Dr. Shawn Smith serves as superintendent of Lawrence Township schools. Although he spearheads one of the largest school districts in Indiana, he brings more to the table than just his authority – Smith is an educator and most importantly a parent.
Smith says he is a proud product of Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and received his education credentials from Indiana University and Indiana State University.
He gained teaching experience in IPS and the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township’s school system, where he later began his administrative career. After serving as a principal and assistant principal there, he transitioned to Pike Township.
Though Smith has over 25 years of experience in the field of education, he is still a passionate educator whose first love is teaching Social Studies.
In our final installment of “Sit in,” the Recorder talks with Smith about the challenge of educating such a diverse group of students and his efforts to boost graduation rates.
Recorder: Are there any new initiatives happening in Lawrence Township?
Smith: We had a huge committee when I came on board, studying our secondary schools – we called it our Secondary Redesign. We looked at how we could make the secondary experience better for students. Two major parts of that initiative was what safety nets we had for high schoolers. We have a decent graduation rate, but it could be better – that’s where we put our safety nets. We have our Lawrence Advance Academy, it’s our new high school alternative program for students struggling with credits. The other is our One-to-One initiative. Every high school student has a Google Chromebook and we’ve begun incorporating our curriculum and how we approach teaching using technology.
Lawrence Township is the 10th largest school district in the state. How do you make sure students aren’t falling through the cracks?
It’s quite tricky for me because most of my colleagues have one high school, but I have two very large high schools. This all requires a lot of planning and logistics to make sure I’m present and able to provide resources to do well. I also surround myself with lots of good people.
Last year MSD of Lawrence Township earned a grade of “B” for the third straight year. What attributed to the grade and are you aiming for an “A”?
Lawrence has established itself well as a solid school district. It also has a lot to do with having good, committed families and students. We’re working to improve every single school. I have the privilege of working in a community that has tremendous resources, but I also have a great divide. I have extreme wealth and extreme poverty under one roof. You go to the southern end of my district, you’re going to get a whole other flavor than you do in Geist. I have to educate and provide resources for all families. In order to do that I have to have the same expectations of excellence for every student. I think we’re doing that, but there are areas of improvement.
Your students are so diverse. Does your faculty and staff also reflect that diversity?
That is probably one of the most important things I deal with – personnel. Kids need to see and hear role models every day. I have made efforts to get the best and brightest on my team from all races, cultures and backgrounds; who have a vision of excellence; and who want to work in a diverse environment.
Let’s discuss ISTEP.
Change is inevitable. Schools just want to know the direction and once we get that, we’re able to make the adjustments and help kids meet the standards. I do caution people that it’s going to take some time to get our kids where we want them to be if we’re raising the bar. Sometimes the scores don’t tell the true story of what’s going on. We can get a kid through ISTEP, but I feel it’s about getting kids through 13 years of school. I like to look at a multiplicity of success like graduating and going on to higher education.
What is your relationship with those in higher education? Do they inform you on how to better prepare students for college?
We’ve had great relationships. We’re part of National Clearinghouse where we can monitor kids from inception until graduation so we can see the data. The perception is our kids aren’t graduating but the ones we send in mass numbers are doing well. I’m very keen to what the universities share with us about the performance of students. We make our adjustments and our whole secondary curriculum is built around preparing kids to go to college.
It seems as if you have a good relationship with parents. How were you able to cultivate that relationship?
I’m a parent. I haven’t lost that. Having my own children changed me as an educator. Last night I spoke to one of my parent groups and one asked me, “What do we do as a parent to support our kids?” I said, ‘Be there and set high expectations for learning.’ Some parents don’t value education or have vision for their kids. Once you set that vision, you have to make sure everything is geared toward that. Parents need to know we’re here to help them and serve.
Any other goals for this school year?
We are really focused on branding and marketing our school district, being an advocate for the excellence of public schools. I think far too long, public schools have been silent. We have things in our district that are unbelievable like our McKenzie Center for Innovation and Technology. When you come to my center, you’re not going to see any dirt on the floor – it’s truly technical. We’ve valued early childhood education for years so we have great early learning centers. We want to market things like that so people in our community know what we have.
What’s an education issue you’d like the public to get behind?
I know there are burning issues out there like ISTEP, the property tax caps, how much money we’re spending in education. I think the thing I’m passionate about is, in order for this country to achieve success; we have to do everything possible to help every kid. Not just say it, but to do it. We need to keep kids in school, feed them, clothe them – whatever we need to make sure children receive a good education. I think the issue of poverty in this country is very complex and challenges many of our school districts. We need to bridge those gaps because learning can only be achieved with a healthy mind and body. If kids don’t have that, kids struggle. I have elementary schools where all the kids eat free and some where everyone pays. But I’m glad we have the resources to support children.
