to high school graduation was or a safe place to live, CIS Student Support Specialists are launched in Houston. The Communities on campuses making the needed difference for hundreds of In Schools of Houston (CIS) program thousands of students and families. Those of us now privileged to carry forward this commitment to students for the next 40 years was initiated by Judge Wyatt Heard in are grateful for your ongoing support, without which none of this partnership with Houston Independent would be possible. School District (HISD) Superintendent Billy With warm thanks, Reagan, Chamber of Commerce President Louie Welch, Houston Mayor Jim McConn LISA DESCANT, LPC-S, and numerous other community and LMFT-S business leaders. And at the center of the CEO model then and always has been Cynthia Clay Briggs, the very first CIS Social Worker turned long-tenured Chief Executive Officer. This coalition of community-minded, youth-focused leaders passionately believed in the need to bring support services directly to students, but could not possibly have imagined what CIS would grow into. This past year alone, CIS served more than 120,000 students on 159 campuses across Greater Houston. In addition to more than 60 campuses within HISD, CIS now partners with campuses throughout Alief, Fort Bend and Spring Branch ISDs, as well as Southwest Charter Schools, Houston Community College and Lone Star College. CIS is a robust network of nearly 200 dedicated Student Support Specialists utilizing an evidence- based model to deliver critical supports to students through meaningful relationships while leveraging invaluable community partnerships. And enclosed in this report, you will see the powerful impact of the CIS model through both numbers and stories. “What was a dream in 1979, is now a systemic force for progress in the Houston region.” 6 40TH ANNIVERSARY WHO WE SERVE 2018-2019 PROGRAM SITES ALIEF ISD COMMUNITY COLLEGES Longfellow Elementary School Housman Elementary School Albright Middle School Houston Community College – Madison High School Landrum Middle School Spring Branch Alexander Elementary School Marshall Elementary School The Lion Lane School Lone Star College – Cy-Fair Alief Learning Center McNamara Elementary School Meadow Wood Lone Star College – Greenspoint Elementary School Alief Middle School Middle College High Lone Star College – North Harris School at HCC Gulfton Memorial High School Best Elementary School Lone Star College – Tomball Milby High School Memorial Middle School Boone Elementary School Lone Star College – Milne Elementary School Northbrook High School Budewig Intermediate School University Park Mitchell Elementary School Northbrook Middle School Bush Elementary School Lone Star College – Neff Early Learning Center Nottingham Elementary School Chambers Elementary School Victory Center Neff Elementary School The Panda Path School Chancellor Elementary School North Forest High School Pine Shadows Elementary School Collins Elementary School FORT BEND ISD North Houston Early College HS Ridgecrest Elementary School Crossroads Christa McAuliffe Middle School Northside High School Rummel Creek Elementary Cummings Elementary School School HOUSTON ISD Port Houston Elementary School Elsik High School Shadow Oaks Elementary School Atherton Elementary School Pershing Middle School Elsik Ninth Grade Center Sherwood Elementary School Attucks Middle School Robinson Elementary School Hastings High School Spring Branch Elementary School Austin High School Scarborough High School Hastings Ninth Grade Center Spring Branch Middle School Bastian Elementary School Secondary DAEP School Hearne Elementary School Spring Forest Middle School Benavidez Elementary School Seguin Elementary School Heflin Elementary School Spring Oaks Middle School Bonham Elementary School Sharpstown High School Hicks Elementary School Spring Shadows Braeburn Elementary School Shearn Elementary School Holmquist Elementary School Elementary School Burnet Elementary School Sterling Aviation High School Holub Middle School Spring Woods High School Cook Elementary School Sugar Grove Academy Horn Elementary School Spring Woods Middle School Middle School Coop Elementary School Kennedy Elementary School Stratford High School Sutton Elementary School Cullen Middle School Killough Middle School Terrace Elementary School Thomas Middle School Cunningham