On election day, 71% of Washington Township voters supported the operations referendum, and 70% supported the construction referendum. The construction referendum allocated $185 million to support renovations to all district schools and construction of two new elementary schools to accommodate the district’s growth. Currently, the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township (MSDWT) has seven elementary…
On November 8, 2016, residents of the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township (MSDWT) had two questions before them on the ballot, an operation referendum and a construction referendum. MSDWT asked voters to vote yes for the referenda to improve current facilities and build new facilities, upgrade security, add programming, and maintain current staff, and…
If I drive for 15 minutes from my house, I will drive right by a few schools rated A or B, but if I drive for 15 minutes from my house in the opposite direction, I will drive by schools rated D or F. What many D and F schools have in common is…
March is Women’s History Month. During this month it is important to not only reflect upon women who have made notable contributions nationally, but it is also important to get to know women who are making a difference in our own communities. A woman making a difference in Indiana is educator Vera Vander Kooy. She…
Last month, WTHR Channel 13 in their report, “Crisis in the classroom: New Indiana teachers repeatedly failing state exams” highlighted that aspiring teachers are failing the CORE teacher assessments administered by Pearson Education, not once but multiple times and the pass rate for some subject areas is extremely low. According to their report, During the…
NBC’s new show This Is Us has captured the hearts of America. It highlights the real struggles and triumphs that we as humans face on our journey through life. On a recent episode, “What Now?” Randall was grappling with his father’s death and how much he had sacrificed and given to his job. Ten years…
Indiana legislators approved a law in 2014 that allowed school districts to create innovation network schools. On Thursday, February 16th from 5:30-7:00 p.m. The Mind Trust in collaboration with the UNCF held a community discussion about legislation and funding of innovation network schools at Cold Spring School who converted to innovation status this school year….
Last school year IPS decided to bring to the district a new model called opportunity culture based on a program started in North Carolina. Six IPS schools: Lew Wallace School #107, Louis B. Russell Jr. School #48, Wendell Phillips School #63, William Penn School #49, George Washington High School and Northwest High School spent…
The Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center supports five schools in IPS: Daniel Webster School #46, Stephen Foster School #67, Wendell Phillips School #63, William Penn School #49 and George Washington Community High School. One need expressed by these schools to Mary Rigg is the need for tutors for their students. A member from the Mary Rigg…
In their article, “Decades after civil rights gains, black teachers a rarity in public schools” USA Today noted, “Because most white communities in the 1950s and 1960s preferred white teachers over black ones, court-ordered desegregation often ended the teaching careers of black educators.” Although Brown v. Board of Education led to the initial decrease of…