Indianapolis' most historic high school has a new leader
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Eric Sinclair took over as principal at Shortridge this year. Photo: Arika Herron/Axios
Eric Sinclair is in his first year as Shortridge's principal and the responsibility of leading Indianapolis Public Schools' flagship high school is not lost on him.
Why it matters: Shortridge, the state's oldest free public high school, has a long history of success and a new leader who wants to restore that reputation.
State of play: Sinclair, a former English teacher, arrived at Shortridge after stints in leadership at a handful of schools around the city.
- He recently sat down with Axios Indianapolis to discuss his goals for the school and its 1,200 students.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
🏫 What drew you to Shortridge?
- "I really liked the idea of IB for all," Sinclair says. "The more I researched it, the more I understood that this is what good teaching is."
- "It's cross-curricular. It's building critical thinking skills. … It's working on a lot of these communication skills and connection-building skills and helping students find their place in the world and being an active, change-making agent. That was a huge appeal to me."
🎓 Does the school's history create extra pressure or responsibility?
- "I do not take being the leader of this school lightly at all," he says. "I think there's a pressure on us with being the IB school that we send the most kids off to college, or at least the highest percentage."
- "We are trying to reach a level of achievement that is a little bit different. … That type of student is looking for a challenge. They're looking to do something great beyond high school, and so when you're responsible for that type of student, you've really got to be on it."
🤝 How are you building relationships with students?
- "I try to be present in the hallways, in the lunchroom … at sporting events," he says. The former football coach is at every game and has spent time in the weight room with the team.
- He also held class meetings at the start of the year and is trying to build trust by being responsive to their requests. Their top request? Mirrors in the bathrooms.
- "Kids said, 'If we can't have our phones, we need mirrors back.'"
- So Sinclair challenged the students to reduce the number of tardies and referrals from the previous month to earn them back.
📓 What changes have you made?
- "I feel like we've been missing [something] in terms of community building," Sinclair says. So he created regular "community meetings" for students in their homerooms where students compete for bragging rights and a WWE-style belt.
- "It's about building pride in your [homeroom] and pride in your school."
👩🏫 Sinclair also met with dozens of faculty and staff members when he started and heard a need for better in-building communication and better monitoring of the hallways for students skipping classes.
- He's made those changes and beefed up support systems to ensure kids aren't falling through the cracks when it comes to things like attendance or academics.
🏆 What are your long-term goals?
- "I want to be one of the premier high schools in the city," he says. "I want people who live in the city and want a challenging, rigorous academic experience to come to us."
📝 What are the barriers to achieving that?
- "I think it's getting the word out about what we offer," he says. Sinclair added that he thinks there's still some confusion about what the IB program means, and they need to better explain its benefits.
🚌 What does a successful year one at Shortridge look like?
- "A big thing is getting more kids here," he says, adding that the school has goals to improve attendance and reduce suspensions.
- It already has the highest graduation rate among IPS high schools, something he wants to maintain.