INDIANAPOLIS — Books on history, animals or heroes in their underpants — the Anna Brochhausen School 88 Media Center covers a lot of subject matter.
But the books that pique Carmen Sharp’s interest are anything Judy Blume.
They remind her of when she was a little girl in an IPS classroom, flipping through the pages of "Superfudge" or "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing."
“I was definitely a reader. It was something that was near and dear to my heart," Sharp said.
The School 88 Principal now shares her love of reading with her students.
In fact, the school’s literacy scores improved almost 22% this past year, rising from 40.4% to 62.3%.
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“We wanna get as many children over the line as possible," Sharp said.
Several IPS principals, including Sharp, were honored at the Indiana State Board of Education over the summer.
“We saw children go from barely calling words to reading text. Then we were able to focus on comprehension. Not just necessarily getting children to read and call words," she said.
IREAD-3 exam scores are up across Indianapolis Public Schools — the district celebrated a 10.2% for the 2024–25 school year.
In addition to a 90-minute reading block, students were given 30 minutes of small-group reading in school and were asked to read 20 minutes at home.
“Consistency is key here," Instructional Coach Alisa Abernathy said. “We had an all-hands-on-deck approach to make sure that everyone was encompassed in helping to support our students.”
Teachers are now preparing their third-grade students for the IREAD-3 exam next spring.
They hope to keep the momentum going.
“Our goal is 80% of students passing," Abernathy said.
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Nico Pennisi is the In Your Community reporter for Downtown Indy. He joined WRTV in October 2022. His passion has always been telling the stories of people who often get overlooked. Share your story ideas and important issues with Nico by emailing him at nico.pennisi@wrtv.com.
