INDIANAPOLIS — At the August 25 Action Session, the Indianapolis Public Schools Board of School Commissioners approved a proposal to implement the reconfiguration of grade levels in several IPS schools to enhance opportunities for middle grades students. Community feedback and district data both support the initiative to transition away from the combined high school model often referred to in the district as “community high schools” which houses both middle and high school students in many of our secondary schools.
Many families expressed interest in both dedicated middle schools (7th-8th grades) as well as the increasing the number of elementary schools to serve students through 8th grade. When the 2017-2018 school year begins, five current elementary schools will expand from K-6 to K-8:
• George W. Julian School 57
• James Whitcomb Riley School 43
• Stephen Foster School 67
• Washington Irving School 14
• Wendell Phillips School 63
Two strategic shifts on the city’s east side will allow IPS to provide targeted, age-appropriate supports for students along with dedicated community support for families. John Marshall Community High School will transition to a middle school, serving 7th and 8th Grade students who live in both the John Marshall and Arlington Community High School boundaries. Arlington will transition to a traditional high school model, serving only students in grades 9-12 from east side neighborhoods (including current John Marshall high school students).
Another shift will be implemented to create a high-level middle grades instructional environment for students considering a future in the healthcare or STEM fields. In response to the preferences expressed by families, a new medical/STEM middle school will replicate the popular program currently at Harshman Middle School; this school will be located in the Longfellow building. Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School will phase out grades 6 through 8 this year, and all current Crispus Attucks middle grades students will have guaranteed seats next year in the new middle school, which would serve as a feeder program to the high school.
The remaining combined middle/high schools — Broad Ripple High School for the Arts and Humanities, George Washington Community High School and Northwest Community High School — will gradually phase out middle grades. Each school will serve grades 8-12 in the 2017-2018 school year before becoming traditional 9-12 high schools for the 2018-2019 school year.