During its April 28 meeting, the Indianapolis Public School (IPS) Board of Commissioners approved Innovation School partnerships with Purdue Polytechnic High School North and Monarca Academy that will allow the schools to share district facilities for 2022-23.
Under the Innovation partnerships, Purdue Polytechnic High School North (PPHS-N) will use the third floor at Broad Ripple High School to serve as overflow space for 150 to 200 students while Monarca Academy will use the first floor of Northwest Middle School to serve approximately 50 to 100 students.
Both agreements call for the PPHS-N and Monarca to leave the buildings on June 30, 2023.
PPHS-N, an existing Indianapolis Mayor-sponsored charter school, currently operates out of a private facility in the Broad Ripple neighborhood. The school has outgrown its main location and needs additional temporary space until its permanent home in the Broad Ripple area is completed in 2023.
During the presentation, the board learned PPHS-N would make a solid academic addition to the district. IPS has been in an Innovation partnership with Purdue Polytechnic High School Englewood (the original) since 2017.
PPHS-N applied to be a part of the Innovation Network first launched in 2019, and now with several years of operation, proven results, and enrollment, and with their flagship school’s Innovation agreement up for renewal, the time is right for partnership, district officials said.
District officials also noted that as part of the arrangement, IPS makes continued strong use of the Broad Ripple facility and provides a service to students now joining the IPS family.
They also noted the arrangement isn’t a signal of intent for the future of the site. As the district is in the process of its Rebuilding Stronger Initiative, IPS is working with stakeholders to discuss all of the possible opportunities to reimagine, redesign and rebuild a stronger district for students, staff, families, and the community.
No decisions have been made about the future of the BRHS facility, which is currently used by the district in a variety of ways, including staff training, immunization and vaccine clinics during the pandemic, athletics practices and contests, and as the main location for IPS facilities management and academics teams.
Monarca, a new Mayor-sponsored charter school, will serve students in Grade 6 for the 2022–23 school year. The school will eventually expand to serve students in Grades 6-12.
District officials said the mission of Monarca Academy is geared toward serving the city’s LatinX students through the elimination of barriers to student success while also being culturally responsive.
Monarca’s unique program model complements, yet is very different from, the work IPS is already doing to support English learners at the Newcomer program (also at Northwest), and diverse students across IPS.
The school, which has significant community support, is an additional offering to ensure every family has a choice that meets their needs at IPS, district officials said.
In other business, the Board also approved the renewal of agreements with Avondale Meadows Middle School and Purdue Polytechnic High School Englewood.