GEO’s 21st Century Charter School in Gary, Indiana has been getting quite a bit of attention from nationally-respected think tanks in recent months for how we prepare our students for success in college and careers. The Center on Reinventing Public Education, one of the nation’s leading education research organizations, released a study this week focusing on career and technical education schools across the country. They surveyed more than 200 high schools and narrowed their focus to just 32 schools with GEO’s 21st Century Charter School making the cut. In fact, 21st Century Charter School is the only school in Indiana to be included in the study. You can access the CRPE study by clicking on this link.
In May, the American Enterprise Institute released a report on our college and career readiness program. You can access AEI’s study by clicking on this link. They also released a short video on our model. Click here to watch the 60 second video.
We believe in our students and their capabilities and we go further than just talking about the importance of college and careers. We put students in real college classes and real career situations while in our high school. As a result, 18 of our students in 2019 graduated with more than 30 college credits earned while in high school with nine of these students earning a full Associate Degree from Ivy Tech while nine others earned full career certifications. That puts 21st Century Charter School in the top 5% of the state of Indiana when it comes to the number of college credits earned by students while in high school according to the Indiana Higher Education Commission.
Well, today, I received a new bit of information from the state. Indiana tracks college and career readiness at each high school. According to the state, 21st Century Charter School is the 3rd best charter in the state in terms of college and career readiness, and actually the best if you adjust for minority and low-income status. That’s huge!
Our students are showing the world that we can expect more from them. And others are joining in. We will complete the purchase of the former Ivy Tech campus in Gary next week and we will break ground on our new high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in August.