Perry Township Schools is committed to creating a culture where every student and staff member is valued.

We celebrate all the cultures and differences represented in our community, and we’re consistently working to cultivate an environment that emphasizes diversity, inclusion, representation, and belonging for all. Our district is proud to announce that Perry Meridian High School (PMHS) is among 14 Indiana schools to receive the Special Olympics North America National Banner recognition.

The distinguished schools are being honored for their efforts to engage students, with and without intellectual disabilities, in inclusive activities during the 2018-19 school year. They participated in Special Olympics Indiana’s Unified Champion Schools and Champions Together programs and met national standards of excellence in the areas of inclusion, advocacy, and respect. At PMHS, students join forces to compete in Unified Track.

The Unified Champion Schools program was designed to empower students to become change agents by encouraging special education and general education students to work together—along with educators and administrators—to promote social inclusion through a variety of year-round activities.

Through an innovative partnership with the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) known as Champions Together, Indiana has become a global leader in the implementation of Unified Champion Schools programming.

This partnership has led to the establishment of Unified Track and Field and Unified Flag Football as officially sanctioned IHSAA sports, along with the development of state championships in Unified Bocce and Unified Bowling. The partnership has also helped to provide new opportunities for students of all abilities to “play unified” and to learn from each other while representing their schools in competition.

The Unified Champion Schools model is supported by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. This model has been proven, through research by the Center for Social Development and Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston, to be an effective approach to providing students with and without disabilities the opportunity to form positive social relationships and promote a socially inclusive school climate.

More than 650 schools are currently participating in the Unified Champion Schools program. Special Olympics has a global goal of creating 10,000 Unified Champion Schools by 2020.

​Perry Township Schools is a shining example of educator effectiveness, recognized nationally as well as locally. Because of the proven success we have achieved in professional development and student academic growth, the National Institute for Education in Teaching (NIET) asked our district to host a roundtable discussion to mentor other districts throughout the state.

Partners since 2010, NIET and Perry Township Schools welcomed several education leaders from Brown County, Beech Grove, Goshen, Decatur Township, Whitley/Kosciusko counties, and even the University of Indianapolis to discuss how teacher leaders are a critical component of student achievement. Supt. Pat Mapes, Assist. Supt. for foundational learning Vickie Carpenter, and Assist. Supt. for career preparation, who lead schools in educating 16,700 diverse students, described the strategy involved in meeting the needs of our scholars:
1. Develop formal school-based teacher leadership positions.
2. Coordinate weekly collaborative professional learning tailored
    to the needs of teachers and students.
3. Provide an instructional rubric and training on best classroom
    practices.
4. Create a culture of continuous improvement through regular
    coaching and feedback.

Led in discussion by NIET chairman and founder Lowell Milken and CEO Candice McQueen, superintendents and other leaders reflected on what it means to prioritize a strong focus on instruction which involves thinking strategically about funding, as well as communicating continuously with internal and external stakeholders. Some of the visiting representatives are in the early stages of implementing the NIET framework to build a better teaching environment for educators and a better learning environment for students. Our leaders were able to reassure them to trust the process. In fact, they recalled how our veteran teachers -- with 30 to 40 years of experience -- have remarked that they are receiving the best professional development of their lives.

In addition to providing specialized development to our existing teachers, we also value relationships with partners like Marian University which prepares student-teachers by instructing them with the same NIET principles that shape our curriculum. Teacher candidates who graduate from NIET-supported programs will enter our classrooms well-prepared to work with students and are often comparable to a second- or third-year teacher. When they arrive in our classrooms, they are also accustomed to our specific coaching style that isn’t taught in other programs.
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Following the roundtable discussion, NIET leaders visited Southport High where they met students and watched our excellent educators in action. With the support of NIET, we are able to continue our focus of empowering students to grow academically, socially, and behaviorally.