Communities in Schools of Pennsylvania Announces Expansion in Lancaster County

COLUMBIA, Pa. (June 1, 2022) – Communities in Schools of Pennsylvania (CISPA) is partnering with Columbia Borough School District to launch its programs at Columbia Middle School Taylor Campus. This partnership will bring CISPA’s community school programming outside of Lancaster City and into surrounding districts.

Starting July 1, more than 200 students at Columbia Middle School Taylor Campus will benefit from the program, which will focus on attendance, basic needs and post-pandemic learning loss.

"I am thrilled about the expansion of our programs to another school district in Lancaster County,” said Jessica Knapp, executive director of Communities in Schools of Pennsylvania. “CISPA is honored that the Columbia Borough School District has chosen to partner with us to offer our valuable programs to their students and families."

Columbia School District is the second school district and fourth school in Lancaster County to partner with CISPA, accompanying Lancaster School District’s Lincoln Middle School, Fulton Elementary School and Burrowes Elementary School.

Communities in Schools of Pennsylvania was established in 1994, operating as a statewide advocacy and fundraising organization, working to support accredited CIS affiliates in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the Lehigh Valley. In 2014, CISPA launched its first school-based programs in the School District of the City of York. Since then, CISPA has grown to serve 23 schools across 10 school districts. CISPA’s mission is to “surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.” Communities in Schools is the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization, bringing coordinated, integrated student services into public schools to meet the needs of at-risk students. CISPA has served 9,459 during the 2021-2022 school year across central and southwestern Pennsylvania to date.

Communities in Schools of PA is part of the national Communities in Schools network, which operates in 27 states and the District of Columbia and serves more than 1.2 million youth annually. Communities in Schools’ holistic approach addresses both the academic and nonacademic needs of students. Communities in Schools recognizes that if basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter are not met, children are unable to learn.

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ATTENTION: To arrange interviews with spokespeople from Communities in Schools of PA or for more information, please contact Jessica Knapp at Jessica@cisofpa.org or 717-233-4330, ext. 701.

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