Communities In Schools of Madison County
Achieves National Accreditation

Communities in Schools of Madison County has achieved National Accreditation by demonstrating compliance with all Communities in Schools Total Quality System (TQS) standards.
The national office of Communities in Schools (CIS) established TQS as a common set of operational and business standards. These standards, based on non-profit best practices, define what it means to be a successful CIS affiliate that serves students well.
Communities in Schools of Madison County (CISMC) began to implement the TQS standards in January 2012. Executive Director, Tom Field, recalls that starting on TQS was, “kind of scary, but kind of exciting also.” It took a lot of work by Field, the Board of Directors, and the CISMC staff, Annette Riddle and Beth Herdman. Riddle and Herdman run the Madison Team Success programs in Madison Middle School and Madison High School. This year these programs provided over 120 students with tutoring and mentoring services. CISMC surrounds students with a community of support empowering them to stay in school and succeed in life.
“We’re really proud of achieving the high standards required by TQS,” said Tom Field. “It was a lot of effort to ensure that all our records, operations, and practices met the standards. Most importantly, the process provided additional resources to serve students better.”
Communities In Schools of Madison County is among the first to receive its national accreditation among the nearly 200 local affiliates that comprise the Communities In Schools network in 25 states and the District of Columbia. Working in nearly 3,300 schools in the most challenged communities, CIS serves more than 1.3 million young people and their families. It has become the nation’s leading dropout prevention organization, and the only one proven to increase graduation rates and decrease dropout rates.
For more information about CISMC and its programs, contact Tom Field at 649-9276 extension 248 or online at: tfield@madison.k12.nc.us. Visit the CISMC website: http://madison.communitiesinschools.org.
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