When Indianapolis Public Schools underwent a dramatic transformation by closing three of its high schools following the 2017-18 school year, there were hundreds of students who had to find a new school to attend. That meant rethinking schedules, interrogating academic interests and learning how to get along with new peers and teachers.
IPS shut down three of its high schools — Northwest High School, Arlington High School and Broad Ripple High School — amid shrinking enrollment. That left high schoolers with four to choose from: Arsenal Tech High School, George Washington High School, Crispus Attucks High School and Shortridge High School.
For some students, there wasn’t much more than a new bus route to stress over. But others had a more difficult time grappling with the transition from one school — their home school — to another.
“I was upset,” said Shortridge senior Jenna Cantrell, who previously went to Broad Ripple. “[Broad Ripple] was my home base. I connected with everyone there. It was such a small school. We all knew each other well. Coming here, it felt like we were all breaking apart, so it was very hard.”
Cantrell wasn’t sure she wanted to stay in the district, but landed on Shortridge because she wanted a good challenge for her senior year. Cantrell said she wants to go to Purdue University to study chemical engineering.
About 75 percent of Broad Ripple students who weren’t graduating enrolled at Shortridge, according to data provided by IPS. Overall, about 35 percent of displaced district students chose Shortridge. Arsenal Tech attracted the most transfers, with nearly 40 percent. Ten percent chose George Washington, and 17 percent chose Crispus Attucks.
Cantrell said she and other transfers are feeling better with time about their new school, but her feelings about leaving something familiar are common.
“At first I was mad because I was a junior and I was like, I wanted to be a senior at Northwest,” George Washington senior Sarafina Clay said. “I already knew everyone.”
But Like Cantrell, Clay said she is adjusting to the move.
Clay said she struggles with some of her classes and goes to the Future Center, a new addition to high schools this year. Along with academic support, these centers prepare students for whatever they choose to do after high school. It’s where Clay received help applying to Ivy Tech, which she said accepted her.
Clay said she wanted to go to Crispus Attucks with her twin sister and older brother, but they didn’t get in. Then her siblings were sent to Arsenal Tech, and she ended up at George Washington.
Finding out their high school was closing made for a less difficult transition for other students.
“I shrugged my shoulders and said, ‘Let’s try another school and see how it goes,’” Arsenal Tech senior Christian Edwards said.
Edwards went to Arlington for one year before having to move to Arsenal Tech. He moved to the district from Florida. The Arsenal Tech campus is much larger than most high schools, but Edwards said his challenges thus far haven’t extended far beyond the natural tests — like finding the right room number — that come with a new school.
Edwards chose Arsenal Tech because of the Law and Public Policy Program. He’s now part of the Student Advisory Council, a group of students who gather input from parents, teachers and other students about the district.
Arsenal Tech is arguably the school that has undergone the most dramatic transformation, since so many students transferred there. That left Principal Corye Franklin, in his first year at Arsenal Tech, to deal with a changing student body.
“We have to provide very clear and consistent boundaries and expectations for kids,” Franklin said. “There have been some kids who are still adjusting, but we make sure we support them as best we can.”
Franklin said enrollment at Arsenal Tech is up to around 2,600 this school year. Enrollment for the 2017-18 school year was 1,965, according to data from the Indiana Department of Education.
Clarence Jones, a senior at Crispus Attucks, also said his transition has been smooth. Jones said he struggled academically while at Northwest but has found the teachers at Crispus Attucks to be especially helpful for students like him who transferred in. Jones is part of the Teaching, Learning and Leading Academy, which lets students travel to other schools and learn about education as a profession.
Though all has gone well to this point, Jones added there’s one thing about Crispus Attucks he isn’t very passionate about.
“I ain’t too big on wearing uniforms every day,” Jones joked.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853 and follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
An IPS student studies in a classroom. (Photo provided by IPS)
