Indy Parks Teams Up with Charter School to Broaden Horizons
Fountain Square Academy students travel to Garfield Park facilities for arts, gym classes

A Fountain Square Academy fifth grade student takes an art lesson at Garfield Park.

March 26, 2009

The 200 students enrolled at Fountain Square Academy charter school in grades five through 12 are broadening their education and enjoying school a bit more this semester, thanks to a unique partnership with Indy Parks.

In 2009 and beyond, Indy Parks is growing the number and variety of arts programs it offers. Through a special relationship with the GEO Foundation and the Fountain Square Academy charter school, 1615 S. Barth Ave., Indy Parks provides needed resources for the arts and recreational play, and in turn its facilities at Garfield Park are being used more efficiently.

“Once we discovered that these students attending school so close to Garfield Park did not have access to these programs, we immediately sat down to craft a personalized partnership,” said Indy Parks Director Stuart Lowry. “This is a true example of outreach, accommodating the kids who live and study in our schools with the arts and recreational spaces of Indy Parks.”

The students utilize the park’s arts center for arts programs and the family center gymnasium for physical education (P.E.) classes. On Mondays and Wednesdays, Fountain Square Academy students in fifth and sixth grades and in high school go to Garfield Park for P.E. classes. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, seventh and eighth graders travel to the park for music and P.E. The partnership is a win for both the school and Indy Parks – it extends hours for use of Garfield Park facilities and provides a fun, safe environment for additional educational and recreational opportunities for Fountain Square Academy students.

“It’s a great partnership for so many reasons,” said Fountain Square Academy Principal Keena Foster. “The kids have an opportunity to go outside the walls of the schools; it’s like a field trip. It allows them to have gym and music classes and exposure to the arts. This also gives them a chance to become familiar with and use the park.”

Before the partnership, the gym and arts center would be unused several hours each day. Now the buildings are filled with activity during those hours, and students enjoy their walks through Garfield Park as they move from the arts center to the family center.

“Sometimes, the natural partnerships are in your own backyard. This is proving true with our relationship with Fountain Square Academy,” said Lowry. “We have extended the hours of our wonderful art and family centers we operate to work with the school. Our partnership creates awareness for the kids on everything Garfield Park offers so that both during and after school, the park becomes a stronger destination.”

Indy Parks makes these facilities available to the Fountain Square Academy at an appropriately adjusted rate and looks forward to using this model for other partnerships with schools across Marion County, already instituting a discounted tier for the 2010 school year. Organizations interested in partnering with Indy Parks should contact Administrator of School and Family Programs Leslie Power at (317) 327-7015. For questions about Fountain Square Academy, please contact Director of Public Relations and Marketing Jeff Schafer at (317) 713-4211.