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Engaging in Education

Engaging in Education

IUPUI programs and partnerships help K-12 students succeed

As an anchor institution, IUPUI is invested in student success, not just for our students but elementary, middle and high school students too.

We educate future teachers, provide professional development to current teachers, and partner with schools and school systems to improve learning in the classroom. We also improve academic attainment, prepare students for higher education and interest students in new career paths through camps, competitions, tutoring and mentoring and college preparation programs.

Here we highlight examples of these engagements and their successes.

Preparing and developing teachers

Where we are involved

Multiple schools, departments and offices at IUPUI partner with elementary, middle and high schools across central Indiana.

That includes teacher placements, tutoring and mentoring programs, and activities focused on health and other issues key to student success.

This map highlights some of IUPUI's community partnerships involving K-12 education. To learn more about where we are involved, visit our Story Map.

Building strong partnerships with local schools

Students training to become teachers, counselors and social workers spend significant time at more than 200 schools across the region thanks to partnerships the IU School of Education at IUPUI and IU School of Social Work at IUPUI have developed over the years.

These placements give teachers the community-based experience needed to prepare them for careers in education and work to best support students and families in their communities.

Engaging family as educators of special education teachers

“Family as Faculty,” a project by Dr. Cristina Santamaría Graff, assistant professor with the School of Education, positions family members and community resources as key stakeholders in the training of future special education teachers.

She brings family members into her classroom to guide future teachers in taking a student-centered approach in their teaching.

Improving cultural competency in schools

The School of Education works with multiple schools across the region on professional development for local teachers.

In 2020, the School of Education was awarded a nearly $500,000 state grant to provide cultural competency training and support for over 300 schools. The work will further the School of Education’s mission to promote equitable, just, culturally relevant and sustaining practices in teaching and learning.

College and career preparation

Preparing students for college and beyond

IUPUI schools and departments offer programs geared toward helping local youth prepare for college and their future careers.

These programs give students a chance to take college classes while still in high school, spend time in a college setting, and learn what will be expected of them as students at IUPUI or another college.

Year-round, student success and college prep programs

The next generation in tech

While in high school, Rebekah Holcomb participated in the Informatics Diversity-Enhanced Workforce (iDEW) program. Now a sophomore at IUPUI, she credits the program with giving her the experience and connections to land a coveted internship through the TechPoint Xtern program.

The iDEW program partners with eight high schools throughout the city to offer classes to students in information technology.

Teachers use a curriculum developed by faculty at the IU School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI and receive training from IUPUI. Students can earn professional IT certifications that prepare them for the workforce or continuing education.

Cultivating future leaders

The Center for Leadership Development, or CLD, cultivates pursuits of Indianapolis area minority students by engaging them in programs that stress career awareness, community service, leadership training, educational excellence and character development.

IUPUI has partnered with CLD since 1979, and is an integral partner in their College Prep Institute, focused on college enrollment, persistence and graduation.

CLD participants boast a significantly higher graduation rate than their peers, and the number of students enrolling at IUPUI has consistently grown.

iDEW was what started me on that path, it got me the mentors I needed, they told me what college would be like, taught me skills to talk to people, and I met other students like me.
Rebekah Holcomb, IUPUI sophomore

Starting preparation early

Upward Bound is a progam at IUPUI designed to bridge the gap between high school and college. Since 2013, the program has boasted a 100 percent graduation rate from its participants.

Through the program, first-generation college students at three Indianapolis high schools -- Arsenal Technical, Warren Central, and Emerich Manual -- are provided support services to help them prepare for college.

Students can receive one-on-one mentoring and tutoring, visit colleges and universities, volunteer, meet other students, learn leadership skills, explore career opportunities and get the information they need for applying for financial aid and to get into the college they want.

Opportunities include a summer academy, field trips to museums and theaters, leadership programs, events with nationally-known speakers, workshops and job shadowing.

