2 High Schools, Herron K-8 School Approved By Mayor's Charter Board

Two high schools and a K-8 school were approved by the Mayor's Charter School Board Thursday. 

The new schools, slated to open for 2020-21, come a year after Indianapolis Public Schools closed three high schools due to shrinking enrollment. All three have yet to name permanent locations. 

One of two new high schools slated to open is Rooted School.

The far-eastside program will offer project-based and small group learning, and each student will have a computer to take home. Rooted’s focus is on getting graduates in high-demand jobs or college.

The first Rooted school opened in New Orleans. The Indianapolis school will be the first replication. Principal Ma’at Lands says the model is suited for the city.

“I have seen the positive academic and culture success and the impact that Rooted has had on students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds—poverty, students who have been kicked out of their previous schools and students who would be first generation college students,” Lands says.

Charter schools are publicly funded schools operated by private entities and are defined as public schools under Indiana law. 

The other high school is Believe Circle City. Students will earn college credits before graduation and spend time at local colleges as early as their 10th-grade year. The school ks stl

Founder and executive director of Believe, Kimberly Neal, says the school also recognizes college isn’t for everyone. Each student will work with an advisor.

“We want our students to understand what options are out there for them for their career, and also the things that they’ll do outside of their career to make them happy and impactful in their community,” Neal says.

A year ago Neal was named as part of The Mind Trust’s fifth cohort of Innovation School Fellowship. Fellows earn a stipend plus benefits over the course of their fellowship.

The organization behind the popular Herron High School was given the approval to open the liberal arts-focused Herron Preparatory Academe, a K-8 school.

Janet H. McNeal, president of Indianapolis Classic Schools, says opening a K-8 school is a passion that has been there since opening the first Herron High School. McNeal says they have been strategic in when to replicate or start a new school. Riverside High School opened 11 years after Herron High School was founded at 16th and Meridian streets. 

“We’ve seen students come to us unprepared for high school, and we knew that we could get them beyond what we were able to if we just had them earlier,” McNeal says.

The Indiana Charter School Board is expected to vote on another Marion County high school in the coming months. GEO Academies, an Indianapolis-based charter operator with schools in Gary and Baton Rouge, LA, wants to open a school in Warren Township.