INDIANAPOLIS —
Jayne Carter spends her mornings at a shopping mall earning her high school degree.
It may sound like a teenager’s dream, but for Carter, 18, and her classmates, it’s a second chance.
A year ago, Carter was so far behind in school and struggling in so many ways, that she came perilously close to dropping out.
Her school administrators offered her an option: A spot at the Simon Youth Pacers Academy, one of 21 alternative high schools in 13 states that are housed in shopping centers primarily owned by the Indiana-based Simon Property Group.
Designed for at-risk students, they offer a small school setting, intensive individualized instruction, flexible schedules, online courses, and an engaged staff — all in an environment appealing to teens.
Carter jumped at it. It takes her 90 minutes on two city buses to get to school by the 8 a.m. starting time, but she’s done with her course work by 11 a.m. That gives her time to get to her full-time fast-food restaurant job by noon — a job she holds down to help her mother raise three younger siblings.
There’s much that Carter likes about the Pacers Academy, including the required hours of community service. It was when she was serving meals to residents at a homeless shelter that she decided to do whatever it took to get her degree.
“I thought, ‘I don’t want to be someone like this,’” Carter said. “I don’t want to go to a shelter for a plate of food because I can’t afford to buy it myself.”
Without a high school diploma, Carter faces a bleak future.
The U.S. Department of Labor reports that less than 40 percent of the 25 million Americans over 25 who lack a high school degree are employed. According to the National Prevention Dropout Center, high-school dropouts comprise a disproportionate percentage — 82 percent — of the nation’s prison population.
The odds are worse for some than others. Nationally, 20 percent of white and Asian students fail to graduate from high school on time, putting them at greater risk for dropping out. Forty-five percent of Hispanic and black students fail to get their degree on time.
In Indiana, the graduation rate for white high school students last year was near 87 percent. It was 80 percent for Hispanic students, and 75 percent for black students. For students on the free and reduced lunch program — an indicator of family poverty — the graduation rate was nearly 12 points lower than students from families with higher incomes.
The numbers fall short of the state and national goal of 90 percent of students graduating on time, but efforts have increased significantly in recent years to get to that mile marker. There has been a series of federal and state legislative efforts — some controversial — aimed at pushing those numbers up. They range widely, from merit pay for teachers to compulsory attendance for teens until they turn 18.
Education experts say the data that shows what works to keep teens in school is still evolving, but some things are clear: Identifying at-risk students and putting them in small learning communities where they can get individualized instruction from dedicated teachers has proven effective.
That’s the model the Simon academies, which have a 90 percent graduation rate, operate on.
The Simon Youth Foundation launched the first academy in 1998; the first Indiana academy was opened in 2002 in partnership with Indianapolis Public Schools. The idea came from a Simon mall manager, worried about kids playing hooky from school, hanging out and causing trouble at the mall.
He took the idea for a mini-school in a mall to Deborah Simon, the foundation chairman. She liked it. “The future rocket scientists of the world will get discovered and get the help they need,” Simon said. “But these kind of kids don’t.”
The other Simon academies have followed suit, with the foundation supplying school space and working with local school districts that supply staff and curriculum. Simon has forged relationships with other corporate partners; in Indianapolis, for example, CVS drugstores offer students paid summer internships, which often lead to job offers.
Many of the students face significant obstacles: Poverty, teen pregnancy, and broken families. “For a lot of these kids, everything they own is in their backpack,” said Teresa Knox, administrator at the Simon Youth Pacers Academy in Washington Square Mall on the far eastside of Indianapolis.
On a recent evening, Knox was still in her office, making phone calls to track down a missing student. She knew the girl was working full time to support herself and her siblings, and Knox was worried she was feeling overwhelmed with responsibility. “We’re not going to let anyone slip through the cracks,” Knox said.
Michael Durnil, executive director of the Simon Youth Foundation, said the academies’ guiding rule is student-focused: “We meet the students where they are to get them to where they need to go.”
Jayne Carter is a beneficiary of that. She’s on track to graduate in June. On a bulletin board inside her academy, dubbed the “Wall of Fame,” is a copy of her letter of acceptance to Ivy Tech Community College this fall. Every academy student is required to apply to college or some post-secondary institution.
She’s excited but a little scared to move. “I love it here,” Carter said. “There’s always someone here I can talk to.”
State News
Mall-based schools offer second chance for at-risk students
- State News
-
-
Indiana’s high school grad rate continues upward
Indiana’s reported high school graduation rate continues to improve, moving from 77 percent to more than 88 percent in less than a decade, but there are still significant achievement gaps marked by race and income.
-
Schools chief Ritz on fast learning curve
For many occupants of the Indiana Statehouse, the week after the General Assembly wraps up its final frenzy of work is a quiet one. But not for Glenda Ritz.
-
SLIDESHOW: Governor Otis R. Bowen
Photos from the Indiana State Archives of the late Otis R. Bowen, who served as governor of the state as well as in the Ronald Reagan White House. The Bremen native died Saturday
-
Out of office, Lugar shuns retirement
One year ago, Indiana’s longest serving U.S. senator was rejected by Republican primary voters and forced into an unwelcome retirement from a distinguished political career that spanned 46 years. But at 81, former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar is hardly in a resting mode.
