Four Performance Learning Centers Have Successful
Start to the School Year

(Raleigh, NC) August 28, 2007 – Communities In Schools (CIS) programs across the state gave groups of students another opportunity to succeed when they welcomed students for the first day of school at Performance Learning Centers (PLC). PLCs are new, small, non-traditional high schools taking place through collaboration among CIS Local Affiliates, the Public School Systems and CIS of North Carolina. The model provides students with the reinforcement they need to graduate from high school. The new PLC is funded partly by a three year, multi-million dollar grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Communities In Schools, Inc.

Those programs that began Performance Learning Centers this academic school year include CIS of Durham County, CIS of Cabarrus County and CIS of Cumberland County. CIS of Charlotte-Mecklenburg began its first PLC last school year because of strong community support and the generous resources provided by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The first year’s outcomes in that school were greater than anyone expected, proving that the PLC model, which was started by CIS of Georgia, has its place in our public schools.

“The PLC model is meant to provide a learning environment tailored to students who need more flexibility in the classroom,” said Linda Harrill, President and CEO of Communities In Schools of North Carolina (CISNC). “Students who will attend the CIS Performance Learning Centers will be the ones who are most at-risk of not reaching graduation due to outside influences, mobility, family challenges or a need for a different learning environment.”

CISNC, a sub-grantee, received just over $1.5 million to open five PLCs across the state; three this academic year and two more for the 2008-2009 school year. CISNC plans to open two additional PLCs across the state thanks to the generosity of the Gates Foundation funding as well as other community resources.

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