Blog

Recently, we took 12 Vanguards to see the local art exhibit: BUTTER. Hosted by GANGGANG, this three day art fair was curated to elevate local black visual artists and black entrepreneurs alongside national contemporaries. This field trip was so much more than time outside of the classroom. 

A Black Art Fair 

Naming the art fair BUTTER was deliberate. BUTTER spreads, BUTTER is essential. Everyone has a story about BUTTER.  So, too, is this creative movement.

We want to make the academic and life goals of our middle school students a reality. We start with clear objectives –- our core values -– that every scholar can see, utilize and put into regular use in their daily lives.

Our THINK model reflects our core values: Team, Hard Work, Integrity, Nobility, and Knowledge. These five values are displayed throughout the school building and guide students and staff in all aspects of our school life together.

Vanguard Collegiate of Indianapolis is dedicated to changing chronically low academic outcomes in our community.​ We recognize that our scholars enter middle school with a wide range of academic proficiency. We ensure every scholar receives the necessary supports to reach our rigorous goals through individualized assessments and clear action plans. Whatever academic challenges your scholar may face, we can get them to grade level! 

“Unapologetically focused on the academic success of our scholars,

At Vanguard Collegiate of Indianapolis,  we connect to our middle school scholars and community through our core values. Our values of THINK – Team, Hard Work, Integrity, Nobility, and Knowledge guide students and staff in all aspects of school life. Beginning with morning motivation, our core values are reinforced throughout the school day and academic year. These five core values connect to character development and scholarly rewards, and our core values are consistently modeled by our staff.

Our extraordinary teachers are the backbone of everything we do at Vanguard Collegiate of Indianapolis. We love to share with our close-knit community whenever we can, who we are as a staff and as individuals. We are called to serve as educators; some of us have this clarity from a young age and some of us stumble into it and realize it is the best thing we could ever do.  

When did you know you wanted to be an educator? 

Our new staff members this year are innovative and smart, passionate about what they do, and ready to engage our middle schoolers in an exciting and rigorous year of learning. Let’s hear from a few of them directly as to why they became educators, who influenced their choice to teach, and what they do for fun.

When did you know you wanted to work in education?

Mr. Sumrall:
I knew I wanted to work in education in grad school,

Vanguard Collegiate of Indianapolis serves 5th – 8th grade scholars at our public charter school. We focus on rigorous academics, character development and enhancing our beloved community, at our free and vibrant middle school. Two of our biggest priorities are knowing every scholar as the individual they are — alongside our desire to keep every scholar safe as they learn with purpose. How do we do this? Many ways, but today we’re going to focus on one.

At Vanguard Collegiate of Indianapolis, we give our all to our middle school scholars. A big part of that effort comes from the collective energy of our collegiality and rapport with one another, as a cohesive staff. We work really well together — with mutual respect and collaborative mindsets — to give our public middle schoolers the best access to robust academics and wraparound education they deserve.

We believe everyone on our staff is an agent of transformation.

At Vanguard Collegiate of Indianapolis, it is our firm belief that empowering middle schoolers to find and use their leadership voices will change the world. We encourage this one scholar at a time. 

In order to truly make the academic goals of our middle school students a reality, we start with clear objectives that every scholar can see, utilize and put into daily use in their lives. We create scholars by setting a high bar for educational fluency and leadership,

Recently, Vanguard Collegiate of Indianapolis moved into the Hawthorne Community Center. It’s been a fortuitous pairing for many reasons; some we didn’t even see coming. Our co-location partnership began during COVID. Vanguard needed a more affordable location for our public charter middle school serving grades 5-8. At the same time, the Hawthorne was trying to offset financial pressures from COVID. We already had an established rapport based on serving our scholars — Hawthorne  skillfully and joyfully provides our robust before and after school programming.