Scholars working in the Near West community

Fugate Scholars are IUPUI students who work in George Washington High School making college-related presentations. They also spend time in the community, translating for events and helping families prepare for college, including filling out financial aid paperwork.

The program was created in 2006 and is named after Daniel Fugate, an advocate in the Near West neighborhood. The program is coordinated by IUPUI, but led by community partners IPS, George Washington High School, and Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center.

Supporting students through tutoring and mentoring

Indiana Kids is a statewide mentoring and tutoring program that serves thousands of students in grades 6 - 12 each school year. The program is offered at IU campuses across the state and is staffed by college students.

Students can get tutoring or mentoring online or on the phone, can meet face-to-face, and in on-campus events. The program also offers workshops for parents, focused on helping them prepare their students for college and beyond.

Engaging students in academic competition

IUPUI hosts or sponsors multiple academic competitions for local students. Students can earn scholarships, gain experience, and move on to higher level competitions.

Those competitions include:

Summer camps and programs

Using literacy to educate and engage

In 2018, Tambra Jackson, interim dean of the School of Education, and Leslie Etienne, interim director of the Africana Studies program in the School of Liberal Arts, partnered with Indianapolis Public Schools to establish an Indianapolis Freedom School.

Freedom Schools are summer programs created by the Children's Defense Fund to use literacy to educate and engage children. Through them, K-8 students read books meant to reflect their life experiences and discuss social issues.

Connecting with the Latino community

Mapping Education Towards Achievement, or META, is open to college-bound Latino/Hispanic high school sophomores, juniors and seniors.

Students participate in two career path sessions presented by Latino professionals and hear how their high school and college education contributed to their success. META participants can also receive information about higher education admissions, financial aid, and scholarships, as well as immigration law.

On-campus experiences for children of all ages

Every summer, multiple summer camps are hosted on the IUPUI campus, bringing in hundreds of students and families.

Students spend the summer exploring campus, gaining new skills, learning about future careers - including in the STEM fields - and improving themselves.

Explore all our camp options!

Partnerships with schools

An ongoing partnership

IUPUI and Indianapolis Public Schools have a longstanding partnership to work together on key issues impacting K - 12 education.

This partnership touches dozens of schools and thousands of students through tutoring and mentoring, scholarships, college and career readiness, and STEM-focused programs.

60+activities with IPS schools

62.7%of IPS schools have a relationship with IUPUI

Bridge to business school

The IUPUI Office of Community Engagement and Kelley School of Business at IUPUI partnered with IPS to build a pipeline for students interested in the school of business, including a summer program focused on entrepreneurship.

The partnership was recently awarded a three-year Governor's Workforce grant and a 2020 Summer Youth Program Fund grant to fund the Entrepreneurship Camps in two high schools this year, and funding to host the Camp in all four IPS high schools for two years after.

Supporting Near West students

Since 2006, Dollars for Scholars, a scholarship program created in partnership with IUPUI, has given $350,000 to graduates of George Washington Community High School in the Near West.

But the program does much more than just scholarships, and focuses on connecting graduates with the resources they need to be successful. The program has provided a way for the Near West community to rally around and support its students.

Getting a head start

Ashé West is one of more than 1,200 students who earned college credits through a partnership between the IUPUI SPAN Division and Crispus Attucks High School.

After taking several classes while still in high school and learning more about how to succeed as a college student, she went on to major in education at IUPUI and is now working as a teacher.

Since the start of the partnership focused on preparing students for college, more than 400 of those who participated have graduated high school and continued their education, with more than 150 coming to IUPUI and more than 75 earning their degrees.

Supporting communities through schools

139Indiana schools practice community schools strategies

82,867Hoosier children and their families served

46of the 139 community schools are in Indianapolis

IUPUI has a long history with IPS through Community Schools, which partner schools with community agencies, families and local government to provide needed services and resources.

This partnership has been ongoing for years in the city, especially in the Near West and Martindale-Brightwood neighborhoods. These partnerships, facilitated through Community Schools, support neighborhoods to better utilize the assets available to them in meeting community needs.