By partnering with out-of-school time organizations in Indy and across the state, The Mind Trust has helped improve outcomes for Hoosier students and ignited a love of learning.
Since its founding nearly 20 years ago, The Mind Trust has strived to address systemic challenges facing Indiana’s school-age learners. COVID-19 created many such barriers.
In the wake of remote learning and social distancing, students lost meaningful learning time, social engagement opportunities, and, in some cases, access to a safe space and basic necessities. The Mind Trust worked to address these gaps through the creation of Indy Summer Learning Labs.
The Mind Trust and United Way of Central Indiana launched this free to low-cost summer learning experience for students in Marion County in 2021. Today, The Mind Trust fully operates Indy Summer Learning Labs and works with anchor partners who operate Summer Learning Labs in other statewide regions, serving both rural and urban communities. In summer 2025, more than 12,000 Hoosier students participated in Summer Learning Labs in 35 cities across Indiana.
The program operates on three principles: accelerating learning outcomes, reaching highest-need students, and forging community and school partnerships. It works because The Mind Trust has developed a network of anchor sites, which are community-based organizations that host and run the programs. The Mind Trust also sources certified and passionate instructional staff through thoughtful hiring and competitive pay and they utilize a proven curriculum.
Shepherd Community Center Steps Up as an Anchor Site
Andrew Green is well-acquainted with the power of partnering with The Mind Trust. He is the Assistant Executive Director at Shepherd Community Center, which is an anchor site for the Indy Summer Learning Labs. The Center helps neighbors on Indianapolis’ Near Eastside break the cycle of poverty by taking a holistic approach.
“Poverty impacts every area of a person’s life,” Green said. “That’s why we think about academic needs in addition to physical needs, emotional needs, and spiritual needs.”
In addition to offering financial literacy programs and food and nutrition resources, a summer learning curriculum was a natural fit for Shepherd Community Center.
When the pandemic hit, Green and his team were focused on providing continuity for kids – ensuring a safe place for them to keep learning. “That’s why we were eager to partner with The Mind Trust so we could get some sites open where kids could learn safely,” Green said. “[Summer Learning Labs] really formalized the academic component of our summer programming, and helped take us to the next level.”
Summer Learning Labs Expand Beyond Indy
With success in Indianapolis, The Mind Trust sought to replicate the model in key statewide regions, including Northwest Indiana. Deb Black leads DHB & Associates, which serves as an anchor partner alongside Urban League of Northwest Indiana to operate Northwest Summer Learning Labs. This region’s Summer Learning Labs serve students in East Chicago, Gary, Hammond, and Merrillville.
A third-generation educator, Black knew she wanted to return to her hometown of Gary to invest in the community that raised her.
Black was previously engaged with The Mind Trust during her role as a parent engagement coordinator for Indianapolis Public Schools. So when she was approached with the opportunity to launch the Northwest Summer Learning Labs, she was thrilled to bring her experience as an educator and community connector to her hometown.
She called local partners and discovered there was lots of support, including critical support from the Urban League of Northwest Indiana. In less than four months, Black found herself leading the Northwest Summer Learning Labs and preparing to build programs for 21 sites in her region.
“What attracted me to Northwest Summer Learning Labs was the small classroom size and the chance to work with youth-serving nonprofits in my community,” Black said.
As an anchor partner, Black visits all the locations in her region and she sees the same thing at each site: “teachers who are passionate, and kids who don’t want to leave at the end of the day.” Black attributes that to the one-to-five teacher-student ratio for Northwest Summer Learning Labs, which allows the educators to build a deeper relationship with students who may not get the same attention during the school year.
The emphasis on social-emotional learning (SEL) also is key to The Mind Trust’s holistic approach to addressing summer learning loss.
“Our teachers sit with each child to understand their learning needs,” Black said. “We meet them where they’re at and connect with them on a personal level.”
A Typical Day
When kids attend Summer Learning Labs, most programs start the day with breakfast. Black shared that her region provides time for students to recite affirmations. “It’s getting the kids in a positive state of mind,” she said. “It about giving young people the strength to say ‘I can achieve.’”
Then there’s time for classroom learning, led by deeply passionate teachers. Daily programming also includes a range of enrichment activities: horseback riding, swimming, kayaking, cooking class, social graces class, African dance, art, and more. These programs expose students to new experiences. For example, Black noted that on a field trip to a farm, program managers found out some kids had never put their hands in dirt.
More Than Just Fun: Kids See Learning Gains
Program administrators like Green and Black are thrilled to see kids thriving in the Summer Learning Labs, and communities are seeing the impact beyond summer vacation. Programwide in 2024, Summer Learning Labs students showed a 26% gain in English Language Arts and 24% gain in math from before to after the program.
Since the program began in 2021, Summer Learning Labs has aimed to serve students who may not have access to a high-quality summer program – and it’s paying off. For Northwest Learning Labs, some of the highest learning gains were among Black and Latino students, who achieved a 32% learning gain in English Language Arts and a 31% learning gain in math.
Summer Learning Labs staff are proud of the learning gains – and know the results are due in part to the power of collaboration among The Mind Trust and the network of community-based organizations, like the Urban League of Northwest Indiana and Shepherd Community Center. The way Green described it, Summer Learning Labs works because of the shared strengths brought to the table, including The Mind Trust’s ability to bring in creative thinkers and leaders to uniquely address challenges, like summer learning loss.
“We need The Mind Trust because they care about kids, they care about relationships,” Green said. “And they care about making a long-term impact.”