Communities In Schools of Rowan County announces that Krystal Stukes, Brenda Walker, Fran Simpson and Banicca Watkins have completed the Site Coordinator Certification Program, the highest professional development offered by the Communities In Schools national office. The program provides the Communities In Schools network with a standard set of best practices in dropout prevention.
“When followed with the highest level of fidelity, the Communities In Schools model is proven to be effective in reducing the dropout rate and increasing on-time graduation rates. Through the Site Coordinator Certification Program, the staff has a larger set of tools to help them better follow this model and support the students of Rowan County. The site coordinators are able to provide level 2 services through donations to Rowan County United Way,” said Vicky Slusser, executive director, CIS Rowan.
“We place site coordinators in eight Rowan-Salisbury school sites and those are; North and South Rowan High, Knox and North Rowan Middle, Koontz, Overton, Dole and North Rowan elementary schools. We are a proud United Way Agency and receive funding from the Blanche and Julian Robertson Family Foundation, True North (CIS National), Target Foundation, Margaret C. Woodson Foundation, Salisbury Community Foundation, the Rowan-Salisbury School System, Schneider Electric and many donations from local businesses and community members.”
The online training program was launched by the Communities In Schools national office in 2010, thanks in part to an investment from Pepsi. The certification program involves a set of self-paced online courses designed to increase the knowledge and professionalism of individuals like CIS Rowan Site Coordinators.
The four are now part of more than 450 site coordinators who have either been enrolled in or completed the program. By the end of 2014, every site coordinator in the Communities In Schools network will be expected to enroll in the training.