An Indianapolis school that focused on providing students with study abroad experiences in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic will close after this school year due to low enrollment.
Indianapolis Public Schools announced Friday that it will end its partnership with Thrival Indy Academy after several years in which the school had to temporarily suspend operations and change the way it operates. The school is located at Arlington Middle School on the city’s northeast side.
“This is always the most difficult decision to make as a superintendent, but I am committed to getting this transition right for Thrival’s students, families and staff,” IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said in a statement. “My promise to Thrival families is that IPS will have your back every step of the way by helping you find a great IPS high school for your child next school year.”
The closure was described in a press release as a mutual decision between IPS and the Thrival Indy Academy board of directors.
Thrival Indy Academy opened in 2017-18 as a pilot programme for juniors within Arsenal Tech High School. Students received a full year of classes and a three-month trip to Thailand at no cost to themselves. The idea behind Thrival originated in California, and an Indianapolis version was launched as a start-up programme funded by local education nonprofit The Mind Trust.
After the pilot year, the IPS school board approved the programme to become a full-fledged school through an innovation agreement with Thrival’s nonprofit board. Innovation schools are part of the IPS district and are run by charter organisations and charters that are autonomous from most district policies.
But Thrival Academy soon faced financial and logistical challenges in funding student travel and ensuring that students could meet new graduation requirements while out of state.
The district then ‘paused’ the school for the 2019-20 academic year so that Thrival’s administration could develop a new curriculum, budget and staffing model.
When the school reopened, it shelved plans to take students to Southeast Asia and focused on planning more affordable study trips to Central America: sophomores for a brief visit to Costa Rica and juniors for months in the Dominican Republic.
IPS and the school also agreed to expand Thrival to grades 9-12 and to increase enrolment: 225 students in 2022-23 and 300 students by this academic year. But enrolment has remained at just over 100 students for both years.
Thrival’s founding executive director, India Johnson, left the school last November, according to its website.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision for both IPS and the Thrival board and administration,” Julius Mansa of the Thrival Indy Academy board said in a statement. “Over the past few years, Thrival’s enrolment has remained low, and this year’s enrolment is only one-third of the school’s target. We are very sorry for this decision, but we all agree that it is necessary”.
Current Thrival students will be guaranteed a place in a directly managed high school for the 2024-25 school year.
IPS closed six schools last summer as part of an overhaul of the district’s elementary and middle school resources.
