Partnership aims to bring support to Carter County students

VALLEY FORGE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Students in Carter County Schools will begin their school year Thursday with a new resource for their personal and academic support.

Through a partnership between the school system and a non-profit organization, Communities in Schools of Appalachian Highlands (CIS-AH), at least one coordinator is assigned to each school. A Student Support Coordinator’s job is to develop relationships with students, and connect students and their families to resources depending on their individual needs.

“The Student Support Coordinator’s goal and mission is to really support the students, support to family, and support the school as a whole,” said President and CEO of CIS-AH Chase Stewart. “They do that through working with students one-on-one to provide case management, but they also work with students through like a whole school level to provide incentives, basic needs, supports to the whole school.”

CIS-AH provides support in the following ways:

• Social/Emotional Learning
• Family Engagement
• Behavioral Interventions
• Life Skills/Mentorship
• Academic Assistance
• College & Career Prep
• Physical/Mental Health Referrals
• Basic Needs
• Community Partner Engagement
• Enrichment

Diana Bowers, Assistant Director of Schools for Carter County Schools, said the school system had a similar program previously but not enough coordinators to cover every school.

“So, they’re going to really be able to focus in on that community and those school needs and not have to split their time, which is amazing for our kids,” said Bowers.

Bowers believes the new partnership will help remove barriers for the community.

“If we can’t meet our students where they’re at, then they’re not going to be able to learn,” said Bowers. “So, we wanted to remove all the barriers for these students and for these families. It’s not just removing the barrier when that student comes in and sits down in that classroom but also for those parents and make sure that those parents feel supported too.”

In December 2023, a state comptroller report found the school system had the eighth highest dropout rate in the state, with a rate of 15.1%. That was according to data from the 2021-2022 school year. In previously released state letter grades assigned to schools , Carter County Schools had 6 Bs, 6 Cs, and 3 D-graded schools based on data from the 2022-2023 school year.

“Just based on what Communities in Schools has already shown us, what in other districts, what they’ve done, that dropout rate has decreased significantly,” said Bowers. “I just can’t wait to see what that’s going to happen in Carter County. We’re expecting to see those same results here.”

Bowers mentioned the school system’s dropout rate has decreased and test scores such as ACT scores have gone up since the previously released reports.

Most schools in the district have one Student Support Coordinator, but larger schools have more than one.

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