Wawasee elementary schools has reached or surpassed state average for the past three years. The district was goal was over 90% this year. Photo by Marissa Sweatland.

By Marissa Sweatland
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — Wawasee Community Schools recently wrapped up its series of town hall meetings after hosting three town halls at each of its elementary schools. The town hall meetings were offered by the corporation to update interested community members about important developments, a chance to ask questions and make their voice heard. Superintendent Dr. Steve Troyer addressed the state of the schools, highlighting “I Am A Warrior”, academic improvement, project updates, enrollment challenges and budget impacts. The agenda was the same for each town hall meeting.

“I Am A Warrior” is a positive reinforcement affirmation designed to remind students the Warrior way. The four defining characteristics of a Warrior, according to the program, is “relentlessly committed”, “self-motivated”, “resilient spirit” and “self-less service.” The program was designed by the leadership teams from each of the area elementary schools: Milford, Syracuse and North Webster. Possessing these skills will not only make them the best students they can be but also are skills that will grow with them as they enter the workforce.

“We are looking for ‘I Am A Warrior’ to bring our communities together. Not as a short-term program, but something we can build upon year-after-year and weave into the fabric of our schools and community,” Dr. Troyer explained.

Wawasee School Corporation saw an improvement of IREAD-3 scores across the board. The IREAD-3 is administered at the end of the student’s third grade year. However, the district has begun testing second graders to identify troubles quicker. In conjunction with ILEARN checkpoints, administration and staff can use data to respond quicker to academic gaps.

“We took a focus on reading about a year or two before the state did,” Dr. Troyer explained.

North Webster Elementary had 100% of students pass the IREAD-3. Milford and Syracuse’s scores has improved year after year. Each elementary school has reached or surpassed state average for the past three years. The district pass goal was over 90% this year.

“We have not arrived and we got some work to do,” Dr. Troyer admitted. “But we are making some really good growth here. For us, there is nothing more important than reading because at some point, after you learn to read, reading becomes the vessel in which you learn.”

Through the districts dedication to providing a quality education, Wawasee High School jumped over 20 spots on the state ranking list. In 2023, Wawasee High School was ranked 149 in the state. This year, Wawasee High School ranked 122.

Wawasee School Corporation is currently underway with two construction projects: the performing arts center at Wawasee High School and a new Milford Elementary School. These needs were identified by a community engagement committee that was formed and met through 2023. Committee members were selected from each of the three committees. The committee convened and identified a list of 25 ideas. However, two ideas rose to the top.

“We did a study on Milford and ultimately decided it would be best to rebuild the school on the same property and set the school up for the next generations to come,” Dr. Troyer explained. “We have started the project and construction is currently underway.”

Footers are currently being placed into the ground.

“With the new performing arts space, we are also able to address some other important needs because of the vacated space the theater folks will ultimately leave once they move into their new space,” Dr. Troyer said. “We got some CTE programming we are addressing, we have a new culinary arts kitchen coming into the vacated band space and we got new space for a health science program.”

Through this project, the corporation can support theater, band, culinary arts, health science and alternative learning.

“There are trickle down things that will come through this project,” Dr. Troyer mentioned. “One additional thing that has come into the conversation, is through the course of really good project and budget management, we have extra funds we can pour into Wawasee Middle School to address the pool.”

Wawasee Middle School opened its pool in the 1990. In the early 2000s, the corporation refreshed the mechanical system and that is the last time the mechanical system was updated. The pool is frequently shut down due to a variety of problems.

“Everything in the pool will be new. All new mechanics, tile, gutters and deck.

The pool surface itself will stay but pretty much everything else on the poolside of the bleachers will completely new,” Dr. Troyer boasted.

At the end of his presentation, Dr. Troyer explained Wawasee’s biggest challenge: enrollment. In 2023, Wawasee School Corporation had 2,683 students enrolled. This year, as of Tuesday, Oct. 1, Wawasee School Corporation had 2,567 students enrolled.

“Our enrollment has dropped every year for the past 10 years,” Dr. Troyer explained. “100 plus kids leaving the district is a big deal. A huge deal.”

Dr. Troyer offered several explanations, including population and demographic changes. Many families are opting to have less children. He noted all of rural Indiana are seeing enrollment drops, according to other superintendents.

“Many people are moving to suburban areas. Fort Wayne is the fastest growing city in the Midwest,” Dr. Troyer explained.

School choice also plays a major factor in enrollment drops. Parents can opt to send their student to a school that is not within their district.

“We have students that choose to come here from other places, as well. But for us, we are at a 2:1 ratio,” Dr. Troyer admitted. “So for two students that leave, we get one from other districts.”

Enrollment matters because enrollment directly impacts budget. With less enrollment, Wawasee’s budget takes a hit and the corporation can struggle to provide the education it wants to provide.

“To put a number to it, we get just over $6,600 per student. So when you are talking about losing 100 students, we are talking about losing $700,000 that we had last year that we do not have this year,” Dr. Troyer explained.

The Education Fund is funded almost entirely through Indiana’s funding formula based on enrollment.

The corporation has jump-started a targeted marketing and communication campaign to help with enrollment.

“Enrollment is important because it impacts what we can do with students,” Dr. Troyer said. “We want to celebrate what we do well and leverage what we do well into hopefully drawing some people here.”

The corporation will be hosting a series of “Coffee Chats” that will allow stakeholders and community members the opportunity to meet with Dr. Troyer, learn more about the corporation and ask any questions they may have. The location of the semi-regular “Coffee Chats” will rotate between the three communities. The next “Coffee Chat” will be 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 23 at Lakeside Coffee Co., 1409 S. Harkless Drive, Syracuse. To stay up-to-date with corporation happenings, “like” Wawasee School Corporation on Facebook.