College campuses, coming to an Indiana high school near you

Forget rows of desks, some Hamilton County and Indianapolis high schools opt for a campus vibe with cafés and couches.

FISHERS — Instead of scrambling toward a classroom as the bell rings, a couple of Fishers High School students sink into a couch.

A teacher unlocks the row of small study rooms so students can use them at will. Each has a large TV monitor hanging above the table. Across the room, another student stops for a drink at the small café.

It's a scene seemingly out of a university student union, but set in a public high school. 

While most students are in class, the space is used by seniors who chose a college schedule. If they take at least four college-level classes, such as Advanced Placement or Dual Credit, they are not required to fill their courseload with seven classes like everyone else.

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School officials say the idea behind the schedule and campus is to mimic a college experience to prepare students not only academically, but with other skills that drive success: problem-solving, time management and independence.

"Our students are struggling at the college level with confidence in their independence," said Fishers Principal Jason Urban. "We have to trust them to be young adults, to be responsible, to be productive. Sometimes they're not, and we have to correct that, but we are going to treat them with trust."

Fishers High School students wait in line to purchase snacks and beverages from the cafe in between classes on Thursday, May 18, 2017. "You should see the line in the morning for coffee," said senior Bryce Harder. "It's really long."

Is this high school or college?

Fishers isn't the only school going beyond offering a few Advanced Placement classes, but it is unusual for a public school its size to build a campus-like wing. Known as the College and Career Academy, the addition opened in fall 2015. It's the newest evolution for the building, which originally opened in 2003 as a freshman center, then became Fishers High School in 2006.

There's a similar feel at University High School, a private college prep school in Carmel, where students walk between two buildings with no bells and an open study area. The school offers a "January term" where students sign up for a monthlong class that dives deeply into one topic or project, much like an immersive college course would. Often, travel is involved.

Read more:Do college recruiters care if students have a 'college experience' in high school?

Carmel High School is in its second year of the flexible senior schedule, and Noblesville High School will offer it next year. Both schools said they are working to create more collaborative spaces within the existing buildings.

High schools in Carmel and Hamilton Southeastern districts offer a multiple-semester capstone project class through the Advanced Placement Program, where students are doing college-level research projects even though not all schools give college credit for it yet. Noblesville is growing an optional internship program, placing students with local businesses during the school year.

Providence Cristo Rey in Indianapolis requires its students to do an internship one day a week, working 1,000 hours over four years for one of the school's 95 corporate partners. The small, religious college prep school serves low-income students. Since its first graduating class, 100 percent of its seniors have been accepted to college.

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Wayne Township Schools used a large grant to create a separate "early college" school: Ben Davis University High School. Superintendent Jeff Butts said they renovated a former junior high to give students a campus feel, complete with study areas, a coffee shop and workout facility.

High-performing students apply to attend, and it has paid off. This year 109 of 115 seniors already have earned an associate's degree, Butts said.

"We have to make sure that they have every ... possible skill and a bit of information that we can give them because we’re preparing students for jobs that don’t currently exists," Butts said. "We are preparing them for really anything."

Saying goodbye to lectures

While approaches are slightly different, these schools all started with an evolving idea in education: student-driven learning. 

"(Now) you will see teachers giving up their ownership of their classrooms," Urban said. "Instead of going through PowerPoint lecture notes, (they) would say, 'Here's the problem today, how are we going to solve it?'"

Essentially, that means it's not enough to take notes and memorize them to pass a test. Students are expected to solve problems and apply their knowledge through projects and research. 

"It's harder for them to start to think that way," said Ben Beasley, a teacher at Fishers High School. But he said his students are more motivated because they have more choices in what they're doing.

Fishers High School students can step outside of the classroom, sometimes referred to as 'fishbowls,' to get work done.

The physical spaces followed, reflecting the new practice with movable desks, multiple screens for students to present and open spaces for small-group collaboration.

There are still more restrictions in these high schools than on a college campus. Students have to sign out to leave campus. All these schools hired additional counselors to make sure students don't start to fall behind with the rigorous schedule. Omolade Akande, one of two college counselors at University High School, said they put a huge emphasis on managing stress.

"Emotionally, mentally, we want to make sure you’re still 16 or 17 years old," she said. Her office includes beanbag chairs and coloring books.

School officials said the flexible schedule for seniors might help relieve stress, too, taking elective requirements off students' plates.

Admissions counselors at Ball State and Purdue said they've noticed the results of this shift in incoming students, although both acknowledge the college campus-feel wouldn't suit every high school.

"I see that these centers, and these opportunities that the college counselors provide, is a lot more detailed, hands-on information," said Chris Munchel, executive director of admissions at Ball State. "I know that, at least at Ball State, we do see students come in better prepared."

 

Call IndyStar reporter Emma Kate Fittes at (317) 444-6129. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyEmmaKate.

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