Press Releases | November 14, 2018

The Mind Trust accepting applications for Relay National Principals Academy

Indianapolis—(November 5, 2018)—The Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit, has launched the application for the third year of its partnership with the Relay Graduate School of Education, a nationally-recognized, nonprofit graduate school of education that provides next-level training and leadership development for educators, principals, and school systems leaders.

With support from the Indianapolis-based Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, The Mind Trust sponsors and funds Indianapolis school leaders to enroll in Relay’s National Principals Academy (NPA) and National Principal Supervisors Academy (NPSA). In response to high-demand and stellar reviews from participants in the program’s first and second years, The Mind Trust plans to sponsor at least 25 school leaders this year.

“It’s important that school leaders have access to the professional development they need to create and sustain great schools,” said Brandon Brown, CEO of The Mind Trust. “The Mind Trust’s partnership with Relay gives talented school leaders from across Indianapolis the ability to continue honing the instructional leadership skills essential to leading great schools.”

The NPA/NPSA program is an intensive, one-year program focused on instructional school leadership. All participants will attend one 12-day summer session and four additional weekend “intersessions,” during which they focus on Relay’s key instructional pillars: observation and feedback, data-driven instruction, positive student culture of high expectations, adult professional development, instructional planning, an aligned staff culture and strategic leadership.

“Not only was initial demand for Relay’s training higher than anticipated, but it has continued to increase as leaders from the first two cohorts see the results of Relay’s best practices,” says Joe White, The Mind Trust’s Senior Director of School Supports.

“Following the Relay NPAF two-week summer intensive, we were able to implement strategies right away that led to a stronger start to the school year.” said Nathan Tuttle, Head of School and CEO of Edision School of the Arts.

In selecting participants, The Mind Trust will focus on leaders within school systems or charter networks that will launch the greatest number of new schools and impact the most students.

Application & selection. To apply for the program, participants must hold full-time leadership positions with a school or school system – such as principal supervisor, principal, assistant principal, department head or lead teacher. The Mind Trust is seeking applicants who have the motivation and work ethic to continue refining their craft as a leader and who have a strong sense of personal responsibility and belief as it pertains to student learning. The Mind Trust also strongly encourages cohorts of leaders from the same school or network to apply to increase the impact on their students. Where applicable, application teams that include a strong principal manager (e.g. CEO, Chief Academic Officer, etc.) who has the ability to influence leaders across multiple locations will strengthen the overall application.

Application materials may be found by contacting Joe White at jwhite@themindtrust.org or by accessing the online application portal. The final application deadline is January 31, 2019, and final participants will be announced in late Spring.

About The Mind Trust

The Mind Trust is an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit that works to build a system of schools that gives every student in Indianapolis, no exceptions, access to a high-quality education. We do this by empowering talented educators to launch new schools, providing existing schools with the supports they need to hire world-class talent and achieve excellence, and building a supportive environment for schools through policy and community engagement.

Since 2006, The Mind Trust has supported the launch of 24 schools, built an ecosystem of 11 education nonprofit organizations, placed more than 1,400 teachers and school leaders, and raised more than $83 million to support education in Indianapolis. More information can be found at www.themindtrust.org.

About Relay Graduate School of Education

The Relay Graduate School of Education is a national, accredited, nonprofit institution of higher education whose mission is to teach teachers and school leaders to develop in all students the academic skills and strength of character needed to succeed in college and life. Now serving over 3,500 teachers in 18 cities and more than 1,200 leaders nationwide, Relay is eager to bring about transformational change in educator preparation. Relay is committed to using practice and feedback to become the place where a new generation of continuously improving, results-focused individuals can fulfill their destiny in the world’s greatest profession. For more information, please visit the Relay website (www.relay.edu) or follow Relay on Twitter (@RelayGSE).