Katrina's Kids

America's Promise, a national non-profit organization dedicated to at-risk children, has created a program called Katrina's Kids with the help of the Joint City County Commission on Children, YMCA, the Houston Children’s Museum, Alief Independent School District and CIS' John Perry, Project Manager at Chambers Elementary School in Alief ISD. This program has helped bring together various resources to help students and families who relocated to the Alief area after Hurricane Katrina. Click here to visit the America's Promise website and view a video on the program featuring John.

by - Jonathan Timms, CIS Development Coordinator

New Study on Attrition in Texas Schools by the IDRA

Take a look at this new study conducted by the Intercultural Development Research Association, a non-profit organziation dedicated to the improvement of public schools for all children.

As a dropout prevention program, Communities In Schools Houston is working hard to make sure kids stay in school. And while we are encouraged by the fact that this study shows the percentage of students who leave school without graduating has decreased, it is alarming that the gaps between white and hispanic and white and black students who drop out continues to increase.

- by Jonathan Timms, Development Coordinator

CIS in the Houston Chronicle

For over a year now, thousands of evacuee students and their families have been living and attending schools in the Houston area, and for a majority of them, Houston is now their home. CIS Project Managers have been working with these students since their arrival to help them cope with this difficult transistion and we continue to work with these students today.

Click here to read a story in the Houston Chronicle about how CIS Project Manager Danyella Mims is helping evacuee students at Hastings High School.

- by Jonathan Timms, CIS Development Coordinator

CIS SANTA SACKS PROJECT

CIS invites you to join in the holiday spirit and become Santa's helper.

We supply the sacks. You supply the stuffing. Every year, thousands upon thousands of children in the Houston area receive nothing during the holiday season. The goal of the Santa Sacks project, which is organized by The Friends of CIS (FOCIS) volunteer guild, is to make sure these children receive at least one gift for the holidays. Each year, CIS fills red and green sacks with fun gifts and necessary wares and gives them to select CIS students at designated school campuses.

Sacks for this year's project will be available beginning October 23, 2006 and need to be returned to CIS by December 1, 2006 so that we can give them out to students before they go on holiday break.

If you have any questions or would like to participate, please contact Jessica Reyes at 713-654-1515, ext. 136.

Sack Suggestions
When filling your sacks, please try not to exceed $25 each.If you want to do more, we’ll be happy to get you additional sacks. You can drop off Santa Sacks at the CIS Central Office:Monday – Thursday 8-4:30pm and Friday 8-4pm2150 W. 18th Street, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77008. Please use red bags for girls and green bags for boys.

The following is a list of suggested items:

Reading Books

Educational Books

Puzzles

Clothing Items

Socks

T-Shirts

Stuffed Animals

Cartoon Pens and Pencils

Cartoon Notebooks

Coloring Books

Colored Pencils

Crayons

Pencil Erasers

Baseball/Basketball Cards

Hot Wheels

Model Cars

Paint Sets

Balls

Games

Culturally Diverse Dolls

Hair Accessories

Toothbrushes

Play-Doh

Bubbles

Purses

Board Games

Family Games

Trading Cards

- by Jonathan Timms, CIS Development Coordinator