High-performing Herron charter school to join IPS

Arika Herron
arika.herron@indystar.com
Herron High School students work on their exams on the last day of school on Thursday, May 25, 2017.

 

Indianapolis Public Schools can now say it has, within its ranks, one of the state’s top public high schools.

In an ongoing shift away from the traditional public school model, the IPS Board of School Commissioners voted Thursday night to add a high-profile charter school to the rolls of its Innovation School Network.

Herron High School, a charter school in the city’s Old Northside neighborhood, is consistently one of the state’s highest-performing and most sought-after high schools. Herron and its new Riverside campus, on the west side, are the latest charter schools to partner with the district.

The agreement will give Herron and Riverside access to the district’s resources — potentially buildings, services and additional funding — and IPS will get to add high-performing high schools to its portfolio.

Herron will maintain full autonomy, though, in both operations and academics.

It’s a unique arrangement because charter schools typically work independently, outside the auspices of a public school system and compete with public schools for students. But IPS' innovation schools operate as charter schools within the school district — with their own governing boards and without unionized teachers.

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One of the only, if not the only, such partnerships between charter and traditional public schools in the country, this is exactly the kind of collaboration city officials were hoping to foster when they began authorizing charter schools in 2001.

“The hope when we began authorizing (charter) schools was that we would provide options — high-quality options — for ultimately every child in Indianapolis,” said Bart Peterson, who was mayor of Indianapolis at the time. “We also hoped that we would develop a board network of high-quality, mayor-authorized charter schools and have an impact on the public school districts.”

Peterson was the first mayor in the country to become a charter school authorizer. By the 2006-07 school year, Peterson’s office oversaw 16 charter schools, including Herron.

“I think it’s really a remarkable development, both for Herron High School and for IPS,” Peterson said. “I think it heralds a new era of cooperation and collaboration among the different types of schools in Indianapolis.”

Not everyone is heralding the partnership. At the same time IPS was striking the deal with Herron, it was reviewing which of its seven existing traditional high schools it will close after the upcoming school year. A task force convened by the district has recommended the closure of three high schools due to low enrollment numbers.

Adding two new high schools through the innovation network seems ill-timed to some community members waiting to see if their school would be closed. A third innovation network school, Purdue Polytechnic High School, previously was approved by the IPS board and will open this fall.

"How can the district recommend closing three IPS schools and at the same time discuss opening three innovation charter high schools with the district?” said Andrew Gatza, a former teacher and resident of the IPS district.

IPS Superintendent Lewis Ferebee said the two decisions aren’t related.

“These schools are going to exist, whether we enter into an agreement or not,” he said.

This way, though, those students are counted toward IPS enrollment and test scores, and the schools can give preference to underserved communities near their buildings within the IPS district — something that current charter school law otherwise wouldn’t let them do.

Janet McNeal, president and head of school at Herron, said she and her board are eager to bring in more neighborhood students and create a more diverse student body. Currently, Herron is nearly two-thirds white and only about one-third of students are coming from low-income families.

“With this partnership, we’ll be able to serve students in the way we intended when we were founded,” she said.  

IPS’ embrace of charter schools flies in the face of most public school districts’ attitudes, which are often seen pitted against charter schools as they compete for students. Against schools like Herron, though, that’s not a battle IPS would win very often.

When you can’t beat them, join them.

“Access to the classical model, which doesn’t currently exist in the district, and the strong track record of success was appealing to us,” Ferebee said. “We want to make sure we give students access to this option.”

The deal will give preference to student applicants who live near the Herron schools — and within IPS boundaries — for acceptance.

Officials with both IPS and Herron have said they’re excited about the partnership. Board member Kelly Bentley — one of five members who voted in favor of the agreement — said it would be a boon for the district.

“Herron is an excellent academic program,” Bentley said. “I’m just really excited our students will have a better chance of getting into that program.”

Others who voted in favor of the partnership were board president Mary Ann Sullivan, Diane Arnold, Venita Moore and Dorene Hoops. Elizabeth Gore voted against it; Michael O’Connor was not present for the vote.

Each year, Herron receives more student applications than it can take. The proximity preference built into the IPS deal will give IPS students within that boundary a better shot at gaining access to Herron’s lauded classical-style college preparatory program where all students take Latin and nearly all graduates are admitted to four-year colleges and universities or the military.

“We want to expand educational opportunities to more students,” said Jonathan Harris, vice president of academics for Herron.

Harris said that the school hopes the partnership with IPS and the priority for neighborhood students will increase geographic, racial and socioeconomic diversity at Herron’s 16th Street campus and create a diverse population at Riverside.

Riverside will be Herron’s new west-side campus. It will open in the fall with ninth-grade classes and add one grade each year. The school will open in a temporary location, an old church building near the planned school, before moving into the former Heslar Naval Armory building along the White River near 30th street.

Riverside has about 160 students enrolled so far, but could take up to 200 for its first class, Harris said.

Call IndyStar reporter Arika Herron at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.