Innovation Network Schools
In 2014, the Indiana legislature passed a law allowing districts to create Innovation Network Schools, which operate under contract with a nonprofit organization or management team. In fall 2015, the first innovation network schools opened in Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS). Today, innovation network schools are present in IPS, MSD Decatur Township, and in South Bend School Corporation.
As a type of public schools, Innovation Network Schools are enabled by Indiana state laws that allow school districts to convert, open new, or restart existing schools as new, autonomous schools with their own nonprofit boards.
These schools are exempt from most district practices and have “full operational autonomy” under Indiana state law. Since 2016, The Mind Trust has supported the launch of 21 Innovation Network Schools.
Innovation Network School Advantages
Innovation Network Schools combine the freedoms and flexibilities of successful autonomous schools with the financial support and services of a district school.
With Innovation Network Schools, students and families can benefit from a more nimble education environment, and school leadership can have the autonomy to make decisions that meet the unique needs of their community members.
This groundbreaking opportunity gives exceptional school leaders and operators the ability to partner with Indianapolis’s largest district, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), to serve students by creating new schools or by restarting chronically underperforming schools.
The IPS Board of Commissioners must vote to approve new Innovation Network school partners.
Five types of IPS Innovation Network Schools
- New school launch: A new school that opens in partnership with IPS facilities and shared services.
- Charter as a new partner: A charter school, either new or existing, within the IPS boundaries, may enter into a partnership with IPS via an Innovation Network Agreement. This allows access to shared services such as food service, transportation, and professional development, and provides the ability to create a proximity boundary for enrollment.
- Restart: A partner applies to restart a chronically underperforming school that has been recommended for this intervention by district leadership.
- Conversion: An existing IPS school that shows outstanding leadership and team capacity may apply to convert their school.
- Jumpstart: An existing IPS school in need of intervention due to student outcomes may convert to an Innovation Network School based on the will of the school community and building leadership as a self-initiated improvement strategy.
Key conditions for Innovation Network School success
Innovation Network Schools share key conditions for creating successful outcomes for students:
- Exceptional school leaders with the talent and vision to build schools where teachers are supported, and students achieve at high levels.
- School-level autonomy that empowers leaders and teachers to make the critical decisions necessary to meet the needs of students and families.
- High levels of accountability that hold schools to rigorous academic, financial, and governance standards.
Yes, all Innovation Network Schools located in Indianapolis are tuition-free.
No, Innovation Network Schools operate within the IPS school district, whereas charter schools operate outside of IPS.
However, there are some similarities. Leaders at Innovation Network Schools, like those at Indianapolis charter schools, are free to innovate at the individual school level and decide what’s best for their students.
Started in 2014 in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation and IPS, the Innovation School Fellowship is The Mind Trust’s paid one- or two-year fellowship for talented school leaders working on plans to establish a new Innovation Network School in Indianapolis.
