Thomas Carr Howe High School building to reopen next year as IPS IB middle school
More than eight decades ago, the Irvington community celebrated the opening of its own high school, which meant students would no longer have to leave the neighborhood for school. Since that time, the school has gone through several iterations — closing, opening, and closing once more.
Now the school will open again, this time as a middle school. And principal Frances Rivera said she believes the biggest selling point for families will be the sense of community that comes along with the school.
“We are rooted in this community,” Rivera said. “And we have a lot of support from the community, and with that means more hands on deck and more resources to give our students.”
During the Indianapolis Public Schools showcase of schools last week, families could tour any IPS school to see if they like it as the district kicks off its first enrollment period for next school year.
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Although the main Howe building dates back 80-plus years, it will see only modest cosmetic changes along with updates to the security system and wiring, Rivera said. The baseball and softball fields will receive upgrades and a new turf football field will be installed.
Because many Howe alumni still have a strong attachment to the building, IPS officials were careful not to make too many changes to the building, maintaining its historic stature, Rivera said.
“So we don’t want to take that special meaning away from the community," Rivera said.
The building originally opened in 1937 and was initially known as Irvington High School. Soon after it opened, it was named for Thomas Carr Howe, a former president of Butler University.
In 1995 the school closed because of lack of enrollment. Five years later, it reopened in 2002 as Thomas Carr Howe Academy, later becoming Thomas Carr Howe Community High School. In 2020 IPS took over for Charter Schools USA and decided to close the building.
In the fall of 2024, Howe will come back as an IB World middle school, serving grades 6-8 and families located in zone 4 of IPS’s new enrollment zones.
The decision to change Howe into a middle school comes with many other changes throughout the district as part of IPS’s Rebuilding Stronger plan. The plan aims to create more stand-alone middle schools to disperse academic and extracurricular offerings more equitably to students.
Depending on enrollment, Howe will have each grade level on one of the building's three floors, with sixth grade starting on the ground level, seventh grade on the second and eighth grade on the third, Rivera said.
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Since the school will be an IB World middle school, it will offer Spanish and Mandarin, along with band, orchestra and choir.
Rivera was most recently the assistant principal at Ernie Pyle School 90 and has experience as a dual language teacher at Sidener High Ability Academy, teaching Spanish.
IPS parent Breanne Hollandsworth is considering sending two of her kids to Howe when it opens now that their current school, CFI 2, will go from a K-8 school to a K-5 school next school year.
“It’s a big change for the kids, they’re losing their community and their friends, and there are other CFI 2 families that might come to Howe as well, but this is a huge difference,” Hollandsworth said, looking up at the building from the parking lot.
Her four kids could go from all attending one school to going to three to four different schools next school year, Hollandsworth said.
“So transportation is going to be a big issue for us,” said Hollandsworth, who lives in Irvington.
New Day Early Learning Center
Howe’s campus also now includes a Day Early Learning Center, which plans to serve children from six weeks old to pre-K.
The new center comes thanks to a partnership between IPS and Early Learning Indiana.
The center, which opened last week currently has 18 children attending, mostly children of IPS staff members who have priority for placement. The goal will be to serve 79 children at the center.
Erin Kissling, chief learning officer for Early Learning Indiana, said that the center’s instructional model focuses on learning through play.
“But it's play with a purpose,” Kissling told IndyStar. “Our educators are observing our children to understand what it is that they need in their development and then setting up play opportunities to nurture those pieces of development.”
The center also has two new playgrounds, one for younger children and one for older children. The center is completely shut off from the middle school and can only be accessed through a key card.
Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.
Caroline’s reporting is made possible by Report for America and Glick Philanthropies. As part of its work in Marion County, Glick Philanthropies partners with organizations focused on closing access and achievement gaps in education.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Thomas Carr Howe High School reopening as IPS IB middle school
