Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The most recent round of ISTEP+ results, released last month, continue to show students in Marion County public schools performing well below state averages. At Indianapolis Public Schools, for example, fewer than 25% of elementary and middle school students passed both English and math ISTEP+ tests. These numbers should serve as a call to action to support struggling students and schools. Unfortunately, they’ve also raised a common refrain used to push back against efforts to improve educational outcomes for low-income students. In Marion County, 31% of children under 18 live in poverty, and 66% of […]

Ellen Quigley is the Vice President of Programs at the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation An interview with Jonathan Wright, The Ruth Lilly Deputy Director for Horticulture and Natural Resources, Newfields Background Newfields, a place for nature and the arts, is a cultural campus that is home to The Indianapolis Museum of Art, the historic Lilly House, The Garden and The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park. In Fairbanks Park, guests can experience woodlands, meadows, and the shoreline of a 35-acre lake as well as site-responsive artworks, all on 100 acres. The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation has awarded grants to the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art And Nature Park at Newfields […]