Communities in Schools of Cape Fear

The mission of Communities In Schools of Cape Fear is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. To fulfill our mission, we place staff inside targeted, high-need public schools, who work directly with vulnerable students and those with the greatest risk of dropping out throughout the school day. We empower over 1,000 students to stay in school and on the path to graduation each year. Our trained student support specialists do this by partnering with counselors and teachers, mobilizing the community to offer extra support, and doing whatever it takes to help students succeed. Our unique model works because it's based on national research, driven by community relationships and supported by local resources. Current programs include Student Support Specialists at 13 area schools, afterschool programs at 6 schools in Pender County and at our downtown youth center, WIRE; and programming to support and empower teen parents. During 2022/2023 school year, we provided free programming and support to 21,919 students; 1,958 of those students received ongoing, case-managed support. Of those, 99% stayed in school, 93% graduated, 88% improved academically, 87% improved behavior, and 77% improved attendance.