Dear John,

Leading with Passion and Purpose! Thanks so much to all the attendees, speakers, vendors, volunteers, and our INPAC planning committee! We were challenged to “Lead like Buffalo”... to run into the storms so that we can address the challenges head on! We were challenged to approach our role with consideration, motivation, appreciation, and validation. We witnessed how a single, low-income mother’s “passion and purpose” could change the education system to not only meet her son’s needs, but to also lay the groundwork for systems around the country to change and do the same.

What an awesome responsibility we have as educators and education leaders! We touch the future we teach! Let us take those lessons that we learned at INPAC back to our schools and truly have an impact!

Sincerely,

John

P.S. I must give credit to Jon Dize, INPEA board member, for snapping this "memorable" picture! If you were at INPAC, you will understand! 

It was great to come together for INPAC 2022! We are still mailing invoices and making our final tallies but we know that we had close to 400 people in attendance! 

Kim Bearden and Ted Neitzke both delivered powerful keynotes, our session presenters and panelists were informative, and our exhibitors were engaging. Even a brief power outage on Friday morning couldn’t stop us! 

Thank you to everyone who came and made this an incredible conference experience! We hope you left feeling re-energized and ready to lead with passion and purpose. Please continue to complete the session surveys available within the conference app (under Surveys) and complete the overall conference survey sent via email earlier this week. If you attended INPAC but did not receive the email with the survey, please let Andrea Anderson know. 

We will be posting all presenters handouts on the resource page of the INPEA website as well as on the mobile app. We are still in the process of collecting a few slides from presenters.

A small black notebook was left behind in one of the conference rooms. If this belongs to you, email Andrea. Also, someone lost their Apple AirPods. If you found them, email Andrea as well. 

Now that INPAC 2022 is complete, save the date for INPEC 2023, October 26-27, 2023! 

Updates from Garrett Wilson, the Equitable Services Ombudsman

September 30 is the deadline to submit the budget applications for Titles I-A, II-A, and IV! Questions or concerns may be sent to Garret Wilson, the equitable services ombudsman, at ombudsman@doe.in.gov. 

Garrett will begin paternity leave in the next few weeks. He expects to return at the beginning of November but will be working part-time starting the second half of October. The ombuds email WILL be monitored during his leave.

For a comprehensive list of grants pertaining to non-public schools, please check out this Grant Calendar. 

2022 National Blue Ribbon Schools

Congratulations to our three non-public schools that have been recognized as 2022 National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education! 

• Cathedral High School, Indianapolis (Archdiocese of Indianapolis)
• Christ the King Catholic School, Indianapolis (Archdiocese of Indianapolis)
• Saint Paul Catholic School, Valparaiso (Diocese of Gary)

These schools are among 10 Indiana schools and 297 schools across the country to earn this distinction in 2022. Congratulations to these schools! 

The Council for American Private Education nominated each awarded non-public school for consideration in the U.S. Department of Education’s “Exemplary High Performing Schools” category. This category honors the state’s schools with the highest graduation rates and the highest achieving students in English/language arts and mathematics as measured by state assessments. After being nominated, the schools then completed an application detailing their curriculum, culture, leadership, and engagement, which was evaluated by the U.S. Department of 

Education.

GPS Dashboard Update

At INPAC 2022, Dr. John Keller provided an update to the Dashboard Rollout. We will upload his presentation to our website and to the conference app next week. Last Wednesday, an update on dashboard rollout was presented to the Indiana State Board of Education. That presentation can found here. 

2022-2023 Dues Statements

2022-2023 dues statements are coming out soon so please be on the lookout! If you have any questions, contact Beatrice Bursten. Dues are based on your school’s 2021-2022 school year enrollment. 

INPEA Data Survey + IQE Survey 

In October, we will be sending out our annual INPEA Data Survey to collect important information in advance of the upcoming legislative session. You will receive a separate email with unique login credentials to complete your school’s survey. 

Earlier this month, you should have received a request from the Institute for Quality Education to complete a brief survey for them. We hope you will also complete that survey.

Thank you for your help in our data collection efforts! This data helps us demonstrate the impact of school choice! 

All schools work to support students’ academic growth and wellbeing. Public and non-public schools alike are increasingly looking to better address the factors that impact students’ readiness to learn.

New insights from researchers and practitioners on how to support students most effectively led to the creation of the first National Guidelines for Integrated Student Support. 

These guidelines draw from the most effective approaches in the field to give all schools a road map to better address both in- and out-of-school barriers to learning — from hunger to mental health and basic needs. They also offer the flexibility to implement based on the culture and values of each community and school. 

