If you have not seen the documentary Attucks: The School That Opened A City, I encourage you to watch it. PBS produced the documentary that tells the story of Crispus Attucks High School. The documentary tells the earliest history of the school and details how a school initially designed to isolate Black students produced the next generation of academic scholars, generals, surgeons, scientists, musicians, and professional athletes. The school became a catalyst for change during a time when the Ku Klux Klan ran the state.
Crispus Attucks High School became a hub for Black educators. The school became a hub for highly qualified Black teachers looking for jobs. Crispus Attucks High School hired the state’s most qualified Black teachers in earlier years. Black residents of Indianapolis were limited in their career choices, so teaching became a source of racial pride. Teachers in the Black community in Indianapolis were well-respected and admired. In 1934, Crispus Attucks had sixty-two faculty members, seventeen had master’s degrees, and two had doctorates. During the early years, the percentage of teachers at Attucks with advanced degrees was higher than at any other school in the area.
Black educators are on the rise in Indianapolis, and we have the Black educators who taught at Attucks years ago as models. Today, Black educators are making an impact across the city in a variety of ways and variety of roles.
Black Excellence in Education Awards
Over the past six years, the Black Excellence in Education has recognized and celebrated over 350 educators across the education spectrum. Educators are nominated by their school corporation and are recognized each year in June during the InnoPower Minority Business Week.
Black Superintendents
It was a historic period in 2014 when five Black superintendents were leading major school districts in the city. While we do not have the five anymore, we still live in historical times with four districts led by Black superintendents.
Dr. Nikki Woodson, Metropolitan School District of Washington Township
Dr. Shawn Smith, Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township
Dr. Aleesia Johnson, Indianapolis Public Schools
Dr. Larry Young, Metropolitan School District of Pike Township
Schools Founded by Black Educators
We are seeing Black educators not just taking on the mantle of leading schools but also founding schools. Here is a list of some schools founded by Black leaders in Indianapolis.
Vanguard Collegiate of Indianapolis
Him by Her Collegiate School for the Arts
Harriett Tubman School of Excellence
Avondale Meadows Middle School
Believe Circle City High School
Black Educators in Higher Education
Historically, it was in the higher education space where Black educators could separate themselves. While they were not allowed to work, they attended in record numbers and earned advanced degrees. Now, we are seeing Black educators take the helm in higher education institutions and blazing a trail.
Dr. LaTonya Turner, Dean of Klipsch Educators College Marian University
Dr. Tambra Jackson, School of Education Dean IUPUI
Dr. John Kuykendall, School of Education Dean University of Indianapolis
Dr. Lorenzo L. Esters, Chancellor Ivy Tech Community College Indianapolis
Dr. Sean L. Huddleston, Martin University President
Black Led Non-Profits
There are non-profits in the city leading the way to support the education of Black students and continue the rise of Black educators.
The historical significance of Crispus Attucks on the Indianapolis Black educator rise, lets us know that our Black students then and now are in excellent and capable hands of Black educators.
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