By Andrew Pillow

Indianapolis Public Schools is currently celebrating the addition of Herron High School to its Innovation Network. Herron High School is a high performing charter school, and adding them to IPS’s innovation network certainly represents a coup for the program.

But just what exactly is the Innovation Network? What do the schools get out of joining? What does IPS get out of it?

Innovation Network Schools are schools that operate under the umbrella of Indianapolis Public Schools, while still maintaining their autonomy. The arrangement is mutually beneficial for both parties.

Schools that join the Innovation Network receive additional financial support and more control over their surrounding area.

IPS gets to offer more quality options to Indianapolis students. However, the biggest benefit of the Innovation Network to IPS is being able to claim the test scores of network schools on official government reviews of the district’s academic outcomes.

According to myips.org, there are four ways to become an IPS Innovation Network School:

• “launch as a new innovation school
• launch as an innovation charter school
• restart an existing chronically underperforming school as an innovation school
• convert an existing high-performing school as an innovation school”

Herron High School joins existing Innovation Network Schools like KIPP INDY, Purdue Polytechnic High School, and Enlace Academy.

Read more here. (Herron High School)