| 1970 |
The Atlanta Postal Street Academies opened their doors to students who had dropped out of school. The program served young people at three locations, with funding provided by a combination of federal sources. The unique features of the program included its storefront locations, its special emphasis on caring relationships between adults and students, and the range of services made available to help students stay in school. |
| 1972 |
Neil Shorthouse, Bill Milliken, and David Lewis founded EXODUS, Inc., began soliciting support from the private sector, and took over operation of the three Atlanta street academies (including West End Academy). The founders realized that the flood of dropouts had to be cut off at the source, and this could only be done by working within the traditional education system. |
| 1974 |
St. Luke’s Academy was opened at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in downtown Atlanta. Atlanta Public Schools (APS) provided teachers to all of the academies so that students to could earn a fully accredited high school diploma. At the same time, a new program was begun at Roosevelt High School to test the concept of reaching students at risk of dropping out while they were still attending a traditional high school. |
| 1977 |
Newly-elected President Jimmy Carter initiated efforts to fund and expand the CIS effort nationally. Cities In Schools, Inc. (CIS) was created to manage the national expansion. In Atlanta, additional sites were opened at Carver High School and Craddock Elementary School. |
| 1981 |
Federal funding was cut to zero. The Board of Directors, Mayor Andrew Young, APS Superintendent Alonzo Crim, the Fulton County Commission and other concerned individuals stepped in to help identify new funding sources and keep the organization in business. |
| 1982 |
In 1982, Rich’s Academy was opened on the top floor of Rich’s downtown department store. With the strong support of Rich’s (now Macy’s) the program generated nationwide publicity for CIS. |
| 1989 |
By 1989, new CIS academies had opened at All Saints Episcopal Church and in Little Five Points. Rich’s Academy moved to The Temple on Peachtree Street. The program thrived nationally and formally changed its’ name to Communities In Schools, Inc. |
| 1990 |
The BellSouth Corporation provided major funding to help start state offices in Georgia and four other states to manage major expansion of the program in the Southeast. CIS began expanding across Georgia. |
| 1997 |
The Atlanta organization celebrated its 25th Anniversary by officially changing its name to Communities In Schools of Atlanta. Atlanta Public Schools (APS) began to close all of its small CIS academies, except for West End Academy, in favor of a single, large alternative school. CIS of Atlanta re-examined its own strategic vision. |
| 1999 |
The DeKalb County School System approved a partnership with CIS and asked that the first programs be developed within six elementary schools. |
| 2000 |
The new superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools, Dr. Beverly Hall, called on the business and foundation community to help her implement a new education reform initiative, called Project GRAD. The response was overwhelming. Project GRAD Atlanta, Inc. was created and quickly raised $20 million to implement the initiative. CIS of Atlanta was asked to implement the Family Support Component of GRAD. By the start of the 2000-01 school year, CIS of Atlanta had placed CIS Coordinators in 12 Project GRAD schools. |
| 2002 |
CIS added staff at 17 new Project GRAD schools and 3 new schools were also added to the partnership in DeKalb County. |
| 2003 |
CIS of Atlanta works with CIS of Georgia to re-design West End Academy as a Performance Learning Center (PLC). |
| 2005 |
CIS of Atlanta brought ARCH Productions under its umbrella and began using the power of the performing arts to help motivate students to stay in school. |
| 2007 |
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CIS of Atlanta started a new partnership with Atlanta Public Schools to put a High School Graduation Coach in every APS high school. The Graduation Coaches are part of a statewide initiative designed to increase high school graduation rates by identifying students at risk of dropping out and recruiting the support they need to stay on track for graduation.
As CIS of Atlanta celebrates its 35th year of operation, it maintains strong partnerships with the Atlanta and DeKalb County school systems and provides support to more than 48 schools.
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