Research suggests highly effective principals raise the achievement of a typical student by 2-7 months of learning in a single school year, and ineffective principals decrease achievement by the same amount.   

That’s why The Mind Trust, a nonprofit expanding access to high-quality schools for Indianapolis students, partnered with the Relay Graduate School of Education to sponsor Relay’s National Principal Academy Fellowship (NPAF). To date, the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation has awarded $1,756,000 to support this initiative. 

The program has equipped more than 100 school leaders in Indianapolis with the skills necessary to better support their teachers and ultimately help their students thrive. With the availability of high-quality leadership development initiatives like NPAF, Joe White, Senior Vice President of School Support at The Mind Trust from 2016 to 2021, has high hopes for the future: 

“My belief is that Indianapolis can be a beacon of light for the rest of the country in demonstrating what it means to create high quality options for students regardless of their background, their race or their income.”