The Northern Hamilton County Academy is housed in a building in Sheridan that’s located off-campus. (Photo provided)
In the fall of 2023, Sheridan Community Schools superintendent Dr. Dave Mundy partnered with his Hamilton Heights counterpart Dr. Derek Arrowood to establish Northern Hamilton County Academy (NHCA), an alternative education program committed to helping at-risk students graduate high school.
Arrowood
Mundy
“We realized that expelling or suspending a student just doesn’t help anyone – not the student, not our community,” Dr. Mundy said. “But with smaller classes, consistent relationships, and other resources, NHCA gets those same kids to their graduation and to a much better path after high school.”
Students at NHCA might be struggling with behavioral issues; others may need to make up missed credits; a few are even ready to start working full-time and just need to power through remaining coursework. In every case, NHCA increases their likelihood of graduating and doing so on time.
Alternative models like NHCA, while effective, are far more costly than traditional classrooms. In 2025, Indiana cut funding for such programs by 84 percent1. That followed last year’s property tax legislation (Senate Bill 1), which 95 percent of Indiana’s superintendents2 already feared would negatively impact school budgets.
Mundy and Arrowood knew they would need a major source of new funding to keep NHCA open. They spoke with longtime donors and engaged with a new partner: Hamilton County Community Foundation.
Fortunately, even after just two school years, NHCA had a lot of success to point to.
How NHCA works
The program’s success comes from smaller student-to-teacher ratios with greater flexibility. For example, students who can’t make a 7:30 a.m. bell attend afternoon sessions; while some may need only a short time in the program, others may need to stay on until graduation.
Along with academic support, students receive a variety of personal resources, including time with mental health clinicians, school resource officers, and, soon, career counseling.
In its first year, NHCA graduated 91 percent of seniors (11 out of 12), exceeding Indiana’s overall graduation rate that year. In year two, a total of 35 students from Heights, Sheridan, and Westfield earned over 200 credits, with 10 of 13 seniors graduating (the remaining three are on track to finish this spring).
The program’s approach – foregoing expulsion and suspension in favor of focused attention – is backed by research. Recent studies3,4 have found that harsher “pushout” discipline policies in school are associated with worse educational, health, and legal outcomes in adulthood, including a 15 to 20 percent increase in incarceration.
NHCA takes the opposite approach, keeping students enrolled, supported, and engaged while still maintaining behavioral expectations within a reduced class size. Every new success rebuilds a student’s confidence, leading to a degree and better post-secondary options.
How funding came together
With Arrowood and Mundy’s long track record, northern Hamilton County donors were open to hearing the pitch last October after state budget cuts hit home.
“To date, this was definitely our biggest ask,” Dr. Arrowood said. “But when HCCF joined the conversation and told donors there was a way for their gift to double, that got their attention.”
He’s referring to the Lilly Endowment’s GIFT VIII5 initiative, which includes a dollar-for-dollar match of a designated community project. HCCF engaged the Lilly Endowment to leverage the power of GIFT VIII to meet the sudden need in October. This allowed donors’ $450,000 gift to quickly turn into $900,000.
Stiles-Polk
“This was such a community effort,” HCCF President Danielle Stiles-Polk said. “I am so grateful to our northern Hamilton County partners for stepping up to maximize the Lilly GIFT VIII match. They’ve given these students a level of stability they wouldn’t have otherwise.”
Local donors include:
- Gary Reynolds
- Drayer Family
- Sonny & Glendia Beck and the Beck Foundation
- Godby Home Furnishings & the Godby Family
- Tracey Sheehan
- Gaylor Electric
- Biddle Foundation
- Duke Energy Foundation
What’s next
With sustainability addressed for the next four to five years – and now that Westfield has sufficient capacity to operate their own version independently – Heights and Sheridan are planning to bring NHCA onto their campuses. They also plan to expand eligibility to eighth graders and add career and post-secondary guidance for graduating seniors.
Go to HamiltonCountyCF.org to learn how to support this and other Hamilton County education efforts.
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