The Mind Trust — an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit — along with Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and the Mayor’s Office selected three school leader fellows to design and lead public schools.
The Mind Trust announced the fellows — Tariq Al-Nasir and Francisco Valdiosera of Indianapolis and Morrise Harbour of Washington D.C. — on June 30. The fellows, who make up The Mind Trust’s seventh group of school leader fellows, will spend one to two years creating models for sustainable schools.
Harbour and Valdiosera were selected for the Innovation School Fellowship, a partnership between IPS, The Mind Trust and the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation. Innovation Network Schools within IPS are schools that give school leaders academic and operational autonomy to make decisions based on the specific needs of an individual community. Harbour and Valdiosera will present their full plan for their school to the IPS Board of School Commissioners for approval to become an Innovation Network School following their fellowship.
There will be 26 Innovation Network Schools in IPS for the 2020-21 school year, 15 of which founded by former fellows.
Al-Nasir was selected for the Charter School Fellowship, partnered with Easter Star Church’s THE ROCK Initiative to design and launch a STEM-focused middle school in the Arlington Woods neighborhood. Seven charter schools in Indianapolis, including Invent Learning Hub, have been created by former Charter School Fellows.
