ICHS curriculum is aligned with the Indiana State Academic Standards, and many of the courses are familiar to high school students coming from any school. ICHS, however, does not settle for merely covering the standards. As a college preparatory school, ICHS faculty are committed to preparing students for success in college and bring many approaches to the classroom to prepare students for success in college and career pursuits. The school commits strongly to professional development of faculty and closely studies successful model school and implements the best practices in education to benefit ICHS students.
Differentiated Instruction
As a school of choice, students come to ICHS from a variety of academic settings– traditional public, public charter, and private schools. Each student is also quite different in their academic standing, abilities, and learning styles. ICHS faculty strives to incorporate best practices in instruction. These include an emphasis on varied instructional styles, including Concept Teaching, Direct Instruction, Presenting & Explaining, Cooperative Learning, Discussion, and Project-based Learning. With longer class times than many schools, ICHS faculty make use of multiple instructional strategies to reach all students.
Student Support
ICHS teachers are available until 4 p.m. each day, offering free tutoring to students in all core subjects. Additionally, ICHS leverages digital curriculum through Nova Net to assess student strengths and areas of weakness, supplementing classroom learning with technology-assisted course content. Knowing that many students in high schools throughout America have the aptitude to succeed, but may be missing essential skills for success, ICHS offers a Basic Skills Development class. In BSD, students learn study habits, note- and test-taking skills.
Acceleration
Often, the progress of high achieving students can be slowed if they are not given the opportunities to extend their learning. Philosophically, ICHS does not hold students with high ability back due to age or grade level. This results in some students taking courses usually reserved for students in higher grades.
Advanced Placement (AP)
ICHS will offer a minimum of two Advanced Placement (AP) courses in the 2008/09 school year. AP courses contain college-level rigor at the high school level. A comprehensive test follows each course. While it is the final decision of each college, many award academic credit to students who have successfully passed an AP course. Learn more about the AP program at the College Board web site. [http://apcentral.collegeboard.com]
Dual-Credit
Also beginning in 2008/09, students, upon faculty recommendation, may take dual-credit courses through IUPUI. As a participant in the SPAN program, students could enroll in IUPUI and receive credit at the college level and in high school at the same time. While course fees are required by the college, ICHS has established a college scholarship fund to assist students in financial need.
Internship Program
ICHS offers internship opportunities beginning in a student’s sophomore year and continuing through graduation. Through this, students are exposed to real world experience in order to help them learn responsibility, make contacts in the professional community, and evaluate various careers. Course credit may be awarded for successful completion of an internship.
Service Learning
Service learning differs from community service in that service learning ties what is learned in the classroom to service in the community. In other words, students take what they learn and apply it to the benefit of others. Last year, ICHS students learned about the nation of Nepal, educated others in the community, and raised money for the YETI/RDCP Orphanage in Chitwan, Nepal. ICHS is committed to service learning each year either on a school-wide basis or in individual courses.
