The Indiana Charter School Board meets May 14 to consider applications from three prospective charter schools seeking to open in Indianapolis for the 2020-2021 school year.
The GEO Foundation requests approval for an Early College High School that would give students the opportunity to simultaneously earn a high school diploma and associate degree. The Next Generation Academy-Indianapolis would locate on the far eastside in the former Crossroads Bible College building owned by the Indiana Black Expo. Students will be required to earn at least 24 college credits or a career certification prior to graduation. Juniors and seniors will primarily attend classes at Ivy Tech. GEO will furnish transportation between the high school campus and Ivy Tech’s downtown Indianapolis campus several times a day. The proposed high school is modeled after the 21st Century Charter School at Gary (21C), which GEO has operated since 2005. Nine students graduate from 21C this month with both a high school diploma and associate degree. Two years ago, incredibly, 21C graduated a student with a high school diploma and bachelor’s degree.
The Indianapolis STEAM Academy would provide an elementary and middle school option in the Avondale Meadows community, an area that’s already served by six charter schools, six traditional public schools, and four private schools. The proposed location is the former Tindley Collegiate Academy building. This is the fifth authorizing attempt for Indy STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). The school submitted an application last year to the state charter board that was denied and has also unsuccessfully applied twice to Trine University and once to the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office.
Harry Dunn, a homicide detective with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, plans to establish a K-8 school based on an after-school program for at-risk youth he currently operates out of a mobile facility. The HIM by HER Collegiate School for the Arts targets the high-need Martindale-Brightwood and Forest Manor neighborhoods, likely locating in the newly renovated former Indianapolis Public Schools Robert Browning School #73 facility at 4101 E. 30th Street.