Two charter schools in Gary and one in Portage have all received five-year charter renewals from Ball State University's Office of Charter Schools in Muncie.
Ball State announced Tuesday it provided the maximum five-year renewals for Gary Lighthouse Charter School, Gary Middle College and Neighbors' New Vistas High School in Portage.
Opened in 2005, Gary Lighthouse is one of the state's oldest charters. It has an enrollment of 1,516 students and a waiting list of 75, according to its website. The school is managed by the nonprofit Lighthouse Academies, a nationwide organization with schools in Arkansas, Illinois, New York and Oklahoma, as well as East Chicago, Gary and Indianapolis.
Gary Lighthouse operates three campuses: a primary for kindergarten through second grade at 3201 Pierce St.; an upper primary for grades 3-7 at 1771 W. 41st Ave.; and a college preparatory academy for grades 8-12 at 725 Clark Road.
School documents say its graduation rate increased from 86 percent in 2014 to 97 percent last year.
Since adopting a new approach to school culture and discipline, the school has seen a decline in suspensions from 1,039 in 2013 to 136 last year.
Gary Middle College opened as a night school geared toward dropouts in 2012 by the nonprofit GEO Foundation, which also operated the nearby 21st Century Charter School in downtown Gary.
Today, the school is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and offers a flexible schedule for students trying to earn a high school diploma. It has 243 students.
GEO Foundation President Kevin Teasley said in a news release he expected Middle College students to range in age from 18 to 22 but found that many older students have returned to finish their education.
The school pays tuition for students who want to take courses from Ivy Tech Community College, where they can receive up to 60 credits.
New Vistas, an alternative high school, which opened in 2012, celebrated its five-year renewal along with a move to a new building at 5201 U.S. 6, the former home of Camelot Bowl.
It's operated by Neighbors Educational Opportunities, a nonprofit that also offers English as a Second Language classes and adult education classes leading to a high school equivalency exam.
New Vistas has about 230 students. It had been housed in a former Portage elementary school owned by the Portage Township Schools, but the school district opted to discontinue the lease.
The majority of students at New Vistas range in age from 18 to 24. Students come from more than 22 Northwest Indiana communities, according to school documents.
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