IPS parents and students prepare for the start of the school year with Back to School Night

INDIANAPOLIS — More students in Central Indiana are returning to school this week. To make sure they get off to a good start, Indianapolis Public Schools is hosting “Back to School Nights” to give kids a chance to meet their teachers and take home supplies.

“We have about 420 students scheduled for the first day. Our students come from all backgrounds and all environments. We have a lot of international students this year,” said Mary Preston, principal of the Charles Warren Fairbanks School.

For Preston, the Charles Warren Fairbanks School is one of IPS’s hidden gems.

“A lot of our students are learning English for the first time, or they’re learning to read. They’re trying to get a good grasp on number sense and all those things,” Preston said.

That’s why Preston said when it comes to Back to School Night, they have to go the extra mile to ensure parents and students have a smooth transition.

“By having our school supplies and notebooks and paper and pencils, all those supplies. It makes it so parents don’t have to worry about those things, we have them,” Preston said.

Support Angel Shipp remembers her well from when she attended the Charles Warren Fairbanks School.

“Since I’ve been here, that’s how it’s been,” Shipp said. “It’s been a tough time for my mom and me. I didn’t ask for more things because I knew she was going through something.”

Today she came back to send a message to the other students.

“It’s okay to be different from others. You don’t always have to change yourself to fit in,” Shipp said.

Kaylee Wright was there to get her daughter Journee ready for school.

“I personally don’t spend $800 per kid to go to school, but I try to use the resources around me,” Wright said. “I think it’s necessary to come to back-to-school nights to get the resources, but I also think the most important thing for me is building a relationship with the teacher.”

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“Our teachers are equipped and ready to do whatever it takes because we don’t want kids to worry about the next kid or what they don’t have. We want them to think about what they do have and what they can do,” Preston said.

To find out when your child’s first day of school is, please consult the schedule on the district’s website.