Mayor Bart Peterson became the first mayor in the country to authorize public charter schools\u2014putting more control in the hands of educators and communities. Policy advisor David Harris created the Mayor\u2019s Charter School Office, known today as the Mayor\u2019s Office of Education Innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After winning Harvard University\u2019s Innovations in American Government Award, David Harris and Bart Peterson founded The Mind Trust. Harris raised $73 million to develop innovative schools that give every child the opportunity for a world-class education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Mind Trust recruited Teach for America and TNTP (formerly The New Teacher Project) to Indianapolis, reaching more children in marginalized communities, and launched the Education Entrepreneur Fellowship to develop education nonprofits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With publication of the Opportunity Schools report, The Mind Trust led the reform of Indianapolis Public Schools to allow more school autonomy. The organization also launched its Charter School Incubator to support the launch of new public schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indiana passed legislation allowing the governing board of Indianapolis Public Schools to authorize Innovation Network Schools within the district. The Mind Trust partnered with the Mayor\u2019s Office and Indianapolis Public Schools to develop the Innovation School Fellowship, which gives talented leaders time and resources to launch autonomous district schools in Indianapolis. In the 2020-2021 school year, 37% of students in IPS attended an Innovation Network School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A study by Stanford University\u2019s Center for Research on Education Outcomes found that students in Indianapolis charter and innovation schools made significant academic gains compared to their peers in traditional district schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Mind Trust examines it\u2019s programs, policies, and investments on an explicit foundation of diversity, equity, and inclusion, taking concrete action to work toward becoming an antiracist organization, improve educational access for historically oppressed students, and amplify the voices of marginalized communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Mind Trust worked to address challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic faced by schools, educators, students, and families. The organization donated $500,000 to Gleaners\u2019 Food Bank of Indiana, provided training for educators on virtual learning, became a founding partner of the Indianapolis eLearning Fund, and launched Community Learning Sites around the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Mind Trust celebrated its 15th anniversary, most notably by elevating the voices of key stakeholders past and present through a web feature series. In addition, summer 2021 marked a brand refresh to bring our logo and website more in line with how our work looks today compared to our founding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2001: Public charter schools Mayor Bart Peterson became the first mayor in the country to authorize public charter schools\u2014putting more control in the hands of educators and communities. Policy advisor David Harris created the Mayor\u2019s Charter School Office, known today as the Mayor\u2019s Office of Education Innovation. 2006: The Mind Trust founded After winning Harvard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":222,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-134","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n