These guidelines were developed by a national group of researchers and by leading experts from four of the nation’s most rigorously evaluated approaches to integrated student support: Building Assets Reducing Risks, City Connects, Communities In Schools, and the New York City Department of Education’s Community Schools program.

It is a first effort to present evidence-based best practices and define what high-quality implementation looks like in the day-to-day functioning of schools. 

To learn more about these national guidelines, visit the Boston College Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children website at integratedstudentsupport.org. 

What is Integrated Student Support?

An evidence-based approach for schools to provide student support by intentionally and systematically leveraging and coordinating the resources and relationships available in the school and in the surrounding community to address the comprehensive strengths and needs of each and every student in a school in order to help promote healthy child development and learning.

Why now?

• Students’ learning and wellbeing are increasingly impacted by the complex challenges of our time.
• Children and youth are resilient and there is growing understanding about how to more effectively support healthy child development and learning.
• Policymakers are doing more to enable schools to address students’ comprehensive wellbeing, including by creating conditions for systems of integrated student support.
• Schools are more open to innovation and change, including to developing systems to address the complexity of student needs and interests.
• Evidence-based approaches to integrated student support, which build upon the traditional student support function of schools, provide a roadmap for action.

A leading evidence-based approach is City Connects. This program, administered in Indiana by Marian University’s Center for Vibrant Schools offers a way to build a system of integrated student support inside of schools, working closely with administrators, staff, families, and the community to ensure every student thrives.

Improving Literacy and STEM Grants

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) invite schools and corporations to be part of Cohort 2 and support this critical initiative. Join us on our mission to ensure 95% of Hoosier students can read proficiently by the end of grade three, as well as our mission to keep up with the demand for computer science and math careers by implementing crucial integrated STEM learning in schools. Visit INLiteracy.org or INSTEM.org to submit an interest form to start the process now.

Indiana Learns Grant Program

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) recently announced the launch of Indiana Learns, a statewide grant program that will provide qualifying families with up to $1,000 to spend on math and English/language arts high-dosage tutoring and approved out-of-school academic programs for their students. The initiative’s goal is to increase access to effective, out-of-school academic support to help students recover from learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schools or school corporations can help eligible students get the most out of their Indiana Learns accounts by supporting them in two ways:

Become a Champion School

These schools have qualifying families that are actively using Indiana Learns accounts. In addition, Champion Schools may offer on-site math and reading engagement opportunities—outside of school hours—to qualifying students.

Corporations can work with eligible families to leverage student funds to support the delivery of qualified expenses.

Become a Champion Plus School

Schools will have the opportunity to maximize student accounts by contributing $250 per qualifying student. If this is done, the state will match the funds with an additional $250. We believe nonpubs can match with their EANS funds. IDOE just needs to work out the process with Class Wallet.

Students enrolled in schools or corporations making the match will be able to access $1,000 in funds.

Schools interested in committing to a match or learning more about the program should contact Seana Murphy at smurphy@indianalearns.org. 

Planning for the 2023 Legislative Session 

As we head into fall, we are gearing up for the 2023 legislative session. Is your school ready? Beginning next month, we will bring back our monthly Legislative Liaison Corner section of the monthly newsletter - this includes content you can copy and paste into your school newsletter. This fall, we encourage you to take two important actions to get ready:

1. Appoint a legislative liaison for your school. This could be a staff member, a parent, an engaged volunteer. Legislative liaisons are advocates, organizers, grassroots coordinators and cheerleaders who are passionate about non-public schools. They work with school administrators and INPEA to stay up-to-date on legislation that could impact non-public schools and engage parents when needed. 
2. Identify your school’s two public policy priorities. This could be inviting your state senator and representative into your school, organizing a letter writing campaign to thank legislators for school choice, etc. For more ideas and information, check out our Legislative Toolkit. 

Legislative Advocacy Training

Additionally, we are planning our biennial regional legislative advocacy trainings in preparation for the 2023 General Assembly Session (Budget Session). We will be reaching to schools in different areas of the state to host sessions. If you are willing to host a training session later this fall and early winter please reach out to Andrea. We will let you know of the scheduled dates soon. Please encourage your legislative liaisons, board members, and other interested stakeholders to attend. Hope to see you there!

Contact: Cathy Tooley

Contact: Dr. Ken Britt

Agudath Israel of America

Archdiocese of Indianapolis

Association of Christian Schools International

Christian Schools International

Diocese of Evansville

Diocese of Fort Wayne- South Bend

Diocese of Gary

Diocese of Lafayette

Indiana Association of Independent Schools

Indiana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod - Indiana District

The Lutheran School Partnership