Communities In Schools (CIS) has announced a $133.5 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in support of efforts to help students overcome obstacles to learning.

The largest unrestricted gift in the history of CIS will support a five-year plan to scale its evidence-based model of integrated student supports to reach more K-12 schools across the country and serve more students. Working within schools, CIS staff establish one-on-one relationships with students and coordinate with local service providers to provide resources such as food, housing, health care, counseling, and access to remote technology so students are better able to focus on academics.

With the new funding, CIS aims to introduce its model to each of the 70,000 Title I-eligible schools in the United States. Through forty affiliates, CIS currently operates in 3,000 schools in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

“Today is an important day for students who are underserved, underresourced, and in need of transformative support to build a brighter future,” said CIS president and CEO Rey Saldaña. “This unrestricted gift allows us to combat the inequities in public education and reimagine the way schools operate and show up for all students....[W]e still have a long way to go, and we will need ongoing support to get there.”

(Photo credit: Chris Moncus Photography for CIS, used with permission)