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January 10, 2019 Dear Friends: I wanted to share this link with you from Fordham Institute, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected education reform organizations. They’ve been tracking our progress in Gary, Indiana and asked me to share our experience with their audience of more than 50,000 readers. Pretty neat opportunity to spread […]

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Jimmy Stewart’s “Wonderful Life” movie is a popular movie to watch at this time of year. I always think of that movie when I hear from my alums over the holidays, too. What if GEO didn’t exist? This morning, I heard from one of my Gary alums who endured 6 different homeless shelters and several […]

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January 3, 2019 Dear Friends: The state released official/audited graduation rates for 2018 yesterday and our graduation rate of 93.94% beat Indiana’s statewide graduation rate of 88% by almost six points. And yes, our graduation rate is the best in Gary, Indiana. The state also reported 79.42% of all Black students in Indiana graduated on […]

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What do our students at 21st Century Charter School in Gary, Indiana have in common with Bruce Springsteen? They were both on the front page of the Gary Post Tribune this week. My friend Jerry Davich writes an excellent column about Springsteen’s Broadway show. And Post Tribune reporter Meredith Colias-Pete wrote a wonderful report about […]

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Erin Lewis, 15, Shania McDonald, 14, KyLeah Martin, 14, Lillian Santana, 14, and Abram Lewis, 12, want to earn a college degree while still in high school at 21st Century Charter School in Gary. (Meredith Colias-Pete / Post-Tribune)   A new ambitious group of freshmen and sophomores at 21st Century Charter School in Gary is […]

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When I read what my friend Purdue President Mitch Daniels is doing at the high ed level, I get fired up to do similar things at the K12 level. For years, we (the country) have been complacent and willing to accept students spending 13 years in school (K-12) and ending up with a high school […]

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Friends, Which school has the best College and Career Readiness rating in Gary, Indiana? Yep. GEO’s 21C! Check these stats (the higher the number, the better). 21C—80.5 Roosevelt—65.2 Thea Bowman—57 Gary Westside—39.5 Steel City—31.7 Gary Lighthouse—29.5 Wow! And just to put a bigger smile on your face, Carmel, one of the richest districts in the […]

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Great to see 65% of @21stCharterGary Class of 2015 students persist to a second year in college compared to 23% of similar IN students statewide. We still have lots of work to do but we are on the right path.

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Dear Friends: Today, I’m giving thanks for what our families in Gary, Indiana are proving can be done when you put your mind (literally, your mind) to it. I just received a report from our wonderful high school counselor and we counted up the number of college credits each senior is on track to earn […]

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Dear Friends: As we take a moment to pause for Thanksgiving, I thought I would share a few inspiring reflections from the past few months at GEO Academy schools. The ladies above are high school cheerleaders at 21st Century Charter School in Gary, Indiana. All of them are also currently taking college level courses at […]

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