Students across Washington are facing a reality no child should endure: unmet basic needs, limited mental health supports, and unstable housing or transportation. The Communities In Schools network across Washington works on the frontlines of this education crisis, ensuring that every student has the support they need to stay in school and thrive. Recent visits from leaders like Senator Patty Murray鈥檚 team highlight the real stakes of proposed federal funding cuts and the urgent need for solutions that keep students safe, healthy, and learning. 

黑料不打烊 staff, school leaders, and district representatives are witnessing these challenges every day. Peninsula School District staff and 黑料不打烊 team members met with Senator Murray鈥檚 team, Megan, Juan, and Joe, to share how integrated student support is implemented in schools and across the district. 

Senator Murray鈥檚 team, Megan, Juan, and Joe, met with 黑料不打烊 of Peninsula site coordinators, executive directors, and Discovery Elementary staff to understand how integrated student supports operate within schools and districts. They saw firsthand how programs like SNAP, Medicaid, and McKinney-Vento (supporting students experiencing homelessness) give students the food, health care, and housing stability they need to succeed academically and emotionally.聽

During the visit, 黑料不打烊 Peninsula Site Coordinator Alex was asked what three priorities the Senator could champion. His answer resonated deeply:聽

Identifying the simple most impactful barrier that students is like trying to pick your favorite Lord of the Rings movie. You watch The Fellowship of the Ring and think, 鈥榃ow, this is it.鈥� That鈥檚 attendance, and how it鈥檚 tied to accessible transportation and affordable housing. But then you watch The Two Towers and, then you realize, 鈥淭his is greater.鈥� That鈥檚 your basic needs support like food, clothing and hygiene products. Finally, you arrive at The Return of the King, and nothing feels like it can top that鈥攖here you have social/emotional learning and how that directly relates to academics.  

In reality, the three of these barriers add up to make the great trilogy of student needs and no single one exists without the other. That鈥檚 what makes case management so vital鈥攚e get to know the students and their families and learn which part of the trilogy they鈥檙e in.

Across the state, schools are being asked to do more with less. 黑料不打烊 staff provide both preventative supports and crisis intervention, often stepping in where systems fall short. Every decision at the state and federal level directly impacts students鈥� safety, wellbeing, and opportunities for success. 

Why Advocacy Matters聽

Visits like this one reinforce the need for policymakers to engage directly with schools and communities. Senator Murray and her team are listening, learning, and advocating for bipartisan solutions that prioritize students鈥� needs. These efforts are critical because the work of Communities In Schools is fundamentally human-centered鈥攊t鈥檚 about ensuring every student, in every community, has the chance to thrive. 

The education crisis in Washington is complex, but solutions are within reach when communities, schools, and policymakers collaborate. By lifting our collective voice, we can ensure that every child has the foundation to succeed鈥攂ecause when students thrive, communities thrive. 

Every student deserves the support they need to thrive. See how you can help advocate for students across Washington. Learn more about our 2025 legislative priorities here. 

To get involved or learn more, contact Associate Director Erica Lim贸n-Trefielo at erica@ciswa.org or visit ciswa.org. 

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With graduation season behind us, thousands of high school seniors statewide are embarking on the next chapter of their lives with a diploma in hand. But what about all those kids who didn鈥檛 graduate with their class? The kids who slipped behind or gave up altogether?

About 1 in 4 high school seniors in Washington state failed to graduate with their class last year. That amounted to about 27,000 teens who didn鈥檛 get to celebrate that milestone on time, according to Education Week鈥檚 鈥淒iplomas Count 2013, Second Chances: Turning Dropouts into Graduates.鈥� Unfortunately, it is not expected to be much different this year when all the numbers are finally tallied.

Every dropout represents a series of missed opportunities to intervene with support for that student.

Those 27,000 kids deserve better. They didn鈥檛 wake up one morning, flip a switch, and go from solid student to struggling. When a young person drops out, it鈥檚 a long process, not a moment in time. The reasons why kids drop out go much deeper than academic challenges; they are as complex and varied as the kids themselves. Poverty, language barriers, homelessness, and poor health all play a part in limiting the ability of a child to even see, much less pursue, his or her potential.

Every dropout represents a series of missed opportunities to intervene with support for that student. Who gets the failing grade when that happens? The entire community. There are a growing number of students who need help and countless opportunities for communities to embrace and surround these young people with the resources and support needed to secure a better future.

The good news is there are programs already in place quietly doing just that. Broadly known as Integrated Student Supports (ISS), these programs are a school-based method of targeting both academic and non-academic barriers to learning by identifying individual student needs and mobilizing community resources to meet them. In other words, designated staff are placed in schools to do whatever it takes to help students overcome obstacles to success so they stay in school, graduate on time, and have a chance for a brighter future.

National research firm Child Trends recently issued a report crediting the ISS approach for improving education outcomes. Key findings show that student-centered ISS programs increase student attendance and lower dropout rates, are cost-effective and yield a positive return on investment, and are more likely to be successful than interventions that focus on single factors in isolation.

We need to be doing more of this if we want to change the picture for all those kids who are dropping out.

While we applaud the Class of 2014 and encourage those coming behind them, we need to remember that this year鈥檚 commencement has 27,000 empty seats, and it will take a community to help ensure students have the support they need to fill them in 2015.

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This supplement includes eleven professional perspectives on “scaling what works”鈥攚hat it means, what it takes to do it right, and what needs to happen to increase the impact of successful solutions to social challenges.

Cardinali’s article, discusses how Communities In Schools’ journey to scale since its inception in 1977 holds lessons for funders interested in supporting growth.

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The din surrounding education reform often fails to recognize forces that significantly affect student achievement, but happen聽outside the classroom. You can strengthen teacher quality, overhaul curricula or throw open the doors to school choice, yet research shows that if kids are frightened, hungry or depressed, they cannot learn as well… Read the full Education Lab blog post at

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Communities In Schools is the largest provider of ISS in the country, with a data-driven model that continues to prove effective in reducing dropout rates across the country.

Key findings from Child Trends’ report, , include:

• ISS programs increase math achievement and student attendance and lower dropout rates.
• Student-focused programs that address both academic and non-academic needs are more likely 聽to be successful than ones that focus on single factors in isolation.
• ISS programs are cost-effective and yield a positive return on investment.
• High-quality implementation is key to the effectiveness of these programs.

Download a report summary below.

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