Local|Press Releases | May 8, 2018

The Mind Trust selects 27 local school leaders for national fellowship

Indianapolis—(May 8, 2018)—The Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit, has announced its second cohort of Indianapolis school leaders who will attend Relay Graduate School of Education’s National Principals Academy Fellowship. Relay is a nationally-recognized graduate school of education that provides next-level training and leadership development to school leaders across the country.

With support from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, The Mind Trust is sponsoring twice as many school leaders in this year’s Relay cohort, in response to high-demand from schools across the city and stellar reviews from the 13 school leaders who received the fellowship last year.

“In contrast to many professional development experiences, Relay’s National Principals Academy Fellowship provides exceptional training that school leaders are able to immediately implement in their schools.” says Joe White, The Mind Trust’s Vice President for School Support. “We’ve been impressed by how quickly leaders from the first cohort have been able to use strategies from the Fellowship to make changes that are already having a positive impact on students.”

“I am very excited to dig into Relay’s best-practices, especially those focused on accelerating the development of new teachers,” says Malcolm Gilchrist, Head of School at Herron High School, an Indianapolis Classical School. “When we have new teachers, our school leaders’ ability to help teachers ‘get better, faster’ is absolutely critical to strong student outcomes.”

The fellowship is an intensive, one-year program focused on transformational school leadership.  All participants will attend a 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.

The 27 fellows in this year’s cohort (listed below) represent leaders from Innovation Network Schools, charter schools, and schools directly managed by Indianapolis Public Schools.

Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS)

  • Tihesha Henderson, Principal, Arlington Woods Elementary, #99
  • Amanda Milliken, Assistant Principal, Arlington Woods Elementary, #99
  • Eric Parquet, Principal, Henry W. Longfellow Medical/STEM Middle School #28
  • Laura Barber, Assistant Principal, Henry W. Longfellow Medical/STEM Middle School #28
  • Endia Ellison, Dean/Director of Instruction, James Whitcomb Riley #43
  • James Larkin, Principal, Harshman Middle School
  • Emily Wallace, Dean/Director of Instruction, Harshman Middle School
  • Jason Smith, Principal, Positive Supports Academy

Indianapolis Classical Schools

  • Rachelle Klinger, Director of Academic Accountability, Indianapolis Classical Schools
  • Malcolm Gilcrest, Head of School, Herron High School
  • Jillian Paulen, Mathematics Department Chair, Indianapolis Classical Schools
  • Carroll Bilbrey, Social Studies Department Chair, Indianapolis Classical Schools
  • Katie Dorsey, Head of School, Riverside High School

Tindley Accelerated Schools

  • Eddie Rangel, Principal, Tindley Genesis
  • Amanda Koth, Executive Director of Academics, Tindley Accelerated Schools
  • David McGuire, Principal, Tindley Summit
  • Kelli Marshall, Chief Executive Officer, Tindley Accelerated Schools
  • Ron Clark, Jr., Principal, Tindley Preparatory Academy

KIPP Indy Public Schools

  • David Spencer, School Leader, KIPP Indy High School
  • Luke Lennon, Assistant School Leader, KIPP Indy High School
  • Crystal Cieslak, Assistant School Leader, KIPP Indy Unite

Edison School of the Arts

  • Nathan Tuttle, Principal
  • Amy Berns, Assistant Principal

Cold Spring School

  • Thomas Hakim, Principal
  • Austin Barcome, Dean/Director of Instruction

Invent Learning Hub

  • Aleicha Ostler, Principal

Global Preparatory Academy at Riverside 44

  • Sherrie Scott, Assistant Principal

About The Mind Trust

The Mind Trust is a nonprofit striving to give every Indianapolis student access to an excellent, high-quality public school.  The Mind Trust does this by through recruiting and empowering top talent, launching and supporting new, innovative and high-quality public schools in Indianapolis, and engaging community stakeholders in conversations about innovation in public education.

Since 2006, The Mind Trust has supported or incubated 17 schools, attracted and placed more than 1000 teachers and school leaders, and raised more than $73 million to bring innovative ideas into Indianapolis classrooms. More information can be found at www.themindtrust.org.

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