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Muncie Central spotlights new locker-room facility, dual-credit gains and rising graduation projections
Summary
Muncie Central staff and students told the school board about a new locker-room and concession facility, a new esports arena, partnerships with Ivy Tech and Ball State and data showing a 40% drop in out-of-school suspensions and a projected rise in graduation rates to about 85.3%.
Muncie Central officials used a district board meeting presentation to outline new facilities and student-success metrics, citing a new locker-room and concessions area, an esports arena funded by a Gear Up grant and expanded college partnerships.
Mister Jerome (principal, first referenced in the presentation) told the board the school celebrated its 2024 Indiana State Fair band championship — the district's tenth — and that Muncie Central went undefeated during the track show season. "Their success leads to our success," he said, calling the new locker-room and visitor areas a major improvement after years of a substandard space. He said the building hosted a July band competition and received strong praise from visitors.
Jerome also presented data on discipline and completion. "We did have a 40% reduction in the number of out-of-school suspension incidents from the last year," he said, noting the decline exceeded a previous district goal. He reported the 2023 graduation rate at 81.63% and said the district projects the most recent cohort could reach about 85.29% after late summer completions, adding that detailed figures will be shared at a scheduled graduation meeting.
Students and staff described academic pathways that feed college and careers. Student body president Jamar Clark and junior class president Amaya Stoudemire highlighted student involvement and early-college opportunities. "I love getting college credits while I'm in school," Stoudemire said of the district's partnership programs. The school reported five students spending half their day at Ivy Tech for an education-professions pathway and described a direct-admit process with Ball State University that qualified more than 100 seniors and resulted in about 52 students completing consent to pursue enrollment under that pathway.
Sarah Hoffman, named Muncie Central's teacher of the year and the secondary division teacher of the year for Muncie Community Schools, told the board she leads dual-credit instruction and has expanded offerings from six under-enrolled classes five years ago to significantly more today. Hoffman described grant-funded training that allowed her to add AP and physics coursework; she noted early AP success, saying three students scored 4s on an AP exam the first year the course was offered.
Other items the presentation covered: a new esports arena equipped with roughly $40,000 of donated/ grant-funded equipment, a program placing a small number of high-school students as paid preschool tutors at district elementary sites, and a set of school-year goals including raising daily attendance (last year 86.4%; the school reported roughly 90–92% so far this year) and improving SAT benchmark attainment by 5%.
The presentation closed with the principal framing the work as "value added" for students and teachers and thanking the board for support. Board members followed with brief questions about attendance, on-track credit rates and student supports; the session ran slightly over the board's planned 15 minutes before the meeting moved to routine business.
