W.Va. ‘Communities In Schools’ Website Launched

Gov. Jim Justice and First Lady Cathy Justice launched the Communities In Schools website Monday for her nonprofit education initiative, Communities In Schools (CIS) West Virginia.

CIS aims to forge community partnerships and bring resources into schools to help remove barriers to student learning. The goal is keeping all students in school and ultimately graduating.

West Virginia Superintendent of Schools David Roach said the program reduces the risk when it comes to at-risk students.

“I cannot overstate the important role Communities In Schools plays in our public schools,” Roach said. “The relationships built with our most vulnerable children lead to better outcomes academically, emotionally and developmentally. The new web resource will be instrumental in developing even broader avenues of support for CIS, our children, and our schools.”

First Lady Justice started the CIS program in 2018 with three pilot counties. Since then, the program has expanded to include 194 schools in 36 counties. She also accepted a $15,000 check Monday from the Truist West Virginia Foundation in support of CIS, presented by Truist West Virginia Regional President Patrick O’Malley.

“We are extremely grateful for the continued support of Truist West Virginia,” First Lady Justice said. “They see the value that our CIS program brings to our education system and are paving the way for other West Virginia businesses to follow suit.”

The website will feature a CIS county on the homepage every few weeks. The counties will be featured in alphabetical order starting with Berkeley County. More information about the impact of CIS across the state can be found on the website’s home page under “Our Impact.”