Principal: Chris Smith

Grade Levels: 9-12

Muncie Central High School Web Site

Annual Review

2006-2007

Background

Muncie Central High School is one of two high schools in the Muncie Community School Corporation. The corporation's boundaries encompass the northern portion of Center Township in Delaware County, Indiana. We serve students with a wide range of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.

Muncie Central has been in existence since the 1870s, in four different buildings. The current building was constructed in 1973 and originally was open concept. All rooms now have walls. Central is located at 801 North Walnut Street, near the heart of downtown Muncie. As have many urban areas, several storefronts that were occupied thirty years ago no longer have tenants. However, there has been a renewed interest in development in this area the past few years, with several new restaurants, apartments, and other businesses relocating in the several blocks that compose downtown Muncie.

The student population has been decreasing at a slight rate for several years. It has gone from a high of 1347 students in the 1997–98 school year, to 1316 in 1998–99, to 1292 in 1999–00, 1231 in 2000–01, and 1189 in 2001–02. It rose to 1239 in 2002–03 and dropped slightly to 1230 for the 2003–04 school year. In 2004–05 the population was 1195, in 2005–06 the population was 1167 and in 2006-07 it was 1146 students.

We view our diverse student and community population as a wonderful resource to be called upon for input and exploration of the many ways we can share the richness of our heritage. Currently our ethnic make-up includes 70% White, 23% Black, 1% Asian, 4% multi-racial, and 1% Hispanic.

Our socioeconomic index has changed somewhat over the years, yet not as dramatically as many other urban schools, as Muncie Central has traditionally had a diverse student population. The percentages for the free and reduced lunch programs for the 1999–00 through the 2006–07 school years were: 23%, 23%, 24%, 27%, 27%, 28%, 41%, and 41%.

Muncie Central is fortunate to have Ball State University located just a short distance from its campus. Ball State is a mid-size university with a number of notable academic program offerings, including teacher training, architecture, and business entrepreneurship, to name but a few. Additionally, IVY Tech State College is also present in Muncie and offers educational programs mainly for those students who do not immediately enter a four-year college program.

Muncie Central offers academic programs that allow students to prepare for many excellent post-secondary opportunities. The percentage of students who indicated pursuing education following high school, either in a four-year two-year, or vocational/technical school was 72% in 2001–02, 78% in 2002–03, 81% in 2003–04, and 92% in 2004–05 and 2005–06.

Central students have been able to garner much financial help because of their academic achievements. For the past four years students have been awarded between $1,400,000 and $2,500,00 in scholarship money. This figure reflects a tremendous dedication on the part of students, parents, and staff members to insure our students have opportunities to continue their educations.

Unlike many other high schools, Muncie Central continues to receive strong support from the business community. Many curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities are possible because of this support. All of our athletic teams are supported by the Purple & White Booster Club and most have separate booster organizations. Our drama program, band, and choirs all receive significant monetary community support. We also receive academic support from the Twenty-First Century Scholars Program and Ball State University (through our Professional Development School relationship with the latter).

Throughout its long life, Muncie Central High School has promoted a top-quality learning environment. With school improvement efforts of the past several years, it has continued to look for ways of meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century. Many, many citizens of Muncie have been positively impacted as a result of the efforts of those who work and learn at Muncie Central. Its rich heritage continues to provide many wonderful memories and the will to continue to look for ways to improve the services to the community it serves.

PDS Functions and Goals

Teacher Preparation

1. The 380 class met daily at the school during the fall semester only.  This was because the Ball Stare supervisor spent the spring semester overseas.  Administrators and faculty were recruited during both the fall semester to talk to the participants.  Sessions on special education, classroom management, administrative duties, services offered by the guidance counselor and school nurse and several teaching strategies were held.  The students responded very positively to these sessions.
   
   
2. Departments continued to be encouraged to implement the interview process for all student teaching candidates.  More departments are beginning to utilize the interview as a means of selecting worthwhile candidates.  Since every department has the ability to determine who would interview and when the interviews would take place the university and building liaisons will continue to encourage all departments to utilize the interview format during the 2007-08 school year.  The Educational Studies Department should be encouraged to have the university liaison supervise all the student teachers within the building.  During the year, student teachers in several departments were placed with more than one teacher where possible.  This provided a wider range of experience for those student teachers, and again all departments will be encouraged to try this format in the coming year. 
   
   
3. Substitute teaching did not occur and attempts to implement it are still seen as positive to all stakeholders.  During the next year this issue needs to be addressed once again.
   
   
4. One adjunct faculty member was appointed, given a duty assignment to assist the PDS activities, and he attended the fall and spring PDS institute meetings. The Partnership needs to work to encourage the District to understand the value of the release time needed to attend these and other professional development meetings.
   
   
5. The PDS Committee did not meet during the past school year, probably at least partially due to the lack of a BSU liaison during the second semester.  This should be a point of emphasis if the program is to continue operating at a high level.
   
   

Goals for 2007–08

1. The 380 class will continue to meet daily at the school in an available room.  In addition, the student teachers will continue to meet weekly in seminar format school in the same room.  Efforts to include faculty and administrative input into these classes will continue.
   
   
2. The 380 students will be placed into Special Education classrooms for a week during their experience at Muncie Central, as part of their teaching assignment.
   
   
3. Departments will be encouraged to continue to revise their interview protocols to best meet their needs.  While each department has the ability to determine whether it would interview, interviews with all student teachers will be promoted this year.  Departments will be encouraged to place student teachers with more than one teacher where possible to provide for a wider range of experiences.
   
   
4. Substitute teaching will continue to be promoted and attempts to implement the practice will continue.
   
   
5. The committee will continue to meet with representatives from the Ball State special education department to plan and implement a PDS partnership between Muncie Central and Ball State special education for pre-service teachers.
   
   
6. At least one adjunct faculty member will be given a duty assignment to assist the PDS activities, and attend all the PDS institute meetings for the year.
   
   
7. The PDS Site Council will meet throughout the year to monitor all PDS activities in the building.
   
   

Staff Development

The faculty continued to implement a character development program utilized by the entire school.

Goals for 2007–08

1. Ball State will continue to provide assistance in grant writing.
   
   
2. The university liaison will work with Muncie Central faculty to initiate and support study groups for the specific purpose of meeting our PL 221/NCA goals.
   
   
3. The faculty will continue to implement a Character Development Program in the school.
   

Research

Muncie Central encouraged individual teachers to conduct action research.

Goals for 2007–08

1. Ball State University will continue to provide a faculty member and graduate assistant to assist the school with research.
   
   
2. Muncie Central will encourage additional research within the building.
   

Student Learning

Professional development was conducted to inform and encourage the faculty to continue to implement best practice.  Plans for sharing key standardized testing information with ISTEP test takers were developed for implementation as soon as school begins for the 2007-2008 year.

Goals for 2007–08

The use of best practice will continue to be encouraged to increase the graduation and attendance rate.

Muncie Central High School Annual Review (2005-2006)