-
Lugar wary of Syria involvement
Former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar has been out of office since early January, but he’s still being sought after for his opinion about foreign policy matters he once helped shape.
-
Judge grants class status to lawsuit again BMV
INDIANAPOLIS — As many as 4 million Indiana drivers could become plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has overcharged for driver’s licenses since 2007.
-
Budget deal includes little funding for criminal code reform
Facing the end-of-session deadline, Indiana legislators moved forward on a bill to overhaul the state’s criminal sentencing laws but left undone the issue of where local communities will get the money to implement it.
-
Legislators closing in on final budget
In his first four months as the chief budget maker in the Indiana House, Republican Rep. Tim Brown hasn’t been surprised by the long hours, multiple demands and intense debate that goes with crafting a $30 billion spending plan.
-
New poll shows voters tepid on Pence tax plan
With just days to go before the deadline for a final budget bill, a new independent poll shows Republican Gov. Mike Pence may not have gotten much mileage for his travels around the state pitching his 10 percent tax cut plan.
-
DOC hopes ‘cold case’ cards lead to solved cases
Indiana state prison officials are using customized playing cards for a deadly serious purpose: To help unlock the mysteries of unsolved murders and persons gone missing.
-
Indiana attorney general says Congress must act on immigration reform
Amidst concerns that the Boston Marathon bombing may derail federal action on comprehensive immigration reform, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is turning up some collective heat on Congress to move ahead.
-
Disagreements stall criminal code reform bill
Negotiations over the final language in a bill that rewrites Indiana’s criminal code may come down to the last week of the legislative session.
-
Budget forecasters predict bigger drop in gaming revenues
While a gaming bill is still in play in the General Assembly, state budget forecasters are predicting the payoff to the state from legalized gambling will be even lower than they thought.
-
Legislature heads into final stretch
The Indiana General Assembly has slogged its way through hundreds of bills since convening in January but in some critical ways, the real work has just begun.
-
Criminal records bill passes Indiana Senate
Legislation that would allow some people with long-ago arrests and convictions in Indiana to wipe clean their criminal record has moved one step closer to the governor’s desk.
-
Court challenge likely for welfare drug-testing bill
Both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly have passed a bill that ties drug testing to welfare benefits, but if signed into law, the next debate may be on the question: Is it constitutional?
-
Push to roll back ban on in-state tuition for immigrants stops short
House Republicans who wanted to roll back a two-year-old ban on in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants have abandoned their plan to expand a Senate bill covering a much smaller group of students.
-
House committee OKs in-state tuition for some undocumented students
The debate over in-state college tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants is headed for the Indiana House.
-
Legislators working on funding plan for criminal code rewrite
As legislation that overhauls Indiana’s criminal code moves forward, supporters of the bill are working on finding funding for local communities to implement it.
-
Republican super PAC leader backs immigration reform
As the politics of immigration reform heats up in the Statehouse and Congress, a prominent Republican is ramping up his efforts to rid the influence of what he calls anti-immigrant “extremists” in his party.
-
House considers bill to shorten school day
Legislation that would have freed the state’s high-performing schools from the mandatory 180-day school year has been amended in the House with a provision to shorten the school day instead.
-
House committee debates ban on in-state tuition for immigrant children
Two years after banning the children of undocumented immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates at the state’s public universities, Indiana legislators are debating whether to roll back that prohibition.
-
Pence says Senate GOP plan for 3 percent tax cut not enough
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appears to be still dug in on his demand for a 10 percent income tax cut, despite a “nod” from Senate Republicans willing to give him a smaller slice of what he wants.
-
Conservative coalition supports rollback of immigrant tuition ban
Supporters of a national coalition of conservative clergy, law enforcement and business leaders are calling on Indiana lawmakers to roll back the state’s ban on in-state college tuition for the children of immigrants who came here illegally.
-
Pence’s 'ERASER' bill appears dead
Legislation pushed by Gov. Mike Pence to eliminate licensing requirements for more than a dozen occupations is apparently dead, killed by a lack of support from both Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly.
-
Bill limiting seclusion and restraint to discipline students moves ahead
Legislation aimed at reducing the use of physical restraints and locked isolation rooms to discipline students continues to gain support in the General Assembly.
-
House committee pushes Pence to negotiate Medicaid expansion
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has insisted he won’t expand what he calls the “broken” Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, but some state legislators are encouraging him to do so, even it’s called by another name.
-
Debate over pot penalties not over in Indiana
The politics of pot may keep Indiana lawmakers from rolling back the state’s tough marijuana laws this session, but it won’t eradicate the push for decriminalization.
-
Gun-rights lawmaker wants tougher gun penalty
One of the chief sponsors of legislation that would rewrite the Indiana criminal code wants to amend the bill to add a mandatory five-year prison sentence for using a gun to commit a felony.
-
DOC says criminal code bill will cause spike in prison numbers
A week after Gov. Mike Pence caught lawmakers by surprise with his opposition to a major criminal code reform bill, the state Department of Correction is projecting the bill will blow up the state’s prison population far beyond what the legislature’s non-partisan research agency says it will.
- More State News Headlines
-
Indiana’s high school grad rate continues upward




